Salary expectations in an interview: how to name your number

The recruiter asks about money in the first ten minutes, and by then you need a number ready. In the Sobes question bank, "What salary are you aiming for?" was recorded after interviews at 25 companies, and the version "What number are you starting from in your salary expectations?" has been opened more than 3,700 times in the Go section. Developers get it, analysts get it, almost always on the first call.

People get this wrong in two ways. Some name a number "so they definitely hire me" and then spend a year earning 40 thousand rubles a month less than a colleague with the same experience. Others say "whatever you think is fair" and get the bottom of the budget. Half an hour of preparation fixes both.

Where to get the number

You need three figures: the market, your floor, and your target.

The market. Look at openings for your stack and grade that publish a range. The Sobes job market analytics collects salaries from vacancies posted in Russian Telegram channels. Since August 1, 2026 that is 63 thousand vacancies, about a third of them with a range. Medians of the range midpoints:

Stack moves the number a lot: for a middle engineer the median is 300 in Go, 225 in Python, 200 in frontend and Java, 180 in QA. One caveat matters: these are job ads, not actual payouts, and they are not from hh.ru, the main job board in Russia. Not everyone publishes a range, and companies that pay well do it more willingly. Treat the table as a reference point, not a price list.

A second reference: the "What your resume is worth" block in the resume studio. It shows a market range for your experience and stack from the same data. A third: friends in similar roles and recruiters who message you with numbers.

The floor. The amount below which you say no even if you like everything else. You never say it out loud.

The target. The amount you would accept with no regrets. When changing jobs at the same grade, that is usually your current income plus 20–30%.

A figure or a range

A recruiter hears "250 to 300" as "250". The lower bound becomes your price and the upper one is forgotten. So there are two options that work.

One: a single figure with "from".

I'm looking at 280 thousand net and up. I can be more precise once I understand the work and what's in the package.

Two: a range where the lower bound is your target.

I'm considering offers in the 280–320 net range, depending on the work and the terms.

Either way your target sits at the bottom, not in the middle. If you would accept 280, don't say "250–300".

Net and gross

Half the misunderstandings at the offer stage come from the candidate saying "take-home" while the company counts "before tax". Always add the qualifier yourself and ask which one the recruiter uses.

Russian income tax has been progressive since 2025: 13% on income up to 2.4 million ₽ a year, 15% on the part between 2.4 and 5 million, with higher rates above that. With a gross salary of 300 thousand you take home 261 thousand for the first eight months and less from September, because your annual income has crossed the threshold. If you need 280 net, that is roughly 325 gross.

Also ask what the amount is made of: base salary, or base plus bonus. What else to check in the numbers once the offer is in hand is covered in Questions to ask before accepting a job offer.

"What do you make now"

You don't have to answer, and inflating the number is a bad idea: some employers ask for an income certificate during onboarding, and the conversation about your value turns into a conversation about a raise over your current pay. The calmest option is to answer with expectations.

I'd rather not discuss my current pay, it was set under different conditions. Based on the market and what this role involves, I'm looking at 280 net.

If the recruiter insists and the form can't be closed without a number, give your total income, not the base: bonuses, health insurance, anything with a cash value. And add right away that your expectations don't depend on it.

Three situations

I want plus 30%

You make 200 and want 260. Don't justify the raise with personal reasons like a mortgage. Justify it with the market and the work:

I'm looking at 260 net. I've checked openings with similar work, and for my experience with high-load backends that's the middle of the market. And I'm discussing numbers in that range in two other processes right now.

Mention other processes only if they exist. Recruiters check with one simple question: "what stage are you at there?"

I'm changing stack or direction

You are a senior PHP developer moving to Go, or a QA engineer moving into development. Asking for your old grade's pay is hard, but you don't need to drop to junior either: you still have production experience, incident work, and the ability to own a task.

I understand I have under a year of commercial Go, so I'm aiming at a solid middle level: from 220 net. I'd like to come back to this conversation in six months based on results.

Asking for a review in six months sounds fine if it gets written into the offer.

The recruiter pushes you to go first

Turning the question around once is fair:

Could you tell me the range budgeted for this role? I'll say right away whether we're a match.

Many will tell you. If the answer is "you first", don't start a tug of war: name your figure with "from". An anchor you set works for you when it comes from the market and not from thin air.

How not to undersell or scare them off

• Don't lower the number yourself in the same sentence. "280, but I'm open to discussion" is heard as "250".
• Don't give the recruiter and the hiring manager different numbers. They compare notes.
• If you named too little and realized it later, correct it before the offer: "After the technical round I understand the scope better and I've recalculated: 300 net." After the offer it is a negotiation, and that has its own article: How to negotiate a job offer and handle a counteroffer.
• If your number is above the budget, ask what the company can offer and decide for yourself. A no over money on the first call saves everyone three weeks.

Rehearse the sentence out loud

Write down the three figures: market, floor, target. Build one sentence with the target and the word "net", and say it out loud five times, until your voice stops dropping on the number. You can test how it sounds in conversation in the HR screening mode of the mock interview. The other first-call questions are covered in the article on the HR screening interview.