Stupid answer to a salary question... help?

[DailyMailReadersAreThick]

I'm kicking myself.

I had an interview this morning. Near the end, this happened:

Interviewer: "What's your current salary?"
Me: "[salary]"
Him: "Are you happy with that?"
Me: "Yes." WHY? WHY? WHY?

The position was advertised as STARTING £20k above my current salary.

I'm an idiot. It caught me off guard and I blurted it out.

How can I salvage this?

A recruiter arranged the interview so I'm going to tell him and see what he comes up with - obviously he wants to get me as high a salary as possible so his commission is as high as possible. But I'm going to spend all night calling myself an idiot unless I can think of a way to salvage it.

Of course, I might not be offered the position at all, but it seemed quite promising.

That would have thrown me as well and I'm sure if you are offered the job your agent will get a decent package for you. Good luck

Thanks Redcliff

That would have thrown me too. I don't think there's a good answer because a 'no' could like you're leaving just for money (I think we're supposed to pretend we love the job and what not )

Anyway there'll still be discussions and you can say things like you've got X experience since starting that job at that salary and that is worth more. Or if the new role has different or additional responsibilities etc.

Good luck!

When you speak to the recruiter, point out that you have been happy with the pay for your current role, but that the differences between the roles needs to be reflected in any future negotiations?

Your recruiter is the one to salvage this.

Tell them what you have said here and get them negotiating! They will be charging a % of your final salary package so it's in their interest to do so!

Say- I said I was satisfied as the level of work I do is more or less commensurate with my salary, but given the new responsibilities and demands of this role I would expect my salary to rise in line with the increased demands of this new role.

Thank you all! Great advice. I'm waiting to hear the outcome but I'll update when it happens.