Is 400k/yr overpaid for a SWE?
I&#x27;m frankly super confused about salaries right now. Currently job hunting in Europe and the other day when a recruiter asked how much I was looking for I gave my current salary as a minimum of 65 euros&#x2F;h and the recruiter kind of chuckled and told me that if I&#x27;m a good match I could ask for like 90.  Okay, sounds great.  So a few days later I was having an initial interview for a senior ML position and when asked how much I expect (recall this is Europe so let&#x27;s generously divide the US salary by 4) I said 100k.  From my point of view I&#x27;m still low balling it because I wanted the job, but apparently this was far too much because the interviewer was incredulous and basically ended the interview on the spot. Told me that was more than they pay any of their senior positions.<p>Doing the rough math, 60 euros&#x2F;h, 8 hrs per day at 48 weeks &gt; 100k.  So yeah.  I just don&#x27;t know what to say any more when this question comes up.  It seems to be random to me what is going to be an acceptable answer.  Usually I want to continue the conversation and discuss it, but instead it just seems to cut things off immediately.<p>I find it really frustrating that they make you guess what they are thinking and then either laugh or act like you&#x27;re some kind of high roller.  I mean, I need a job, so like, if you&#x27;re going to choose me based on my ability to pick a random number you are thinking in your head, how about we do that at the beginning of the interview instead of talking for an hour first and giving me the impression that things are going well?<p>In any case, just ranting.  What&#x27;s a good rate for a senior SWE or ML engineer in Europe these days?  What can I get away with asking for without getting this reaction?<p>Also, what&#x27;s up with people asking this question in the first conversation? I feel like in the past you would go through a couple of rounds and then get to discussing what <i>they</i> could offer <i>you</i> but now it seems to be the other way around, and they are not willing to counteroffer if you guess wrong.  Maybe just my perception, but I find it weird and difficult. I&#x27;m always fine and more or less comfortable in interviews until this question comes up.