<prompt> Human: I am a recent graduate with a 2:1 and have been applying for jobs in a specialist field of Digital Forensics in the U.K. For a role in this field a position with the police pays around 30k per year. I have also applied for graduate entry level positions, and have received an email asking me to indicate what I expect my salary level would be for this entry level role? How do I correctly answer this? I do not want to undercut myself, for example if theyre starting salary is 27k and I say I would be happy with say 23k - as I want above 21k to be able to pay back my student loans, as the whole point of getting the degree is to earn a salary high enough to pay back the debt - then Im cutting myself out of 4,000 On the other hand if I say 30k they would think I was being out of order for asking for too much when they only start at 27? These figures are just for illustrative purposes, I do not know the current pay scale  <response>: I always try to have them toss the first number out. So my canned response is usually I like to take a look at what the total compensation package will look likeTo be fair things like health insurance costs and 401k contribution rates can make a significant difference in looking at employers. Once they toss the first number out I like to ask for a little more. A recruiters first number is rarely the last number, they expect you to negotiate and to know what you are worth, it shows them you did your home work 