[Pooge]

For a company I've interviewed with, I've been asked twice a salary range and declined both times. I was even transparent for the 2nd time (which happened months later) and answered that it's not in my interest to give a number first.

Well, I received an offer from them and I would have undercut myself by 30%.

This is perhaps—or perhaps not—an extreme example, but I only applied what I was told in the negotiation articles and books I've read.

When you read a book, you're going to think "It's just fantasy; no way this is going to happen to me" but if you actually apply that knowledge it can truly work in your favor.

I also declined an offer 2 months beforehand because the salary was ridiculously low, despite being unemployed at the time.

Want is fine, need is not.

[hummingn3rd]

I am a bit confused by not talking about the salary right away, I have seen advice like yours and in this article about not giving the number fisrt but the opposite in other articles saying to leverage the anchoring bias by giving a high number first. That would help raising the following offers. Both approaches seem to make sense so I am not sure what to choose.

[Pooge]

I think it's fair to give it first if you're a Senior engineer and are able to receive offers quickly.

If you were looking for a $150k salary, you could drop an extreme anchor at $200k and they might even give you $180k.

[ornornor]

I’m also ambivalent because you risk investing in a time consuming interview process only to find out they’re offering .5 of what you deemed the minimum you’d take.

[1oooqooq]

are you a vc level with visibility of salaries in all the company orgs? if not, just stay silent or you will undercut yourself. working class never knows their value, by design.

[therealdrag0]

You can get a lot of data points online though from levelsfyi or blind.

[1oooqooq]

that shows you how cheap people are working for, not how much you are worth to the company. as i said, better not to say any number

[ATMLOTTOBEER]

In general it’s ok to give a first offer (provide a salary range) if you have an information advantage. You can come in just outside the zopa.