It’s normal to get a bit squeamish talking about money, especially if you’re going for your first tech job and are excited about even getting in the door. But handling discussions about your salary expectations with confidence early on can help you land a better offer. Here’s how to prepare for the salary expectations question and answer it with grace.  

Figure out the market rate for the role 

It’s not just about how you word your answers about salary expectations — you need to be equipped with data about the market rate for your skills and for the type of role you’re applying to. That way you’ll be able to ask for what you’re worth with confidence. So, where do you start? 

Where to look for salary data 

Fortunately, a lot of job descriptions disclose a salary range for the role. If the employer is hiring within the US, they legally have to give a range for some states. That doesn’t mean that exact range will apply to your location (especially if it’s a remote role), but it should give you a sense of how they’re valuing the position. If a company doesn’t give any indication of the salary range, you can still find comparable data by looking at similar roles in the industry. We’ve aggregated data on a number of tech role salaries, such as UX Researcher, React Developer, and IT Project Manager. 

You can also look at resources like Levels.fyi or Glassdoor for signals. Some tech companies (like Posthog or Buffer) are leading the way with publicly available compensation frameworks, so you can gather more data by looking at what other orgs are paying for similar positions.  

Do some sleuthing for more data points — there are plenty of discussions on Hacker News and Reddit where other job seekers have asked for input on reasonable salary expectations. You could also ask a trusted mentor, colleague, or fellow Codecademy learners who you’ve met in the forums or your local chapter.  

“If you feel comfortable, it’s good to talk about money,” says Lisa Tagliaferri, Senior Director of Developer Enablement at cybersecurity company Chainguard. “How do you know if something is a good offer, or how do you evaluate equity versus base compensation versus bonus structure? If you have a group of people that you trust, having those transparent conversations can be really empowering.” 

You don’t have to show your cards 

At this stage, hopefully you either have the salary range for the role or are prepared with your market research when you go into interviews. Ideally, you want the recruiter or hiring manager to share their expectations with you first, so you don’t inadvertently undercut yourself.  

It’s easy to get flustered if an interviewer asks you outright, “What are your salary expectations for this role?” The best way to respond to this question without giving anything away is to turn it back on the interviewer.  

Remember: The interviewer knows how much money the company has allotted for the role. “The vast majority of vacancies don’t get approved unless there is a hiring budget attached to them, so the hiring team should be able to share their budget with you,” says Lucy Jones, Headhunter and Director of the Executive Search firm Lawson Brooke. You could say something like: “Could you share the budget allocated to this position? Then I can confirm if it’s in the ballpark of what I’m looking for.” 

If you’re nervous, remember that recruiters will very likely have heard this response before. They may give you their target range, but if they can’t (or won’t) disclose it, you can follow up with something like, “I don’t feel I have enough context to give a figure yet, as I’d like to learn more about the role and responsibilities first.”

What if they ask for your current salary? 

It’s becoming less common for interviewers to ask you to share your current salary, and you’re not legally required to disclose it. If it does come up, you can respond similarly to how you answer the question about salary expectations, by keeping things polite, but firm. Here are a few examples of what you could say: 

“I’m not comfortable sharing my current salary, but if you can share the salary range for this role, I’m happy to confirm if it’s in the range of my expectations.” 

“I see this role as an opportunity to take on more responsibility compared to my current position, so I’d prefer to focus on what I’d be bringing to your company. What is the salary band associated with this role?”  

“I’m looking for a position where I can leverage my skills and experience to contribute meaningfully. I’m sure we can come to a fair and competitive compensation package that aligns with my qualifications and the value I can bring to the role.” 

What if they don’t bring up compensation at all? 

If you’re facing several rounds of interviews and still have no idea if the potential pay is in line with your expectations, don’t be afraid to ask. As Lucy stated earlier, most companies will have a budget for the role, which you can ask for at any time. “Don’t feel embarrassed about discussing money,” Lucy says. “We all have bills to pay!” You can ask: 

“Are you able to share a rough guideline of the salary band for this role?” 

Some candidates will withdraw from an application process if the company won’t disclose salary information. If they can’t give you an idea of the salary, you can ask for details about other benefits that make up the total remuneration package, which may help you decide if it’s worth pursuing.  

Consider the total compensation package 

While you can’t pay rent with a desk setup budget, there are other benefits to consider and “different levers you can pull,” Lisa says. Retirement contribution matching, health insurance, professional development and wellness stipends, and equity are all ways to grow your wealth and career potential, and they can get overlooked in favor of the base salary.  

“If it feels like there is a disconnect between your expectations and their affordability, ask what the benefits package looks like,” says Lucy. “Is there any variable pay like a performance or company bonus? Are there stock options?” You can often find this type of information right in the job description.  

Keep in mind that the compensation package can vary drastically depending on the size and stage of the company, Lucy says. Early-stage startups may not have as much cash to offer, but often grant stock options, giving you an opportunity to own a stake in the company. Stock options present more risk, but greater potential rewards if you believe the company will be successful in the future.  

Everything in the compensation package has value, says Lucy, and sometimes you can negotiate to increase or decrease different elements, depending on your needs. Ask questions about potential incentives that could result in a salary increase, like annual reviews, stock option refreshers, or negotiating bonuses tied to achieving specific goals. 

Though these conversations can feel tense, “it’s in the hiring manager’s best interests that candidates who join the company are happy with their compensation,” says Lucy. If you still can’t get on the same page, it’s probably time to move on. “Invest your time in pursuing an opportunity that’s better aligned.” 

