“Can you not advertise the salary?”
It is a request I have had from employers. Usually there is a reason behind it, and the useful conversation is about that reason rather than whether we can squeeze “competitive” into the advert again.
My view is straightforward: put a credible salary range on the job. Give candidates enough information to decide whether a conversation makes sense.
My favourite way of explaining it is this: would you do a deal with a new customer without knowing what they were going to pay you?
We know the answer.
Salary is part of the decision, not an awkward detail
An engineer considering a move has bills and commitments. A technical salesperson may also need to understand the basic salary, commission arrangements and whether the advertised figure is guaranteed pay or potential earnings.
“Negotiable” does not tell them what you have budgeted. “Depending on experience” explains why you might pay different amounts; it does not explain what those amounts could be.
Some people will ask. Others will decide they do not have enough information to spend their evening applying. You cannot tell from a quiet inbox which of those things happened.
Including the range may also rule people out earlier. That is not necessarily a failure. If the job cannot meet somebody’s expectations, it is better to discover that before everyone has invested in interviews.
The internal conversation you may be avoiding
I have advertised roles with salaries attached and then had existing employees call me to ask about the figure. That has led to an awkward conversation with the hiring manager and a request to remove it.
That is a real issue. But taking the number off the advert does not resolve the pay question inside the business.
There may be differences in responsibilities, experience or the job itself that explain different pay. There may also be a gap you need to examine. Work out which it is before deciding that secrecy is the solution.
I would not assume every employer withholding a salary is underpaying people. Sometimes the budget has not been agreed or the company has not recruited this type of role for a while. Those are reasons to do the work, not leave the candidate to guess.
Agree a range the business can actually offer
Start with the work and the level of responsibility. Then sense-check the budget against relevant roles, locations, hours and working arrangements. A similar job title on its own is not much of a comparison.
Make sure the person approving the offer agrees with the advertised range. Do not use an attractive upper figure that nobody can realistically receive.
If you are open to somebody developing into the role, explain the difference between that appointment and somebody arriving with the required capability. Be clear about the support available and what would justify progression.
For technical sales, separate the basic salary from potential commission. For shift-based engineering work, explain the hours and allowances. Candidates should not have to decode which part of the package they can rely on.
What if publishing the range creates a problem?
Ask what the problem is. If it is internal pay, take that discussion to the people who can address it. If it is uncertainty about the market, investigate before launching the search.
There can be sensitive recruitment situations. If the range cannot be published, decide how and when you will discuss the actual budget with interested people. My preference is early, before asking them to invest heavily in the process.
That is still a compromise. Do not treat a missing salary as a clever way of discovering how little somebody will accept.
And if candidates consistently reject the budget, hiding it does not make the vacancy more realistic.
A range helps; it does not do the whole recruitment job
Adding a salary will not guarantee a pile of suitable applications. The work, location, manager and working arrangements still matter. So does whether the people you need ever see the advert.
I am not promising a fixed percentage increase in applications. I am suggesting you remove an unnecessary information gap and have a more honest conversation.
If the offer is sensible, let people see it. If it is difficult to explain, that is probably the conversation to have before the advert goes live.
Use the job specification and advert guide for the wider advert, and the job-offer guide to keep the eventual offer consistent with what you advertised. The Employer Recruitment Pack will help you organise the brief.
If you are struggling to work out what the salary needs to do for a specialist engineering or technical sales vacancy, let’s discuss the requirement and budget together. A recruiter can help with the search. We still need to know what you can pay.