In our Graduate Recruitment Guide we strongly recommend that employers should be explicit about salary. This is because we know that graduates are put off by jobs that do not indicate a salary range.
However, we continue to see many adverts that fail to detail the salary range. Why is it so important?
#1 You eliminate potential candidates
Your potential pool of candidates drops significantly when you don’t list the salary range. We see this all the time.
But don’t take our word for it. Jobsite, a UK based career portal, claims that companies might experience a 25 percent to 35 percent drop in applicants when job ads don’t include wage information.
#2 DOE / competitive is meaningless
What does DOE or competitive mean anyway? For many candidates, rightly or wrongly, it means you’ll try to pay them the minimum you can get away with.
Most of our graduate roles state they don’t need experience – so making the salary ‘depending on experience’ makes no sense.
If you state a range, it shows you have a pay scale for the position, and a range the candidate can work within. It reassures and sets expectations.
#3 Candidates can find out salaries without you
Google for Jobs and sites like Glassdoor and LinkedIn all reveal salary information alongside company details. The information they show is drawn from a variety of sources, and may or nay not be accurate.
But be honest – this isn’t the best way for potential candidates to find out the salary on offer – the best way is from you directly. That way the figures are correct.
#4 Eliminate those awkward conversations and time wasted on misaligned expectations
When you list the salary range in the advert, candidates know what’s on offer and know they can accept the job, if offered, on that basis. If you don’t list the salary you risk wasting everyone’s time: your time interviewing candidates that will never accept the job at the salary you have in mind; and the candidate’s time in applying for a role they can never afford to accept. Avoid this classic lose-lose situation.
#5 Fair and open recruitment
Gender pay gap reporting and a drive for diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities in the workforce are underpinned by the need for fair and open recruitment practices.
Getting your messaging right in your job advert is key to engaging applicants from a diverse pool of talent. Having fair salary offers is part of this – and if you have salary scales in place why would you not use them to show fairness in your recruitment and subsequent progression.
#6 Making the salary part of your recruitment offer is a big plus
Our post about Employee Benefits Packages – for recruitment and retention gives you the low down on making the best use of your offer to attract and retain staff. The right salary and employee benefits packages will help to attract and retain the talent you need.
And attracting talent is surely the point of the job advert.