What Should You Say When an Interviewer Asks About Salary Expectations?

The interview is going well. You like them, they seem to like you, and then it lands. “What are your salary expectations?” Most candidates either dodge, freeze, or blurt out a number they regret in the parking lot.

In this clip from 30 Interview Questions & Answers, interview coach Richard McMunn lays out a four-letter structure for answering it, so you walk in with a plan instead of a guess.

What Richard McMunn actually said

McMunn calls it his RULE structure:

When answering the difficult but critical question, “What are your salary expectations?” use my rule structure, R U L E.

Then he breaks down each letter:

R stands for research. Tell the interviewer you have researched the salary range for your job role and industry before applying. You can research the salary range on the website glassdoor.com. U stands for understanding. Tell the interviewer what your understanding is of the salary range. L stands for like. Tell the interviewer the exact salary you would like in the role. And E stands for exceed expectations. Tell the interviewer what you will do to exceed expectations for the salary you would like.

Here’s why this works. The question feels like a trap because you’re naming a cost. RULE flips it. Research replaces a nervous guess with an anchored range, and ending on what you’ll do to exceed expectations reframes the answer from what you cost to what you deliver. In the episode, McMunn follows up with an example that names a range of $55,000 to $60,000 and asks for exactly $59,000. That precision isn’t an accident. Research by Columbia Business School professors Malia Mason and Daniel Ames found that precise opening numbers anchor harder than round ones, because the other side assumes you’ve done your homework.

And doing this at all puts you ahead of most people. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey of over 5,000 US workers found only about 30% asked for higher pay the last time they were hired, and roughly two thirds of those who asked came out ahead of the original offer.

How to actually do it

1. Research the range before the interview. Check the job posting first, since many roles now list a range. Then triangulate with Glassdoor (the site McMunn names), a second salary site, and official statistics if your country publishes them (BLS in the US, ONS in the UK). Treat any single crowd-sourced number as one data point, not the truth.

2. State your understanding, tied to the role. Open with a line like, “I researched the salary range for this role and industry before applying, and my understanding is it sits between X and Y.” Anchor to the role’s scope and market, never to your rent or your last salary.

3. Name the exact number you would like. Pick a precise figure inside your researched range, not a round one at the top of it. “I would like a salary of 59,000” reads as informed. “60k?” reads as a hope.

4. Close with the exceed line. Finish with one or two specific ways you’ll be worth it, like, “For that amount, I will take ownership of the hardest problems on the team from day one.” If you’ve already done the work to find your career through line, this is where it pays off, because your proof points are ready.

Put together, that’s a four-sentence answer you can practice out loud until it’s automatic.

One thing to watch

RULE is a structure, not a script to recite word for word. Two situations need care. If the employer has posted a range, don’t anchor below it; start from their numbers. And don’t treat “anchor high” as a cheat code. A 2022 study in the Journal of Vocational Behavior found that extreme salary requests reduced candidates’ likability and their odds of being hired. McMunn’s method already guards against this, since the number comes from research, not bravado. Also remember this is expectation-setting during the interview, not the full negotiation after an offer arrives.

Before your next interview

Practice the four-sentence answer out loud once before your next interview. Sixty seconds of rehearsal beats an hour of dread, and a number you can defend calmly is worth more than a clever script. The exceed step works best when you can point to proof instead of promises. Speakrphone turns your talks and speaking moments into a talk resume you can share anywhere.