Interview Question · Situational & Closing

How to Answer “What are your salary expectations?”

Q: What are your salary expectations?

Research, Range, Reciprocity: Do the research first — Before any interview, triangulate your market value from salary data sites, posted ranges for comparable roles, and people in the field. Give a researched range — A range says flexible; the word “research” says informed. Set the bottom at a number you'd genuinely accept — you may get anchored to it. Base it on the role, not your history — Frame the range around this position's scope and market, not your current salary — which is often lower than your value and, in some places, illegal to be asked. Ask for reciprocity — It's fair to return the question: “Can you share the budgeted range for the role?” Many will — and then you're negotiating from their number, not yours.

Why they ask it

Sometimes it's a budget check to avoid wasting anyone's time; sometimes it's the opening move of a negotiation. Either way, the interviewer learns two things from your answer: whether you've researched your own market value, and how you handle a mildly adversarial moment. Unprepared candidates either lowball themselves permanently or blurt a number with nothing behind it.

How to answer it

Research, Range, Reciprocity

1
Do the research first. Before any interview, triangulate your market value from salary data sites, posted ranges for comparable roles, and people in the field.
2
Give a researched range. A range says flexible; the word “research” says informed. Set the bottom at a number you'd genuinely accept — you may get anchored to it.
3
Base it on the role, not your history. Frame the range around this position's scope and market, not your current salary — which is often lower than your value and, in some places, illegal to be asked.
4
Ask for reciprocity. It's fair to return the question: “Can you share the budgeted range for the role?” Many will — and then you're negotiating from their number, not yours.

Example answers

Sample answers to steal the structure from — swap in your own stories, never someone else's.

Sample answer 1 · Early-career, first negotiation

Based on my research — posted ranges for comparable coordinator roles in this area and the salary data I could find for this industry — I'm targeting the low-to-mid fifties, and I'd say the full range I've seen for this kind of role runs from the high forties to around sixty depending on scope.

I want to be straightforward that compensation is one factor among several for me — the growth trajectory and the team matter a great deal — but I've also done enough homework to know what this work pays, and I'd want to land within that market range.

Can I ask what range you've budgeted for the position? That would tell us quickly whether we're in the same conversation, and I suspect we are.

Sample answer 2 · Experienced professional

Happy to talk numbers — I find it saves everyone time. Based on my research into comparable roles at this level in this market, and factoring in the scope described in the posting — the team leadership plus the process ownership — I'm looking at a base in the range of the mid-eighties to mid-nineties, with some flexibility depending on how the total package is structured. Bonus, equity, and benefits all move that conversation.

I'd frame it around the role rather than my current compensation, because the scope here is meaningfully bigger than my current job — that's a large part of why I'm interested.

And I'll ask the reciprocal question, if you can share it: what has the company budgeted for the role? If we're aligned on the neighborhood, I'm confident the final number is a solvable problem once we both know we want to work together.

Common mistakes

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Having no number ready. “Whatever you think is fair” outsources your paycheck to the other side of the table. Walk in with a researched range, every time.
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Anchoring to your current salary. Your last employer's number isn't evidence of your value. Price the role and the market, not your history.
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A bottom you'd resent. Ranges get heard as their minimum. Never put a number in yours that you'd feel underpaid accepting.
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Apologizing for negotiating. Discussing pay is a normal, expected part of hiring. Visible discomfort invites a lower offer — practice the answer out loud like any other.

Reading about it only gets you so far.

The candidates who nail “What are your salary expectations?” have said their answer out loud before the interview. Practice it in a free mock interview and get coaching on the answer you actually gave.

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