I’m not sure if this is the right sub but as there are the CorporateLand posts on the main sub I thought it makes sense to ask here.

I’m wanting to get a new software dev job (in another country), and am wondering how I handle the negotiations in regards to how much I will get paid. I have 7 years experience in full stack web dev (JS/Angular/Typescript/C#/SQL) and would consider myself above average (technically) but I know there are lots of people who are better. I’m paid pretty well right now, though could be paid a bit more, as I haven’t really negotiated/job searched that much previously.

As I don’t know many people where I’m going to look for jobs, I will probably be going mostly through recruiters, and from my experience with them, always ask what my salary expectations are. How do I go about answering them? Giving a number too high can backfire. And if I give a number, it may be used to limit what they will offer me.

It might not too important now that I get paid ‘above average’ for my skills, as I could take a job in the new country, then go from there (get settled, be on the lookout for new opportunities, potentially build something in my own time to build my portfolio as I’m currently interested in crypto).

In the future though, as a software developer, how do you get paid more? Simultaneous offers? Connections/recommendations? Do you skip recruiters? What can I do in my situation?