What to put for desired salary on a job application

Research the market rate before you type anything

The only way to write a confident number is to know what the role pays in your location. Spend 20 minutes on this before you open any application. Look at at least three sources and note the midpoint.

In the US, check Levels.fyi for tech roles, the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook for broad benchmarks, and LinkedIn Salary or Glassdoor for company-specific data. In Canada, use the Job Bank wage report at jobbank.gc.ca. In the UK, check the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings alongside Glassdoor UK. In Australia, use Seek Salary Insights and the ABS Employee Earnings data.

Write down the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile figures for your role, level, and city. Your range will sit somewhere in that spread depending on your experience.

• Levels.fyi: best for software, data, and product roles in the US and Canada
• LinkedIn Salary: useful for filtering by company size and location
• Glassdoor: shows base plus bonus breakdowns
• Job Bank (Canada): free government wage data by NOC code
• Seek Salary Insights (Australia): updated annually by role and state
• ONS ASHE (UK): official median earnings by occupation

Give a range, not a single number

A range signals flexibility and protects you from anchoring too low. The standard advice is to keep the range tight, within 10 to 15 percent, so both ends feel credible.

Set the floor of your range at the lowest base salary you would genuinely accept. Do not set it lower hoping to seem agreeable. If you accept an offer at that floor, you need to be satisfied with it.

Set the ceiling at roughly the 75th percentile for the role in your market, or slightly above if your experience is strong. Employers rarely offer the top of your stated range unprompted, but it gives you room to negotiate.

• Floor: your real minimum, not a negotiating floor below your minimum
• Ceiling: 75th percentile or up to 20 percent above your floor
• Range width: keep it within 10 to 15 percent for credibility
• Format: write as '$85,000 to $95,000' or '£45,000 to £52,000', not '$85-95k' unless the field is short

When to write 'Negotiable' and when not to

Some application forms accept free text. If the posting already lists a salary band, writing 'Negotiable' is reasonable because you are signaling you are within range without committing to a number before you know the full package.

If the form requires a number and will not accept text, enter the midpoint of your researched range. Do not leave the field blank or enter zero. Blank fields are often read as evasion, and zero can be taken literally by automated systems.

Avoid writing 'Negotiable' when the posting has no listed range and the form accepts it. Recruiters in that situation often skip candidates who give no signal at all. A range is almost always better than a single word.

Exact phrases and templates to copy

Use these as starting points and adjust the numbers to your research. The format matters as much as the figure because some applicant tracking systems parse salary fields automatically.

1. Standard range (US): '$88,000 to $98,000 depending on the full compensation package'
2. Standard range (UK): '£48,000 to £55,000 depending on benefits and bonus structure'
3. Standard range (Canada): 'CAD $75,000 to CAD $85,000'
4. Standard range (Australia): 'AUD $95,000 to AUD $105,000 plus superannuation'
5. When a band is posted: 'Open within your posted range of $70,000 to $90,000'
6. When the field requires one number: enter the midpoint, e.g. '$92,000'
7. Short free-text field: 'Negotiable, targeting $85k to $95k base'

Adjust your number for the specific employer

A startup with 30 employees and a Series A round will have a different budget from a Fortune 500 company. Calibrate accordingly. Startups often pay below market on base but offer equity. Large employers often pay at or above market with structured bonus plans.

If the posting lists a salary band, stay within it. Asking above the posted ceiling almost always results in rejection at the screening stage. If the band is lower than your minimum, that is useful information too. It may not be the right role for you at this time.

Government and public sector roles in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia almost always have fixed pay grades. Look up the grade before applying. Writing a number outside the grade wastes everyone's time.

What happens after you submit

The number you write is not a contract. It is a starting point for a conversation. Recruiters know this. If you get to the offer stage and the package is different from what you wrote, you can negotiate based on the full picture at that point.

Where candidates lose leverage is when they write a number far below market and then try to negotiate up significantly. The recruiter has already anchored internally to your stated figure. This is why the floor of your range matters so much.

Break-In Bad writes a tailored cover letter for each application from facts you confirm, which gives you a natural place to add context about compensation expectations if the salary field alone does not tell the full story. The agent applies on Greenhouse, Lever, Workday, and other employer sites and sends you a screenshot as proof of submission, so you always know exactly what was entered on your behalf.