Handle salary expectation questions early in the hiring process
Talk tracks for discussing pay early, so recruiters align expectations without losing candidates or breaking pay laws.
The prompt
Help me handle salary conversations with candidates early in the process.
Role and pay range: [RANGE, and whether I can share it]
Other compensation: [bonus, equity, benefits, perks]
Where we hire: [LOCATIONS - pay-transparency and salary-history laws differ]
Typical situations: [e.g. candidates above range, candidates who won't share a number, candidates asking for the top of range]
Give me:
1. An opening line for the first call that shares the range (where allowed) and asks about expectations, not history.
2. Responses for these situations:
- The candidate is well above the range.
- The candidate refuses to give a number.
- The candidate is far below the range (and how to avoid underpaying them).
- The candidate asks where in the range they would land.
- The candidate asks about equity or bonus details I can't confirm yet.
3. How to explain total compensation clearly and honestly.
4. When to stop a process because the gap is too big, and how to say so respectfully.
5. A note template for logging pay expectations in our ATS consistently.
Rules: never ask about current or past pay where it is banned; keep offers tied to the role's band and internal equity, not to what the candidate earned before. This is general information - confirm local rules with HR or legal.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore HR & Hiring prompts
What to fill in
- RANGE, and whether I can share it
- bonus, equity, benefits, perks
- LOCATIONS - pay-transparency and salary-history laws differ
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RTF structure (Role, Task, Format). RTF tells the model who to be, what to do and what shape the answer should take. It is the quickest structure that still gives noticeably better results than a bare request.
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