What is your Salary Expectations – Best Interview Answer

A common question at a job interview or on a job application form is ‘What is your Salary expectation?’ But it’s a tricky one to answer.

It can be awkward, the majority of job seekers don’t want to discuss money. If you say a figure too high you may miss out on a job offer.  If it’s too low, you may miss out financially.

This is a question depending on how it’s answered could price you out of the job or get you an offer that is lowered. The salary you ask for today affects all future salary raises. Ask for too little and you could be shooting yourself in the foot or ask for too much and be shown the door. Just like many jobs have a salary range, you should never walk into an interview without your own salary expectations.

You want to aim high, but what if you put yourself out of salary range? On the other hand, if your target compensation is too low, you leave the employer room to go even lower and you could end up miserable.

As difficult as it may be to answer the question, it’s more difficult not to – especially on an electronic job application. Try and skip the question and you can’t move on to the next page, and the field only accepts a number. That is when the exact number is important.

If you are in an interview, you could try to skirt around the question with a broad answer, such as: “My salary expectations are in line with my experience and qualifications.” Or “If this is the right job for me, I am sure we can come to an agreement on salary.” But the recruiter or interviewer will likely be looking for a number, so come prepared with a target salary figure or at least a range in mind.

Interviewing for a project or program role? Rehearse the salary conversation in a live mock interview and get a scorecard within 24–48 hours.