I’ve had three interviews, and in each one I was asked for my salary expectations. I prefer not to provide a number because it could place me below, above, or entirely outside the company’s approved budget. How can I politely decline to share a figure in a way that also prevents the interviewer from repeatedly asking, without sounding desperate or solely income-driven—especially given that many companies appear to be optimizing for the lowest possible salary with the highest performance?

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Don’t give them an answer. Say what have you budgeted for this position??

likehelpful

Ask for the budget of the position with the assumption that all requirements are fulfilled

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Before interviewing, look up salary ranges for similar positions in NY, WA, CA, and other states with salary transparency laws. Aggregate the data in excel and adjust for COL so you understand market rates (min, mid, max salary in your data set) for the position. Then you share a number in that range that makes sense for you.

likehelpful

Then you give a range.

Instead of waiting until they ask you for your expected salary ask them what their budget is for the department. Also you can also mention once they disclose that number that it falls below your expectations but are more flexible in workload and see if there's anything you can bring to the table to justifying on their end raising that compensation. Take it from someone who has successfully negotiated 200% of the salary band 2X in the last 24 months the numbers are not as capped as they like you to believe but you may have to give more back towards the company in order to receive that financial compensation.

Don’t answer

Just say what you would be happy with. You either get it or you don’t. No point agonising over it.

I've had good luck with turning the question around and just straight-up asking them "What salary range did you have in mind for the position?" So far it's worked every time in terms of getting them to state a concrete range, which then gives you the chance to pick a number in that range (or push for higher if you think you can get away with it)

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