Know your number before you’re asked
The question “what are your salary expectations?” is only intimidating when you haven’t done the homework. With market context, it becomes an easy, confident answer.
5 min read · Updated 4 July 2026
Key takeaways
- Compensation is a market with ranges — the confident answers come from having looked first.
- Anchoring to your last salary is a common and costly mistake; anchor to the role’s current market.
- A defensible number connects market data to your specific, checkable evidence.
Compensation isn’t a mystery — it’s a market. Roles have ranges, and those ranges move with demand, location, seniority, and the specific value you bring. The people who answer the salary question confidently are simply the ones who looked first.
Going in without that context means anchoring to whatever number they say — or worse, to what you earned last, which may have little to do with what the role is worth now.
Doing the homework
Triangulate: published salary bands (increasingly required in job postings in many jurisdictions), aggregate salary data for the role and region, and — most underrated — asking people who hire for or hold similar roles what the realistic range is. Three data points beat one every time.
Then place yourself honestly within the range: scope of the role, scarcity of your evidence, and how badly they need the problem solved. That’s your number — plus the reasoning that survives being questioned.
Turn data into a position
Market data on its own isn’t enough; you have to translate it into a number you can defend with a straight face. That means connecting the range to your specific evidence — what you’re known for, what you’ve delivered, what it was worth.
Virgil helps you build that bridge from “here’s the market” to “here’s my number, and here’s why.”
Frequently asked questions
How do I answer “what are your salary expectations?”
With a researched range, stated calmly: “Based on the scope and the market for this role in this region, I’m looking at X to Y.” The homework — salary bands, aggregate data, and conversations with people in similar roles — is what makes the answer easy.
Should I base my salary ask on my current salary?
No. Your last salary reflects an old negotiation in a possibly different market. Anchor to what the role you’re entering is worth now — its published bands, current demand, and the value of your specific evidence.
Keep reading
Reading about it is one thing. Deciding your next move is another.
Virgil turns what you just read into something personal — a clear read on what you want and what you’re known for.