Clients often ask

Clients often ask me what to do if the interviewer absolutely insists that they reveal an exact dollar amount for their current salary. There’s a method for handling that one too:

QUESTION: We can’t proceed unless you tell me an exact dollar amount of your current salary.
ANSWER: My base salary is $78,350 a year, and that is one of the reasons I’m looking for another position. I would like to be making more.

Or . . .
ANSWER: My base salary is $78,350 a year with an excellent benefits package worth $12,000, so that puts my entire compensation package somewhere in the nineties.

If you’re at a first interview and are reasonably sure of a second interview, or if you’re being screened on the phone, you should not get into serious negotiations. The question “How much do you expect to earn here?” is just a screening question taking to get you in or out of the next interview. The best answer is sometimes “flexible,” “open,” or “negotiable.”

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job