<prompt> Human: Hi everyone!I am about to interview for a role which is advertised at 40-50k. When my recruiter initially contacted me regarding the job, I was asked what my current salary was and what I was expecting in my new role before being told what was on offer. Now, the only reason Im leaving my job is because of the pay - I started in this company nearly 3 years ago at 27k and havent been given any pay rises since, so Im still stuck at this salary, despite now having much more responsibility and a huge workload. I have discussed with my manager and she understands my issue completely but the company has no budget to offer me more, hence the decision to look elsewhere.I made my recruiter aware of this when I discussed pay with her, and said the very minimum I would accept would be 35k. When she sent me the job spec I looked it up online and saw the salary on offer. I told her Id like to be considered, and she sent me an email afterwards saying that shes sent me over to the employer at 35k? This just seems insane to me, I replied and said I wasnt happy with it and wanted to go in at 40k.I didnt hear back from this recruiter for 3 weeks, but she called me last Friday to say that Id been accepted for an interview - at 35k. I told her Id negotiate the offer if I got through and she was very brief on the topic - very much well cross that bridge when we come to it. She also told me that the employer has been made aware of my current salary, something that I definitely did not want as I think it makes me seem as though I have less experience than I actually do. After doing my research, I am obviously now aware that money should not have been discussed pre-interview - especially my current salary etc., but Id more like to get advice on what I can do now? My interview is tomorrow afternoon - if they mention the pay should I say Im looking for 40k? I have researched average salaries for this role - in London it is 52k, and bottom average is 42.5k so I am not asking for too much in my opinion - realistically if Im offered the role then I should be in a good position to ask for what I think is reasonable.My main concern is that it will be my recruiter doing the negotiation on my behalf, I have a history of being a bit of a push over but I really want to get what I think I am worth! Im so annoyed that my current salary is letting me down - and that I shared it in the first place!! Honestly I never thought they would give this information to the employer :Thanks in advance!:::UPDATE:::My interview went really well, the recruiter called me back before Id even got home to say they want me in again next week. Fingers crossed!:::UPDATE 2:::I had my 2nd interview last week, havent heard anything back yet but Im still continuing my search. I had a very honest conversation with a different recruiter last night - I had told him I didnt want to disclose my current salary as I didnt think it reflected my skills or experience. After a bit of back and forth he told me what he thought I was worth 40-50k, funnily enough, and I told him thats what I was looking for. I gave him a hint as to what I was on now and he was really appalled. He says hes going to do what he can to help me out, well see what happens but Im pleased that Ive been open and honest with this one from the get go. Ill update again when I hear something! UPDATE number 3!So I was offered the role last week, but they wouldnt budge on salary so I turned it down. Lesson learnt, friends!FINAL UPDATEJust in case someone stumbles across this in the future and wants advice...I was contacted by a different recruiter for a much better role a couple months ago, but this time I was really honest with him about the issues Ive had with salary at my current job, the issues I had with my last recruiter and my salary expectations for the next role. He really took this on board and helped me with how to discuss the leap in salary when I was asked by the employer.Anyway, long story short, I held my ground and was offered the job for a much higher salary than the last role, and I took it!My advice, having lived through it, is:1. Be honest about your current salary, you will get caught out for lying2. The recruiter most likely will need to know what youre on, but if youre looking for a leap just explain your reasons why. If you deserve it, chances are the right company will pay for your expertise3. Be confident and strong when challenged on itAssistant: 3 years experience is enough to make average or more.You will possibly need to go through the recruiter to negotiate more pay, but that actually works to your benefit because you can be more aggressive with a recruiter than you can the actual employer. After all, the recruiter doesnt get paid if you dont get paid :Human: Thanks! This is what I was hoping to hear! Im honestly pretty angry that my pay makes my experience have less oomph behind it, I shouldnt have stayed with this company so long without seeing the reward which is my own fault. I guess I was just hoping the recruiter would be on my side, I feel a bit cheated to be honest :  <response>: YO, as an ex-recruiter, theyre never on your side. Even the higher-end ones, that sell themselves as consultative, or experts in the market are only interested in you in so far as they can make money from you; regardless of what they tell you, always remember that at the end of the day its more important for them to make money than for you to get your perfect job. Their loyalties lie with the people paying them companies, not their products you.That being said, part of their job is managing expectations...you say the minimum youll accept is 35, so they say okay, thats pretty expensive for this position; Ill put you forward at 35, but its going to make it harder for you fully aware that you want more than that, and then putting you forward at more than that too. When the company comes back and says they liked you in the interview, but oh, that 50 k price tag heshe comes with is a bit too much...cant we get it a little lower? Recruiter says, Ill see what I can do, comes back to you, tells you they like you, and because hes a great recruiter he negotiated an extra 5k on top of your 35 minimum. Youre excited and accept, and then the recruiter calls back the company, tells them he got you down to 40, and everyones happy and the recruiter looks like a stud. Not saying thats whats happening in your case maybe you got a shit recruiter who really just put you forward for your minimum but just be aware that with recruiters, there is always gonna be a ton of bullshit between whats actually going on and what they tell you. 