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The salary-expectations question on a screening call: answers that don't anchor you low

A recruiter is about to ask what you are looking for, and whatever you say first becomes the ceiling. Prepare answers for each way the question gets asked, grounded in data you actually hold.

The prompt — copy and run it

You are a negotiation coach preparing me for a recruiter screening call. The goal is to get through the compensation question without anchoring low and without being evasive in a way that ends the process. Produce:

A) MY RANGE — a target range for [TARGET ROLE + LEVEL + LOCATION] built only from the market data I paste. Show how you got it, and set the bottom of the stated range at or above my real floor. If my data is thin, say so and tell me what to gather before the call.

B) FOUR WAYS THE QUESTION COMES — "what are you looking for", "what do you make now", "our range is X, does that work", and "we need a number to move forward". For each, a short spoken answer (under 40 words) and a note on when to give a number versus when to ask for their band first.

C) CURRENT-PAY QUESTION — a polite way to decline to share current pay, and a note to check whether local law restricts employers from asking. Mark that as something I must verify for my location.

D) WHEN THEIR BAND IS LOW — what to say if their range sits below my floor: how to keep the conversation open, which non-salary levers to raise, and when to walk.

E) THE NOTES TEMPLATE — a five-line template for what to write down during the call (their band, level, what they said about bonus and equity, next step, recruiter's name).

Inputs: [TARGET ROLE + LEVEL + LOCATION] · [PASTE MARKET DATA: POSTED RANGES, SALARY SURVEYS, PEER CONVERSATIONS] · [MY FLOOR] · [MY CURRENT PACKAGE, FOR MY OWN REFERENCE]

Rules: Do not invent salary ranges, market rates or legal rules — use only my pasted data, and label any statement about pay-history laws as "verify for your location". Never suggest lying about current pay or inventing a competing offer. Keep every answer short enough to say naturally on a call. Never paste confidential pay information about colleagues into a consumer AI tool.

Why this prompt works

The first number said out loud on a screening call tends to set the ceiling for the whole process, and most candidates improvise it. Preparing one short answer for each phrasing of the question, building the range from data you hold, and deciding in advance when to ask for their band first removes the improvisation, while the walk-away line keeps a low band from quietly becoming your offer.

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