I've done work in the public sector before. Here's what I told recruiters who asked for my salary history after that: "In my previous job, I deliberately took

I've done work in the public sector before. Here's what I told recruiters who asked for my salary history after that: "In my previous job, I deliberately took a below-market rate to work in the public sector, as a form of service to my community. I don't consider that salary relevant for this discussion." End of story. I'm fortunate to be in a place where broader salary statistics are available, so from there I simply redirected the conversation to "here's what I'm seeing as the range of market rates here, and why I think I deserve to be on the high end of that", and that was fine. Remember: in this industry, your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) is...just walk away, and answer the next recruiter who's begging for your time. If they can't consider putting you forward because of an arbitrary number from a non-comparable position, well, that's their problem and their loss.