"What are your salary expectations?" usually lands early in a first-round interview, before you've had a chance to prove your value. That timing isn't an accident — recruiters ask it early precisely because candidates haven't yet built leverage. How you answer sets the floor for every negotiation conversation that follows, so it's worth preparing a specific response rather than improvising one.
A number you throw out in the first ten minutes anchors the rest of the process. If you go too low, most companies will not volunteer to pay you more later — they'll simply save the difference. If you go too high without justification, you risk being screened out before you get the chance to make your case. The goal isn't to avoid the question; it's to answer it on terms that keep your options open.
Walking in without a number in mind is the biggest mistake. Check multiple sources — AmbitionBox, Glassdoor, Naukri's salary insights, and LinkedIn Salary where available — and triangulate a realistic range for the role, your experience level, and the city. Ranges on these platforms vary widely, so look for where the data clusters rather than trusting a single outlier figure. If you know people at similar companies or in similar roles, a quick, casual conversation is often more accurate than any website.
When asked directly, state a range rather than a single figure, and anchor the bottom of that range at or slightly above what you'd actually accept. For example: "Based on my research and experience, I'm looking at something in the range of X to Y, but I'm flexible depending on the full compensation package and the scope of the role." This does two things: it signals you've done market research, and it leaves room to negotiate upward without appearing to move the goalposts.
Some recruiters will press for a single number before discussing the role in detail. A reasonable response is to redirect: "I'd rather understand the full scope of the role and the budget you have in mind before narrowing down a number — can you share the range you're working with?" Many recruiters will give you a range at this point, which tells you where you're negotiating from. If they insist, give your researched range rather than a hard figure, and resist the urge to fill a silence by lowering it.
If you're asked for your current salary, remember that in most of India there's no legal requirement to disclose it, and plenty of candidates simply decline politely: "I'd prefer to focus on the value I can bring to this role and align on a number that reflects that, rather than anchor to my current package." Current salary is a weak predictor of what you should earn in a new role, especially if you're switching industries, moving to a product company from services, or taking on more scope.
Handled well, this question is an opportunity to demonstrate that you've thought seriously about your own market value — which is itself a small signal of competence to the person interviewing you.