How do you avoid disclosing salary/salary expectations?

[MsFogi]

I have thrown my hat in the ring for a role that I saw on LinkedIn - I am not really looking to move but this role looked interesting and a good fit. They have come straight back and asked what my salary expectations are. At this stage I don't really have any expectations/wish to disclose my salary to a competitor company (I am fairly senior). Also, I think that disclosing such expectations/current salary only works in the favour of the employer and perpetuates the sex pay gap. So MNers who are more eloquent than me - how would you respond to their one-liner email asking what my salary expectations are?

@PearPickingPorky

As an example, I've just typed my job into Glassdoor and the salary range is 27k to 86k.

So, if a job advert says "salary: competitive" and they come over all coy like PP's have experienced, or they say "what is your expectation, what should I ask for?

86k ?

If they won’t disclose a range, let’s assume you might be 20% underpaid in relation to men currently. So ask for your salary plus 20% to level up plus another 15%.

I wish I’d taken my own advice last week, I kind of screwed my self over quoting my last salary, but did end up with 10% more than I expected. Why do I do that? They never ask for proof, so you can add whatever you want and come down if needed.

I have been recruiting recently. We provide a salary range in the ad and ask for current snd expected salary, if someone wants too much we don’t interview them. But our pension is soooo much better than most I fear people don’t realise when they state expectations, but expectations do matter so do look carefully as you could rule yourself out…..

I've been wondering about this myself. I was recently put on the spot when I had a call from the talent specialist to arrange an interview for a job I had applied for. She asked me then and there what I expected to be paid. I blurted something out and regretted it, especially because a. It was a newly created job so they were very vague in the extent of the work and responsibility and b. I hadn't even interviewed yet.

In the past I have put my salary and expected salary (undercut myself in retrospect) down when filling in application forms. I won't do that again as I think it's ridiculous. I now write TBA. Not sure how it goes down but besides the fact I feel its a breach of privacy for my employer and me, I don't think you can have a firm idea of what you should be paid until you know more about the position through interviews.

I've only just joined Glassdoor so haven't worked out if it's helpful or not yet. Why do you say it's useless @PearPickingPorky?

Agree with the above “I’d love to discuss this at interview as I will need to gain a better understanding of the role before I commit to a salary. Do you have a salary band I can keep in mind?"

Sorry, just realised you answered that @PearPickingPorky

I avoid giving my current salary but work out what I would want to move including any increase in seniority, having researched what other companies pay etc.
if pressed for current salary I provide total package re compensation, as this is more reflective than basic salary and varies significantly from one company to another e.g stock/pension etc.
Usually at this stage it is a quick check to ensure you are not wildly unaffordable before they waste time interviewing.

It's a good point about current pay being confidential, tympanic.

If nobody in the industry is disclosing pay in job adverts (and, of course, internal discussions about pay between colleagues is not allowed), then how do competitors know what their rivals are paying? By making every potential applicant to a job yell them their current pay in advance!