This is where I went down in flames. I'm not wet behind the ears, I've had many, many interviews in my lifetime. This is only the second time I got this question at this stage. I learned from the first time YOU DON'T ANSWER THIS WITH AN ACTUAL SALARY FIGURE AT THE FIRST INTERVIEW! I had been reviewing Glassdoor and knew what the average was given my level of experience and I knew better than to answer. But I was starting to get a little too desperate and the interview was being very persistent. I gave the standard, "I would rather not answer that at this time. I will be happy to discuss this as I progress through the selection process, but I'm quite certain what Verizon pays is fair and inline with the market." The persistence wore me down, I blurted out the figure I got from Glassdoor and I was told that the actual salary was quite a bit lower...like about 35% lower. Splat. BOOM.