Practicing these responses will help you go into these conversations feeling really confident. Try out our new Interview Simulator.  

You’re trying your best to make a good impression, but then the interviewer asks, “What is your greatest weakness?” We asked a recruiter and hiring manager for technical roles how to talk about your weaknesses without torpedoing your chances of getting the job or being disingenuous. 

The first step towards answering this common question is understanding what the interviewer is actually asking. It’s more about showing your self-awareness than drawing attention to your weaknesses, according to Jean du Plessis, Senior Engineering Manager at Upbound. “Are you aware of what you’re good at and where you need to improve? What are you doing about it?” You can turn things that are weaknesses on paper into strengths by acknowledging your gaps and demonstrating that you’re proactive about learning and improving.  

Here are some tips for acknowledging your weaknesses in a job interview, without underselling yourself.  

How to talk about your weaknesses in a job interview 

Be genuine 

Answers that try to offer a strength in disguise (like “I work too hard” or “I’m a perfectionist”) don’t go down well. The interviewer is asking you to be vulnerable and share something that could color their perception of you. Remember that you are in full control of the story you tell; owning your flaws is much more effective to build trust than disguising them.   

From a practical standpoint, hiring managers may also be trying to gauge if you’ll need more guidance or coaching in the role. Having room to grow isn’t a deal-breaker, especially for entry-level positions, but your interviewer wants to know what they’ll need to do to support you. In fact, being upfront about what you’re doing to address your shortcomings is a great way to frame your answer.  

Focus on what you’re doing to improve  

Here’s another way to think about the question, “Tell me about your biggest weakness” courtesy of r/AskEngineers: “What’s an area that you’re trying to improve and what steps have you taken?” 

Reframing the question this way puts the focus onto taking action, instead of just reflecting on your weakness. So, you might say that you find it hard to estimate how long development work can take and that you’ve learned to build in additional time for debugging. Or maybe you struggle with context switching between meetings and coding, and worked with your previous manager to schedule longer blocks of time for uninterrupted development work. Maybe you weren’t always consistent with documenting your work but started using generative AI to create a first draft.    

Sometimes hiring managers can pose a question about your weaknesses indirectly, like by asking you to tell them about a big mistake you made at work. The same approach works here: own the mistake, describe the steps you took to make things right, and what you did to ensure it wouldn’t happen again.  

You want to give more attention to how you handled a challenge or took measures to improve than the weakness itself. It’s not about spinning the example to mislead the interviewer, it’s about demonstrating your self-awareness and growth mindset. awareness and growth mindset.  

Prepare an example scenario 

“It’s always a good idea to think through different scenarios you’ve been in in the past and how you dealt with them before you go into an interview,” says Lisa Tagliaferri, Senior Director of Developer Enablement at cybersecurity company Chainguard. Reflect on situations that have challenged you and how you either overcame them or prevented them from reoccurring.  

“You could talk through a group project you were part of. Maybe you were expecting deliverables from a coworker by a certain time, and they didn’t meet the deadline, so you ended up having to do it yourself,” says Lisa. “So, the next time you had a group project, what guardrails did you put in place or how did you communicate your expectations up front so that it didn’t happen again?” 

Practicing your answers to situational interview questions like this will help you feel totally prepared when you’re put on the spot. Our new Interview Simulator (in beta) generates interview questions for you to answer in writing or verbally, and the AI will give you actionable feedback on your responses. 

Tie your example back to the job description 

Ideally, you want to make it as easy as possible for the interviewer to compare your skills, experience, and character traits to the role they’re filling. Try to focus your example on something that’s relevant to the job. Go through the job spec carefully while you’re preparing and identify any areas where you are short on experience or have struggled with in the past.  

For example, if the role requires collaboration with stakeholders from other departments, you might speak about a project that got delayed because you weren’t specific enough about what type of feedback you’re looking for and by when. Maybe your proof of concept got derailed because someone got hung up on an unimportant detail. Now, when briefing stakeholders, you are always explicit about the level of input you need and what the repercussions are for late contributions.   

Or, you might not have as much experience with the company’s preferred programming language, but you could describe how you’ve ramped up quickly with new languages or frameworks in the past.  

Be flexible 

When addressing your weaknesses, highlight your flexibility, recommends Lucy Jones, Headhunter and Director of the Executive Search firm Lawson Brooke. “If you’re lacking experience or maturity in some aspect of the role, that might mean you do less of the exciting work at the beginning,” she says. 

For example, you could volunteer to spend more time on documentation, write unit tests, or chip away at tech debt. Have a no-job-too-small attitude and demonstrate that you’re committed to upskilling and developing your weaker areas — it’ll only help your standing. 

Lastly, don’t worry if you’re not an exact skills match (yet) 

The hiring manager fully expects that there will be areas that you need to develop while you’re on the job. “Nobody is a perfect match for a role—maybe it happens in 1% of interviews,” says Jean. Having some areas of weakness is a good thing, because it means you have room to grow while in the role.  

Companies will usually have a salary range for the role they’re hiring for, and if you meet 100% of their requirements, they will hire you at the top of that band. In those cases, there is no opportunity to advance within the role — you’d have to get promoted or change jobs again to progress. “Managers don’t want to hire candidates who will be looking to move on six months down the line,” says Jean. Having some skills you are seeking to develop is a good thing.  

You can practice answering interview questions with our new beta Interview Simulator: Build a mock interview based on the job title, level, type of interview and company and your own experience. The AI interviewer is trained to ask intelligent follow-up questions like a real recruiter and will provide you with feedback after the session. For even more job search tips, tools, and courses, check out our Career Center.