With recruiters there's simply one rule to go by: Either you're feeling the pain, or they are. If there's a trick in this, it's to make the recruiter feel jus

With recruiters there's simply one rule to go by: Either you're feeling the pain, or they are. If there's a trick in this, it's to make the recruiter feel just enough pain that they hate to say no, because they lose their commission. So when you're asked salary first, go ahead and answer it and highball it. Either one of three things will happen: 1. They will tell you it's fine (and it might be), in which case, you didn't ask high enough. 2. They will say you're way too high and hang up. 3. They will reveal what their highest salary is for the position (or something close to that). Number 3 is what you're looking for. Because then you can negotiate off your high ball answer and look like you're being reasonable, if they refuse to come up, then it's time to hang up the phone.