Current CTC vs. Expected CTC
Current CTC is the total annual pay you receive from your present employer. Expected CTC is the total annual pay you want from a new employer. Both numbers come up in almost every hiring conversation in India. Recruiters typically ask for them before your first technical round.
How It Works
CTC stands for Cost to Company. It is the total amount your employer spends on you in a year. This includes base salary, house rent allowance, performance bonus, provident fund contributions, and any other benefits. Your monthly take-home is always lower than your CTC because some components go toward taxes and deductions.
Current CTC
This is your full present package. If your take-home is ₹80,000 per month but your employer also contributes ₹10,000 toward PF and pays ₹8,000 as a quarterly bonus, your current CTC is higher than what you see in your account. Check your appointment letter or latest payslip for the correct number.
Most companies in India offer 20 to 30 percent above your current CTC for a lateral move.
Expected CTC
This is the number you want from the new role. Give a range rather than one fixed number. If the company's budget is ₹22 LPA and you say ₹18 LPA, you leave money behind. A range like ₹18 to ₹22 LPA gives you space to negotiate.
How companies use both numbers?
Recruiters check your expected CTC against the approved budget before they schedule technical rounds. If the numbers don't match, some tell you early. Others wait until after the final round. Ask first, you can say: "What is the budget range for this role?" A good recruiter will answer.
Example
There is a senior ML engineer with 5 years of experience. His current CTC is ₹16 LPA at an IT services company. He interviews at a Bengaluru product startup for a machine learning role. He gives his expected CTC as ₹24 to ₹28 LPA. The startup offers ₹25 LPA in cash plus ESOPs worth ₹3 LPA, vesting over 4 years. He asks for the full vesting schedule and the cliff period before accepting.
Common Mistakes
1. Sharing your number before the budget
State your expected CTC after you understand the company's range. If you go first, the offer tends to anchor near your number rather than the top of their budget.
2. Forgetting variable pay in your current CTC
If your package includes a 15 percent annual bonus, count it. Leaving it out makes your current CTC look smaller than it is.
3. Counting ESOPs as guaranteed money
ESOPs have real value only if the company performs well and you vest fully. Keep them separate when you state your cash expectations.
FAQs
1. Can a company reject me because my expected CTC is too high?
Yes, if your number is above the approved budget band, most companies will not move forward. It is a budget constraint, not a call on your skills.
2. Should I share my salary slip if the recruiter asks?
It is common in India but not required. You can offer your current offer letter or Form 16 as an alternative if you prefer not to share your payslip.
3. How is CTC different from in-hand salary?
CTC includes components like PF and gratuity that do not reach your bank account directly. In-hand salary is what you actually receive after all deductions.
4. Is it okay to ask the recruiter for the salary band before I give my expected CTC?
Yes, ask: "Can you share the budget range before I give my number?". Most tech and product recruiters will respond with a figure or a range.
5. What hike is realistic when switching tech jobs in India?
For software engineering, data, and ML roles, 25 to 40 percent is the common range. Candidates with niche skills like LLM fine-tuning or distributed systems sometimes see 50 percent or more at funded startups.
