What to put in the salary expectations box

1. Currency. Use the currency of the country the job is in, and write the symbol or the code: €, £, EUR, GBP. A figure in the wrong currency reads like a typo.
2. Gross or net. Gross is your pay before tax, National Insurance and other deductions; net is what reaches your bank account. Unless the form says net, give gross and write the word "gross".
3. Per year or per month. Check what the box asks for. If it doesn't say, give a yearly figure and write "a year". In some EU countries, a month's pay doesn't simply multiply by 12:

   How monthly pay works in three EU countries

   Where the job is	What's different	Write it like this
   Portugal	By law, the 12 monthly salaries come with a holiday payment and a Christmas payment, each worth about a month's pay	€2,500 gross a month × 14 (€35,000 a year)
   Spain	By law, there are two extra payments a year; a collective agreement can spread them across the 12 monthly payments	€2,500 gross a month in 14 payments, or €2,917 in 12 (€35,000 a year)
   Netherlands	A holiday allowance of at least 8% of gross annual salary, usually paid in May or June	€4,000 gross a month, not including the 8% holiday allowance

4. What's in the number. Base salary only, or base plus bonus? If you mean base, write "base".

Look at the advert. If it gives a range, answer inside it, or explain why you're above it.

If you're applying in the EU, the employer may have to tell you the pay range. The rules are below.

In the UK, putting the salary in an advert isn't required by law yet, though the government notes that most employers already publish pay ranges voluntarily.

A box that takes only numbers. Type one yearly figure, with no symbol or commas if the box rejects them: 44000. If there's a separate currency or period menu next to it, set that too. Choose the number you'd be glad to accept.

A text box. Give a range, say what it is, and add one line if you want to show room to move: "£42,000–46,000 gross a year, base salary. Open to discussing the package as a whole."

Keep the range narrow. About 10% from bottom to top reads as a real answer. The bottom of your range is the number they'll remember, so put it where you'd be content.

Tone. Numbers first, no apology, no explanation of your rent.

If the box shows a character counter, stay under it. If it doesn't, pick the length in Short, medium and long that matches the size of the box.

In the EU

The Pay Transparency Directive, (EU) 2023/970, gives job applicants two rights:

• To be told the starting pay or its range for the job, set on objective, gender-neutral criteria, plus any collective agreement that applies. The employer can put it in the advert, tell you before the interview, or share it some other way, as long as you have it in time to negotiate.
• Not to be asked about your pay history, in your current job or earlier ones.

It covers employers in the public and private sectors. Each EU country had to write it into its own law by 7 June 2026, and not all did: on 29 September 2026, the EU's register of national measures listed none yet for Germany, France, the Netherlands or Portugal, among others. Where your country's law isn't in force yet, check its labour ministry for what applies to you.

In the UK

The directive is EU law, so it doesn't apply in the UK. In Great Britain there's no legal duty yet to put pay in a job advert; the government has consulted on creating one (published 14 July 2026, closing 27 October 2026). A 2022 government pilot asked the employers who joined it to list salaries and stop asking about salary history; taking part was voluntary.

In an EU country where the directive's rules are in force, the employer shouldn't be asking. If the question is optional, you can leave it blank. If it's required, you can give your expectation instead and label it:

Expected: €48,000 gross a year.

In the UK you can answer, or give your expectation in the same way.

• Autofill types the Desired salary saved in your active profile. Each profile keeps its own, so a product profile and an operations profile can ask for different amounts.
• It doesn't convert. If the box asks for a monthly or hourly figure, or names a different currency from the one you saved, Autofill doesn't type your saved figure there. It marks the box for you to review, and AI Answer can draft a figure for it if you ask.
• For a box that wants sentences, press AI Answer in the side panel. Trabalero drafts an answer from your profile and the job description and writes it into the box. You read it, change what isn't you, and press submit yourself. AI Answer needs a free account.

Let Trabalero draft yours from your profile →