Transcription
You're in an interview with a tech recruiter and they ask you, "What's your current salary?" Or maybe, "What other companies are you interviewing with?" And you freeze. You don't know what to say. So, you just answer honestly thinking that's what you're supposed to do. And then weeks later, you get a lowball offer. Or you just get ghosted completely. And you realize you just gave them all the ammunition they needed to work against you.
I'm a software engineer at Meta, and I've been through dozens of recruiting conversations. I've seen how recruiters operate, what questions they ask, and why they ask them. And once you understand what's really going on, you'll never answer these questions the same way again. If you want to walk into every recruiter conversation knowing exactly what they're trying to do and how to protect yourself and honestly how to even use these same tactics in life when anyone asks you nosy questions, then stay until the end because I'm about to tell you everything recruiters don't want you to know. And the best part, once you learn how to handle these questions, you'll have more leverage, better offers, and you won't get taken advantage of ever again.
So, first let's start with why recruiters are even asking these questions. Let's be clear, recruiters are not at all your friends. They work for the company and their job is to fill roles as cheaply as possible. The questions are very strategic. "What's your current salary?" is a question they'll ask so they know how low they can offer you. "What are your salary expectations?" is a question they ask so they can anchor you low. "What other companies are you interviewing with?" is a question they ask to gauge your desperation. And "What's your current level?" is to lowball you based on your current role. Every single question extracts information that weakens your own position.
Okay, so let's start with the salary question. Why do they ask this? Let's use an example. If you make 120K now, they know that they can offer you 130K. But if they don't know, then they might have to offer you 160K. So what you should do when you're asked this question is refuse to answer. How to respond is by saying something like, "I prefer to focus on the value I can bring rather than what I'm currently making." Or you can say something like, "My current compensation is confidential. What's the salary range for this position?" If they push even further, all you have to do is say, "Why do you ask?" or "How is my current salary relevant?" Make them explain themselves. The key here is you never want to give them a number because once you do, you've anchored the negotiation.
Now, one interesting fact is that it's actually illegal for recruiters to ask job applicants about their salary history in certain places. Like, for example, in California, this is illegal, but recruiters might do it anyway. So, I just want to make sure that you're prepared.
Now, there's also a common variation that recruiters tend to use rather than flat out just asking, "What's your salary?" And that's when they ask, "What are your salary expectations?" The reason they're asking this is to anchor you low. Because if you respond to that question with a specific number like 150K, and their budget is 180K, then they're only going to offer you 150K. So, what you should really do is just turn it back on them. How to respond is you want to say something like, "What's the salary range you've budgeted for this position?" Or, "I'm sure your company has fair compensation. What's the range?" If they persist, then you want to give them a wide range based on the market research. You can say something like, "Based on my research, similar roles pay 160k to 220k. I'd expect somewhere in that range." Now, why this works is because the range is so wide that they're going to have to be more specific and narrow it down to tell you where they're thinking, and it's anchored high.
Now, if you just thought recruiters were nosy about the salary, that's just a start. Recruiters are also nosy about your competition and you might get hit with a question like, "What other companies are you interviewing with?" The reason they're asking this is to gauge your leverage and gauge your desperation. How you want to respond is you want to say something like, "I'm in conversation with a few companies, but I'm most excited about this particular role." Or you can say something like, "I'm exploring opportunities, but I'd rather focus on the company fit. Can you tell me more about the team's area of work?" Or if you want to create urgency, you can say something like, "I've got final rounds with other companies elsewhere, so I'd love to move quickly." What you absolutely under no circumstances ever want to say is something like, "You're the only company." Because if you say that, then you lose all your leverage. And you don't want to give them specific company names either, because that's really none of their business. Unless you're doing something strategic, like if you're interviewing with Microsoft and you tell the Microsoft recruiter that you're in final rounds with Apple, that would be a viable strategic move in my opinion because obviously Microsoft and Apple are in fierce competition with the whole PC versus Mac rivalry. But even that is just a strategic exception. In general, you really don't need to share the company names because it's not relevant to them. But you do want to imply that you have options even if you don't.
Now, another question your recruiter might hit you with is, "What's your current level at your company?" The problem with this question is that levels don't translate and they're actually going to slot you lower than you deserve. Because if you just tell them your level, like if you just tell them I'm an L4 at Google, then they can just easily look up the salary ranges for an L4 at Google. And that information is extremely easy to find. It's all over the internet on websites like Glassdoor or Levels.fyi. So the question is really just a sneaky way of them just getting more information about how much you're currently making. And we already discussed why you don't want to give them that information. And the other problem is that when you give them your level, that actually might increase your chances of getting downleveled when you move to the new company as well. So, you want to steer the conversation away from your current level and focus on your target level. How to respond to this type of question is by saying something like, "Titles vary and I'd rather talk about my work and my impact." And then describe your results. Or you can say something like, "What level are you thinking for this particular role?" The key here is you want to make them evaluate you based on your results, not your current level.
And by the way, if you want me to implement a personalized strategy for you to land your dream job in tech or build wealth to retire early, click the first link in the description to work with me one-on-one. But for now, let's get back to the video.
