How to answer 'What are your salary expectations?' as a tech leader

Here is what landing around 500 interviews a month taught us: 9 people out of 10 do not know how to negotiate salaries.

Our clients land hundreds of interviews every single month. After every one of these, we log all the questions they were asked so we can keep track of what actually gets people tripped up.

"Well, what's the range?"

What we have noticed is the moment recruiters ask salary expectations, half the candidates just freeze.

The best they can come up with is, "Well, what's the range?"

What you don’t realize when you say this is that you just failed a test you didn't know you were taking.

You think you're being strategic, but the recruiter considers it indecisive and unprepared. And they do take notes.

It's a qualification question

What is actually happening is that this isn't a negotiation. It's just a qualification question. They've got 60 other candidates and need to know if they can afford you. That's it.

And the problem is that if your number is way outside their budget and you never bring it up, you sit through six rounds of interviews with no fruitful result.

So, just say the number. The honest number below which you wouldn't consider making the move. Something like: "Based on market trends and my skillset, I'm looking for a base of $260K or above."

This clarity gets you further than playing games ever will.

This is one of 10 questions that come up in all senior tech interviews.