The salary question is asked early because it filters cheaply. Answer it badly and you either price yourself out of a process you would have won, or anchor yourself thousands below what the role was budgeted for. Answer it well and you keep the conversation going without giving away your position.
Do the research first
You cannot negotiate from a feeling. Before you answer anything, get three numbers:
- The advertised range for the same title in the same city. Search the title on a job board and read ten adverts that publish pay. Ignore the outliers at both ends.
- The range for the level above. This tells you where the ceiling of your band sits and what the employer thinks the next rung is worth.
- Your walk-away number. The figure below which you would rather stay where you are. Write it down before any conversation starts, because it is much harder to invent one under pressure.
Adjust for the things that move pay: location and cost of living, whether the role is remote or on-site, sector (public sector pays less in cash and often more in pension), company size, and whether there is a bonus or equity component.
On the application form
Many forms make the field mandatory. Do not leave it blank if it blocks submission, and do not write "negotiable" in a numeric field.
Give the bottom of your target range as a single figure if only one number is allowed, and be aware that this becomes the anchor. If the form takes free text, use a range where your target sits at the lower third: "£52,000–£60,000 depending on the overall package and scope."
If the advert already publishes a range, say you are comfortable within the advertised range. That costs you nothing and gets you through the filter.
On the phone screen
The recruiter usually asks in the first ten minutes. Two good moves:
Turn it around, once. "I want to make sure we are in the same ballpark — what range is budgeted for this role?" Most internal recruiters will tell you, because their job is to avoid wasting a hiring manager's time on a candidate they cannot afford. If they give you a range, react to it rather than inventing your own.
If they push back, give a range with a reason. "Based on what I have seen for this level in this city, I am targeting the mid-fifties to low sixties, and the exact figure depends on the scope and the rest of the package." The reason matters more than the number: it signals you have researched the market, not picked a figure you like.
Do not lie about your current salary. Some markets make asking illegal, and in every market it is a fact that can surface later and cost you the offer.
When the offer arrives
This is where the money actually moves, and it is the one moment where you have real leverage — they have chosen you and restarting the process is expensive for them.
- Never accept on the call. Say you are pleased, ask for it in writing, and ask for a day or two.
- Negotiate one number, not five. Pick the thing that matters most, usually base salary, and ask for a specific figure with a justification tied to scope or market data.
- Ask about the whole package before deciding. Pension contribution, bonus mechanics and whether it has actually paid out, holiday allowance, notice period, remote policy in writing, and the review cycle. A 5% pension difference can be worth more than the £2,000 you argued about.
- Get any promise about a future review written into the offer letter. A verbal "we will look at it in six months" is not an agreement.
What to avoid
Do not name a number in the first sentence of the first conversation. Do not justify your ask with your personal costs — rent and childcare are real but they are not an argument the employer can act on. Do not use a competing offer you do not have. And do not accept a role you have already decided is underpaid, hoping it will be fixed later; internal rises rarely close a gap you agreed to at the start.