“What are your salary expectations?” is one of the most dreaded questions in an interview — say too high and you might price yourself out, say too low and you leave money on the table for years. Most freshers either freeze, blurt out a number they read online, or deflect awkwardly. There’s a much better way to handle it.
Why This Question Feels So Hard
The discomfort comes from asymmetric information — the interviewer usually knows the company’s budgeted range for the role, and you usually don’t. Answering blind feels like a guessing game with real stakes. The fix isn’t a clever script; it’s removing the blindness by doing the research before the interview, so you’re negotiating from actual data rather than a guess.
Research Before You Ever Get Asked
Check multiple sources rather than trusting one number: AmbitionBox and Glassdoor for company-specific ranges, LinkedIn Salary insights for role-based data, and — genuinely useful and often skipped — asking seniors from your college who joined similar roles in the last year or two what they were actually offered. Company-specific numbers matter more than generic “average fresher salary in India” figures, since the same job title can pay very differently between a large IT services company and a funded startup.
| Source | What It’s Useful For |
|---|---|
| AmbitionBox / Glassdoor | Company-specific salary ranges from real employees |
| LinkedIn Salary | Role and location-based benchmarks |
| College seniors / alumni | Recent, real offers for the exact same entry-level role |
| The job posting itself | Sometimes states a range directly — always check first |
Giving a Range, Not a Single Number
A single number gives the interviewer nothing to work with except accept or reject — a range gives room for a real conversation. State a range where your realistic minimum sits near the bottom and your researched ideal sits near the top: “Based on my research for this role, I’m looking at somewhere between ₹5 and ₹6.5 LPA.” This signals you’ve done homework, gives the company room to land somewhere reasonable, and avoids the awkwardness of naming one rigid figure that might be either too high or needlessly too low.
Turning the Question Back — Carefully
Early in the process, it’s completely reasonable to redirect gently: “I’d love to understand the budgeted range for this role first, so I can give you a realistic number.” Most recruiters will share at least a rough band when asked directly and politely — and if they press you to go first anyway, that’s when your researched range comes in, rather than an improvised guess.
What Not to Say
- “Whatever you think is fair” — sounds humble, but hands away your entire negotiating position for no reason.
- Naming a number far below market rate — some freshers deliberately lowball themselves to seem “easy to hire,” which often backfires; recruiters can read this as a lack of self-awareness about your own worth.
- Citing a friend’s unrelated offer — “My friend got 8 LPA at a different company in a different role” isn’t a comparable data point and won’t move the conversation.
- An oddly specific number with no rounding — “₹5,42,000” sounds like you copied a random online figure rather than reasoned through a range.
When the Number Is Fixed and Non-Negotiable
Large IT services companies hiring hundreds of freshers off campus placements typically offer one standardized package for the entire batch, and there’s no real negotiation happening at the individual level here. If HR states plainly that the band is fixed company-wide, pushing further rarely helps and can come across as not understanding how that hiring model works. In this case, it’s more useful to ask about the appraisal cycle and how fast that number can grow, rather than trying to move something that was never going to move.
A Realistic Script for the Question
“Based on my research into this role and similar positions at comparable companies, I’m looking at a range of ₹X to ₹Y. That said, I’m genuinely open to discussing this further based on the full compensation package and the growth opportunities here.” This does three things: shows you’ve done homework, gives a workable range instead of an ultimatum, and signals that salary isn’t your only consideration — which, for a fresher, often matters as much to an interviewer as the number itself.
Looking Beyond the Base Number
If the base salary genuinely has no room, other parts of the offer sometimes do: a joining bonus, an earlier performance review date, specific certification or training sponsorship, or your preferred team if multiple options exist. Asking about these shows negotiation awareness without pushing on a number that’s already been signaled as fixed.
The Bigger Picture
Your first salary matters far less to your long-term earnings than how quickly you grow once you’re actually inside a company. A slightly lower offer at a place with genuine learning and a fair appraisal cycle usually beats a marginally higher one with no real growth path, over a two-to-three-year horizon. Answer this question with research and calm confidence, accept gracefully when a number is genuinely fixed, and put your real energy into making your first year strong enough that your next negotiation — your first raise — has real leverage behind it.
Written by Babu Addakula, Job Visit.
