It happens ninety seconds into the call. Sometimes before the recruiter has even finished describing the client. "So, what's your rate?"
Most consultants answer it like a pop quiz. They blurt a number, immediately regret it, and spend the next three weeks wondering if they left thirty dollars an hour on the table. They probably did.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: the rate question isn't really a question. It's a test of whether you know your own value and whether you'll negotiate against yourself before the client even sees your resume. You can pass that test tonight.
Why the recruiter asks first — and why that's your opening
Recruiters ask early because anchoring works. Whoever names a number first sets the gravity well everyone else negotiates around. If you say \$85/hour before you know the client's budget is \$110, you just became the cheapest acceptable option instead of a fair-market hire.
The fix isn't to dodge the question. Dodging makes you look evasive, and recruiters move fast — they'll just submit the next candidate who answers. The fix is to answer a different question first, out loud, politely, before you give your number.
The script: ask for range and employment type before you answer
Say this, almost word for word:
"Happy to talk rate — what's the bill rate range the client approved for this role, and is this W-2, C2C, or 1099?"
This is not aggressive. It's standard practice in staffing, and any recruiter worth working with expects it. Two things happen when you ask:
- You get real data instead of guessing. A "$70-90/hour W-2" range tells you exactly where the ceiling is before you commit to a floor.
- You signal you've done this before. Recruiters submit candidates who negotiate like professionals faster than ones who sound unsure of their own worth — unsure candidates fall through on client interviews more often.
If the recruiter won't give a range — some won't, citing client confidentiality — don't fight it. Move to the next section.
Give a band, not a single number
Once you have the range (or decide you're not getting one), answer with a band of your own, not a single figure.
"Based on the scope and the W-2 arrangement, I'm targeting \$95 to \$105 an hour."
A band does three things a single number can't:
- It gives the recruiter room to negotiate without making you feel cornered.
- It signals confidence — single numbers sound like guesses, bands sound like research.
- It protects you if the employment type shifts mid-process. C2C at \$105 and W-2 at \$105 are very different take-home outcomes, and your band should flex with that.
Build your band before you ever get on a call, not during it. Pull three to five recent postings for your stack and region, check a site like Dice or a staffing-specific rate survey, and talk to other contractors in your network about what they're actually billing — not what a job board lists as a range, which is often padded or stale.
W-2 vs C2C vs 1099: why the number means nothing without the type
| Employment Type | What the rate covers | What to ask yourself |
|---|---|---|
| W-2 (via Josh Pros or similar) | Employer pays payroll taxes, may include benefits | Is this rate net of taxes I'd otherwise owe? |
| Corp-to-Corp (C2C) | You invoice through your own entity, cover your own taxes | Does the higher number actually net more after self-employment tax and benefits? |
| 1099 | You're an independent contractor, no employer withholding | Have you budgeted quarterly estimated taxes? |
When refusing to anchor actually costs you the submittal
Here's where the contrarian part comes in, because most negotiation advice pretends every recruiter has infinite patience. They don't.
If a client has a hard, approved budget and a tight timeline — common on short-term backfills or urgent compliance projects — a recruiter sometimes genuinely cannot submit you without a number today. Holding the line on "I need the full range before I say anything" in that situation doesn't make you principled. It makes you the candidate who didn't get submitted while someone else did.
Read the room. If the recruiter says "I can't share the range, but I need something to take to the client by end of day," give your band anyway, state it's contingent on confirming employment type and scope, and move forward. You can still adjust once you see the actual rate card. A reasonable opening band rarely locks you into a bad final number — it just gets you into the conversation.
The goal isn't to win the first call. It's to stay in the process with your leverage intact.
The follow-up: 'What are you making now?'
This question is different from the rate-expectation question, and it deserves a different answer. Your current or most recent rate is about your history. The role in front of you is about market value for this scope of work, right now.
Compensation-history questions are restricted by law in a number of states — the rules vary by state, so check your state's current statute rather than assuming either way. Even where it's legal to ask, you're not obligated to anchor the new negotiation to an old number that may have been set under different scope, different cost of living, or a contract you accepted when you had less leverage.
A clean way to redirect:
"I'd rather focus on the market rate for this role's scope and location. Based on my research, that's the \$X-Y band I mentioned."
If pressed again, it's fine to be honest in general terms — "I was in a similar band on my last contract" — without giving an exact figure that becomes the new anchor. You're not hiding anything. You're just refusing to let a past rate cap a future one.
A quick pre-call checklist
- Know your target band before the phone rings — not during the call.
- Ask for the bill rate range and employment type before you answer.
- Give a band, state it's contingent on scope and type.
- Decide in advance how firm you can afford to be if the recruiter needs a number today.
- Have a redirect ready for the "what are you making now" follow-up.
None of this requires a confrontation. It requires a script you've said out loud once before you need it live.
If you want a sense check on what a fair bill rate actually looks like for your stack, region, and employment type, the Josh Pros LLC team talks rates with consultants every day — reach out at contact@joshpros.com or visit https://joshpros.com. No pressure, just a second opinion before your next call.
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