What to Say When They Ask Your Current Salary

The recruiter is thirty seconds into the call and asks the question that quietly decides your next raise. What are you currently making. Most people answer it. That is the mistake.

Your current salary is the wrong anchor for your next one. It carries forward every underpayment, every below-market offer you ever accepted, every year you did not negotiate. Say the number and you have handed them your ceiling. They will offer a small bump on top of it and call it a raise. What you are worth to the new company has nothing to do with what the last one paid you. So do not let the last one set the price.

I think it is the single most expensive question in a job search, and most people answer it without blinking.

Here is how to handle the question, whether it comes on a phone screen, in an application field, or in the follow-up email from a recruiter who will not let it go.

First, they may not even be allowed to ask

In more than twenty US states and a long list of cities and counties, it is illegal for an employer to ask about your salary history at all. California, New York, Massachusetts, Colorado, Washington, Illinois, and Connecticut are on the list, and it keeps growing. HR Dive keeps a running tally by state and locality. None of this is legal advice, so check the rules where you live before your next screen.

The bans exist for a reason. Anchoring new pay to old pay is how underpayment compounds. Get underpaid once, and every future offer built on that number keeps you underpaid for years. The law caught up to the math.

If you are in a ban state, you do not have to deflect anything clever. You can say plainly that you would rather not share your salary history and that you understand it is not required. Then move the conversation to the role.

Where it is still legal, still do not volunteer it

Plenty of states have no ban. Even there, offering up your current salary is a bad trade. You gain nothing and you give away your ceiling. The number is private, the same way your bank balance is private, and a polite redirect works everywhere.

The mistake is treating the question as a request for information. It is not. It is the opening move in a negotiation. Answer it like one.

What to say instead

Every good answer does the same thing. It replaces your salary history with a target range. Here are the scripts, word for word.

The clean redirect. "I am focused on roles in the [X to Y] range based on the market for this position and my experience. Is that in line with the budget you have for this role?"

When they push for the current number. "I keep my current compensation confidential, but I am happy to share what I am targeting. For a role like this I am looking at [X to Y]."

When they say they need it to move you forward. "I understand. I am not able to share my current salary, but my target range is [X to Y], and I am confident we can find a fit there."

The persistent recruiter. Repeat the range once more, calmly, and stop explaining. "As I mentioned, I am targeting [X to Y]. That is the number that matters for this role." Silence after a boundary is not rudeness. It is the boundary working.

Notice that none of these refuse to talk about money. They refuse to let your old paycheck set the terms, and replace it with a number you chose on purpose.

Anchor on the market, not your past

The scripts only work if the range is real. A number you pulled from hope is easy to negotiate down. A number anchored to the market for the exact role and city is not.

So before any screen, look up the real rate. Look up your market rate for your role and location, and walk in with a range you can defend at your experience level. The first number in a negotiation sets the range, and recruiters know it, which is exactly why they ask you first. Beat them to it with data.

Once your range holds, the rest of the negotiation is in the salary negotiation guide. If you are weighing a written offer, the job offer guide runs the total comp math.

The current-salary field on an application

Online forms are where most people cave, because a required field feels non-negotiable. It is not.

If the field takes text, write "Open" or "Market." If it accepts a zero or can be left blank, do that. If it forces a number, put your target for this role, not your current one. A form is not an interview and it is not a contract. Do not let a database field anchor you low before a human has even read your resume.

If you already gave them the number

If you already answered, you have not lost. A disclosed current salary is an anchor, not a contract. When the offer comes, you negotiate against the market range exactly as if you had never said it.

"I know we touched on my current comp earlier. Looking at the market for this role and everything I would be taking on, I am targeting [X]."

The number you said in a screening call is not binding. The offer is what you negotiate.

The bottom line

The current-salary question feels like a formality. It is not. It is the first and cheapest place to lose thousands of dollars, before the job even starts. Answer it with a range, anchor the range in data, and let your next salary be about the next job.

Look up the real market rate for your role.