I really don't agree with the advice to kick the salary question down the line.
It's asked early for a reason—to determine if you're compatible before proceeding with interviews. The majority of software developer jobs out there pay (substantially) less than I would accept and it's a waste of my time to spend time interviewing for them.
The ideal is that the company gives a compensation range, but many will refuse to. So I just tell them the top of my range. That ends the majority of conversations but it lets me narrow in on companies which properly value talent.
The solution here is to turn the recruiter's around and say, "I'm not comfortable sharing that information, but I'm sure you put together a salary range when you put a rec out for the position. Could you share what that range is, and I'll tell you whether it makes sense to proceed?"
Did you miss the part where I specifically mentioned that I do ask for a salary range? That works some of the time, but sometimes companies flat out refuse to give it.
It's asked early for a reason—to determine if you're compatible before proceeding with interviews. The majority of software developer jobs out there pay (substantially) less than I would accept and it's a waste of my time to spend time interviewing for them.
The ideal is that the company gives a compensation range, but many will refuse to. So I just tell them the top of my range. That ends the majority of conversations but it lets me narrow in on companies which properly value talent.