“My favorite question during an interview is ‘so, what are your salary expectations?’” said no one, ever.
Why? What makes this question so difficult to navigate?
Because it’s somewhat of a trick question.
The employer knows the budget range they have for this position.
You know how much you’d like them to pay you.
But you’re afraid of overshooting and undershooting. So are they. And what ends up happening is like a strategic board game, where everyone’s trying to get the other side to make the first move.
So when the salary question comes up (and it will), you want to respond in a way that dodges the question and spins it back to the interviewer.
Here are some good responses you can try:
“I know your company is a reputable company and you offer competitive salaries…what is the range you’ve allotted for this position?”
“Well, I’ve done some research and the salary range for this position in [location] is between $[__] and [__] for someone with my level of experience. Is that what you had in mind?
Come prepared with what salary you can reasonably expect by checking out https://www.salary.com/research/salary.
Your goal is to push the salary issue off until they’ve actually made an offer. Once they know they want to work with you, you’ll have the leverage you need to get the best rate possible.
Play ball!
