Answering the salary expectations question

Give a range, based on the market rate for the role rather than on what you currently earn, and put the number you actually want at the bottom of that range. Deflect only once, and only early.

The advice to never name a number first is written for a negotiation that has two parties who both want the deal. Most hiring processes are not that yet, and a candidate who refuses three times reads as difficult rather than shrewd.

Before you can answer, do the research

You cannot give a range without one. Twenty minutes of work:

• Levels.fyi, Glassdoor and Blind for the company and the level, if it is a company those cover.
• Postings for the same title at three comparable companies. Many now publish a band by law or by policy.
• Ask two people doing the job. This is the highest-quality source and the one people skip because it is uncomfortable.

What you are looking for is the band for this role at this level in this city. Not the national average, which is a different job mixed with yours.

Deflect once, then answer

The one deflection worth using, early in the process:

“I’d rather understand the scope first — do you have a band for this role?”

Often they will just tell you, and then the whole problem is solved. If they push back, answer:

“Based on what I’ve seen for this kind of role, I’m looking at somewhere in the range of X to Y. Happy to talk about the whole package.”

Then stop talking. The silence after a number is not yours to fill, and filling it is where people negotiate against themselves.

Building the range

Anchor the bottom of your range at the number you would be genuinely happy with, and make the range about 15–20% wide. Most offers land at or near the bottom of a stated range, so a range whose floor is your minimum acceptable is a range whose likely outcome is your minimum acceptable.

Never state a range wider than you mean. “Anywhere from 12 to 30” is not flexibility, it is an admission that you did not do the research.

The expected-CTC box on an Indian application form

Different problem: no conversation, a required field, and often a current-CTC field beside it. Three practical things:

• A blank or a zero gets you filtered. The form is usually screened automatically on this field. Put a real number in it.
• Answer it as a percentage of the market, not of your current CTC. A 30% hike on a badly-paid job is still a badly-paid job, and anchoring to your own history is exactly how underpayment compounds across a career.
• Say “negotiable” if the field takes text. One word, and it keeps the conversation open without costing you the screen.

You are not obliged to disclose current CTC, and in several jurisdictions the employer is not allowed to ask — but in India it is routine, it will be verified against your payslips at offer stage, and inflating it is a fireable discovery. State it accurately and argue on market rate instead.

Freshers

For a campus or entry-level role there is usually a fixed band and no negotiation to be had. Say so plainly: “I understand this role has a standard band — I’m comfortable with it.” Trying to negotiate a fixed campus package mostly costs goodwill and gains nothing.

Off-campus, research the band and give a range like anyone else. Being a fresher is not a reason to name a number below the market.

What to negotiate when the base is fixed

Joining bonus, notice-period buyout, start date, equity refresh, level, remote days, and the title. Several of these come from a different budget than base pay, which is why they are often available when base is not.

Where this site fits

Nowhere. This is a research-and-nerve problem, and no document changes it. The only adjacent thing worth saying is that the number you can ask for is set by the roles you get interviewed for — which is a targeting problem, upstream of this conversation by about six weeks.