Now, recruiters do also have tactics that they'll use to pressure you that you really need to watch out for. For example, they might just use an awkward silence where they go quiet and they hope that you fill it because they want to get you talking because the more that you talk, the more information that they get. So what you need to do in these situations is you need to just stay silent and let them break the awkward silence first. Another tactic they use is that when you object to their question, they might just say something like, "This is standard." They frame it like you have to answer, but the reality is you do not. You want to say something like, "I prefer to focus on the role," and you just want to defer the conversation as much as possible. Another line the recruiter might use is they might say something like, "We can't move forward without this." That's usually a bluff and you want to call that bluff. You can say something like, "I'm happy to discuss compensation once we've established a mutual fit." And that's really the right way to go about this because you need to focus more on the fit of the role. Make sure that the team is a good fit and the area of work is a good fit rather than focusing on compensation, especially so early in the process. The recruiter might also say something like, "We need this information to make you a competitive offer." No, they don't. So, you want to deflect and you want to say something like, "I trust that your company has a fair salary range. What are you thinking?" So, it's imperative that you stand firm because they're going to make you feel like you're being difficult, but you're really not. All you're doing is protecting your leverage.
Now, I actually want to zoom out a bit and look at the bigger life skill here because this isn't just about recruiters. People can ask these types of personal questions everywhere in all kinds of social situations. Some examples of these type of questions are, "How much money do you make?" or "Why aren't you married yet?" or "How much did you pay for that?" Most people freeze and either answer or they get awkward. What you want to do is question why they're asking. You want to lean into it. So the technique here is you want to counter with something. "Why are you asking?" "Why do you ask? That's kind of personal. I'm curious why you want to know that." You want to make them uncomfortable or kind of shame the asker almost for asking the question. The frame here is that they're being inappropriate by asking you such a personal question. It's not you. So you really need to just call it out. Why this matters is because when you refuse to be bullied, people are going to respect you more. And this works in recruiting, social situations, and life in general.
So, there's really five key strategies that you want to use instead when a recruiter asks you these types of questions. The first strategy is to redirect to the role. If a recruiter asks, "What's your salary?" You can just say, "Can you tell me about the team I'd be working with?" Strategy two is to make them give you information first. If the recruiter asks, "What are your expectations?" You can just ask, "What's the range that you've budgeted for this role?" Strategy three is to anchor high with ranges. You can say something like, "Based on research, I'm going to target a 160k to 220k role depending on the total compensation." Strategy four is to create urgency. You want to say something like, "I'm in late stages elsewhere, so let's move quickly if we're aligned." And strategy five is to just be comfortable with tension. You want to let the awkward pauses sit, and you don't want to be the first one to break the silence.
When I interviewed at Meta, I pushed back and I asked what the compensation band is for the role and they pushed back to me again and they said, "We need this to benchmark." But I held firm and I said that I'm not focused on the particular numbers and I asked them for a range and they gave me a range. But if I had just given them a number like 120K, they would have probably just offered me 150K. So they just add some money to it and then that's it. They just lowball on me. And I also interviewed with a startup and the startup actually asked me what other companies I'm interviewing with. I was a little taken aback by that question because usually I don't get asked that, but I said a few companies but mostly interested in this startup and they asked me what other companies and I said, "I'd rather just keep that private. Can we move quickly?" and they actually fast-tracked me on their interview process because of that. So I think the lesson really here is just to refuse to answer the question that actually helped me, although you might think at first it would hurt you, but it actually doesn't.
So in terms of your action plan, honestly, you really want to practice saying these phrases out loud that I'm about to say. "What's the salary range for this role?" "Why are you asking?" "How is that relevant?" "My current compensation is confidential." You want to get comfortable with these kind of awkward silences that might come up. You also want to get comfortable with being firm and saying no. And also, you want to get comfortable redirecting questions back to the recruiter. Remember, recruiters work for the company, not for you. And every question gathers data to pay you less. So, by protecting information, you're protecting leverage. You don't want to think of recruiters as allies here. They're negotiating opponents. They are professional and they might be amicable, but at the end of the day, they are opponents. You don't want to feel bad because you do not owe them your salary history or interview details. Think of yourself as the product. Would a salesperson tell you what their lowest price is? No. So, why would you tell a recruiter what your lowest acceptable offer is? The people who get the best offers, they know how to handle these questions, and now you do, too.
So, that's everything tech recruiters don't want you to know and exactly how to handle their questions without giving up your leverage. And I know this works because I've used these exact strategies to negotiate better offers at Meta and other companies. And I've helped others do the same. Now, you have two options. You can take everything I've shown you in this video and try to figure it out yourself. Or you can click the first link in the description and have me build a personalized strategy for you based on your specific situation. And if you're not ready for that yet, I highly recommend watching the video on screen next where I break down exactly how to get interviews without even applying. It's going to help you get into these recruiter conversations in the first place by skipping the application process entirely. The choice is yours. Thanks for watching. Make sure to subscribe and I'll see you in the next.