Salary Expectations?!

[superoz]

I have just been recommended a job by a friend of a friend whose manager is recruiting. Today he has emailed with details of the job (very similar to my previous job) but has also asked what my salary expectations are.
The thing is I haven't a clue since I stopped working when I had dd2 3 years ago, and my previous job was very well paid at a big corporate, but this is at a small firm and I've had a career break so obviously it will be nowhere near the salary I had. I don't want to talk myself out of a job by picking a number that's too high.
What the heck do I reply with?

Look for similar jobs in roughly the same area to get an idea of the salary range.

Tell them you'd have to know more about the job, hours and total compensation package before you could give a meaningful number.

Go on sites like glassdoor.com and payscale.com to check out the company and similar roles/companies. Get an idea of salaries which are similar, and bear in mind your last salary. Find out what the hours and total compensation is (e.g. pension, and any other benefits, such as private health and so on, and number of days holiday etc.) This should give you an idea of what you can reasonably expect to be paid. They'll pay as little as they can get away with, but as much as they have to to get someone they're keen on.

Work out what's the least you'd take this role for. (Don't tell them this figure.) Start by telling them a figure higher than what you expect - this gives you room for negotiation. But as you say, not so high, you price yourself out of the running. You might be surprised, though - I once tried to price myself out of a job, and it was a salutory lesson that they took me seriously and went to get HR to sign off the figure I named. I admitted I wouldn't be taking the job whatever they offered - but it was a surprise to me that I could give a figure like that (it was about 25% more than my salary at that time) and not be laughed at.

Good luck.

Tell them what your earned before, but say you don't necessarily expect to be earning that now - shows you're a bargain!

Thanks for the replies!

I used a combination of suggestions - sent a reply saying that I needed to know more details about the job so difficult to decide on a figure but also suggested a salary range based on current market rates. I then pointed out my experience etc that matched the job to justify the rate. The job is mostly home based which doesn't happen too often so I had to factor this in and not aim too high.

I have an interview tomorrow, absolutely petrified now but at least I did something right!

Good luck for tomorrow!