Negotiation
How to answer: “What are your salary expectations?”
A negotiation moment disguised as a question. Anchor on a researched range, deflect early asks, and keep total comp in frame.
Why it is asked
What this question is really testing
When this comes up, especially early, it is a negotiation moment, not an innocent data-gathering question. Answering with a single hard number too soon usually costs you money: name it too low and you cap yourself, too high and you screen yourself out. The skilled move is to keep your options open while showing you have done your homework.
If it is early, deflect gracefully: say you are focused on whether the role is the right fit and ask what range they have budgeted, or give a researched range rather than a point. If you must give numbers, anchor with a range whose floor is a figure you would happily accept, grounded in market data for the role, level, and location, and frame it around total compensation (base, equity, bonus) rather than base alone. Confidence and preparation are the signal; defensiveness or a random number is the failure.
Know your number before you walk in. Use real market data so your range is defensible, and be ready to justify the floor with your experience and the role's scope.
The signal
What interviewers listen for
- Evidence you researched market rates for the role, level, and location.
- A range anchored sensibly, not a single premature number.
- Total-compensation framing, not base salary in isolation.
- Composure: this is a negotiation, and you treat it like one.
Worked example
A STAR answer you can adapt
Scenario: Engineer asked for a number early. Read it for the shape, then swap in your own story.
Situation
The recruiter asked for my expected salary on the first call.
Task
I did not want to anchor myself before I understood the level and the equity.
Action
I said I was most focused on whether the role and team are the right fit, and asked what range they had budgeted for the level. When they pushed for a number, I gave a researched total-comp range, with the floor set at a figure I would genuinely accept, and noted it depends on the equity and level.
Result
That kept the conversation open. When the offer came it landed in the upper half of my range, and because I had framed total comp from the start, we negotiated the equity rather than getting stuck on base.
Answer skeleton
Fill-in-the-blank template
I am most focused on fit; what range have you budgeted for this level? If pressed: based on market data for [role/level/location], I am looking at [researched total-comp range], with [floor] being a figure I would happily accept.
Avoid these
Common mistakes
- Blurting a single number before you understand level and equity.
- Naming a figure with no market research behind it.
- Talking only about base salary and ignoring equity and bonus.
- Getting flustered instead of treating it as a normal negotiation.
By role
How the answer shifts by role
Engineering
Anchor on total comp using level-banded market data; equity weighting varies hugely by company stage.
Engineering management
Scope and team size justify the upper end; reference comparable manager bands, not IC numbers.
Product management
Tie your range to the impact scope of the role and comparable PM levels in the market.
Be ready for
Likely follow-up questions
- What is the minimum you would accept?
- How did you arrive at that range?
- Is base or equity more important to you?
Last reviewed by the site editor: June 2026
More practice
Other questions worth a rehearsal
If this question is on your list, these usually belong there too.
Turn prep into an offer
Behavioral rounds are only half the loop. See the technical and behavioral questions for your exact role, and when an offer lands, check it is competitive with the salary comparison tool.