Should salary be included in a job advert?

If you are wondering Should Salary be Included in a job advert, you’ve come to the right place. Many employers are reluctant to post salary in a job description as they are concerned it may reduce their pool of talent. However, in our experience, it’s the complete opposite. A survey by Talent.com found that 98% of candidates feel knowing the salary before applying for a role is important. Despite this, only 20% of job adverts include this information.

For a lot of businesses, it’s a game they’ve played for years. Instead of being transparent with salary, they’d rather try and work out what the candidate is currently earning, what they want, and what the business is happy to pay. This may have worked when you first opened your business. However, it’s now a candidates market and you need to adapt your job posts to this. Therefore, we’re here to tell you that yes, salary should be included in a job advert.

What are the consequences of leaving out salary in a job advert?

For a lot of candidates, a job description without a salary is a red flag. Failure to disclose this information can give the impression that the business is dishonest and suspicious. It may also show that you don’t know what salary you can offer or it’s not very competitive.

It may feel more comfortable for you to add ‘competitive’ or ‘depends on experience’ in the pay section. This is risky as you are relying on the candidate to take the risk and apply. The lack of clarity can also lead to a waste in time and money. You can go through a long process of interviews, find the perfect employee, and when they find out the pay offer, they can’t accept it. We understand in an ideal world, you want to find the right person under the top end of your budget. However, not disclosing the salary will cost you in the long run and will reduce the amount of quality applicants.

In addition, honesty is always the best policy. Your ideal candidates might be happy to accept the amount you’ve disclosed in the job advert.

Salary Range

If you still feel uncomfortable about posting a salary, there are other alternatives you can consider. One being a salary range. We understand you may not have an exact salary in mind or it may depend on experience. Therefore, posting a salary range solves this as you’re not committing to an exact amount but you are being more clear on what the salary could be. The candidate will also know their experience and will be able to work out where they would be on that range.

It’s important to not make the range too wide. This gives the candidate the impression there’s a catch. Also be prepared to explain your decision and what standards meets the top range. If you offer a candidate the lower salary, they will likely ask why.

Salary Transparency

Another reason why people can be wary of salary not being disclosed as it may indicate the business doesn’t pay fairly. The candidate should be payed the salary they deserve, and they shouldn’t be faced with discrimination for any reason.

The Government launched a pilot scheme earlier in the year to improve pay transparency and level up employment opportunities for women. Companies who signed up to the scheme were expected to share salaries in all job adverts and stop discussing salary history during the recruitment process.

When discussing the reasons why the Government decided to launch this pilot, Minister for Women said: ”The UK can only grasp its full potential by championing its brightest and best, and ensuring everyone, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to succeed.”

We hope this 2 year scheme by the Government will tackle pay discrimination and will set a standard for all businesses to pay their employees fairly.

Recruitment Support

When it comes to recruitment and finding the perfect candidate, it’s important you get it right. Our recruitment team can help you with this. We offer a wide range of recruitment services you can choose from. These packages have been designed to allow you to decide how much or little support your business needs. Our solution will allow you to reduce the cost of hiring, reduce time, and help you find the right person at the right time.

You can find out more about our recruitment services on our website.

Contact Us

If you are still wondering should salary be Included in a job advert, contact us now.