What to put for salary expectations

Updated 2026-07-26 · honest comparison by the Sendout team

The field everyone hesitates over, on a form with no context and no one to ask.

The awkwardness is real: answer too high and you may be screened out before anyone reads your experience, answer too low and you have capped yourself before a conversation.

If the field is optional or free text

"Negotiable" or "open, based on the full role and package" is fine and common. It keeps the conversation open without being evasive.

If it is mandatory

Give a range rather than a number, with the bottom of the range at a figure you would genuinely accept. Anchor it on real market data for that title, that seniority and that location, not on your current salary. Many postings now include a published range, in which case placing yourself sensibly within it is the entire answer.

If it demands a single number, use a figure at the lower-middle of your researched range. A single number is always read as a maximum, never a minimum.

What not to do

Do not state your current salary. In several places employers are barred from asking, and volunteering it anchors everything that follows.
Do not put 0 or 1 to skip a required field. It looks like a mistake or a bot.
Do not go far above the published range if the posting gave one. That is usually a straightforward screen-out.

Know your number before you see the box

The reason people fumble this is that they decide in the moment, on the form. Research the range for your role and location once, write down the number you would accept and the number you are aiming for, and reuse those on every application. It turns a stressful decision into a lookup.

Sendout answers these fields consistently from the numbers you set once, rather than re-deciding on every form, and answers work authorization truthfully rather than guessing.

What makes Sendout different

Three things. They happen to be the three biggest complaints people have about every other tool in this category.

It works from your own accounts. Applications and outreach go out from your real email and LinkedIn. Human pace. Your voice. Your reputation carries them, not a vendor's server IP. Nothing sprays.
It fills real application forms. Sendout completes actual ATS applications on Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby and Workday. It answers the open-ended questions in your voice. This is a real submission, not a browser autofill you still have to babysit.
It filters ghost jobs. Roughly one in five postings is stale or a repost nobody reads. Sendout drops those and pursues live openings where a real hiring person can be reached.

When a recruiter replies, the conversation lands in one inbox. You can take over any thread with a click. You show up to the conversations. Sendout does the busywork.

Frequently asked

Should I put negotiable for salary expectations?

If the field allows free text, negotiable or open based on the full package is a normal answer. If a number is mandatory, a researched range with an acceptable floor is better than leaving it or guessing.

Do I have to give my current salary?

In a number of jurisdictions employers are restricted from asking, and there is generally no benefit to volunteering it. Answer with your expectations for the role rather than your history.

Let the agent handle the forms

Sendout finds fresh, real openings and applies for you. Everything goes out from your own email and LinkedIn, every day. You just take the conversations.

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