How should I respond if the HR asked me about expected salary during the offer stage?

First of all congratulations on making it this far into the interview!

This is a tricky question that many candidates struggle with. When interviewers ask this question they are seriously considering you for the job and are thinking of a competitive offer in order to better cater to your needs.

This is also the time when you should bring up any competing offers you have to use as leverage. Employers want to know what they are up against and this would give them the impression that you would be a valuable asset to their company.

If you don’t have a competing offer, another approach is to reference the _ _market value of someone in a similar role. (You'll have to do your homework for this one!) Use this to justify your asking salary.

One way to wriggle out when asked to give a copy of last payslip to progress through the hiring stage: Share that you are not comfortable in sharing that as it is confidential between you and your previous employer. And you hope that your salary will be considered based on the merit of your skillsets, experiences and value-add you bring to the table.

We've written about this tricky process of answering expected salary questions in this article. All the best!

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Before this happens, find out what the average pay is for the job, so you have an idea what to expect.

When the hr asks the question, you can consider suggesting looking at the average pay without specifying the number, and work things out from there. This is so that they won't exactly know how much it will take to 'buy' you, and you have room to negotiate. Information is crucial in the negotiation stage, and it is unlikely a level playing field for you.