Let's talk about money.....

It’s about knowing your worth, doing your maths, and keeping your recruitment consultant or the potential employer informed.

This is how it works

Of course, discussing salaries and freelance day rates is crucial to the recruitment process. Money is a vital part of the initial conversations with new applicants for any of Moxie and Mettle's roles.

The same goes for an in-house recruiter taking a brief internally from the hiring manager. There will be a discussion around the budget for the role and, of course, the benefits/perks/rewards. But for today’s post, we are just talking about hard cash.

Clients will often increase the salary for the right candidate, after some negotiation.

From the employer’s point of view, it’s essential to be clear about the budget right from the start, and as an experienced recruiter, we would always discuss what that budget is in detail. For example, it’s not uncommon for a client to say “for the perfect person, we could possibly increase by ￡2k/￡5k/whatever the figure”. Which opens up more discussions about what would make one candidate stand out, giving us greater clarity during the recruitment process. So there’s an opportunity for the candidates to negotiate, and you can ask your recruiter what expertise you’d need to have in order to reach that top band.

Salary reveal

There’s a trend among people looking for new roles of not wanting to disclose their current salary. Instead, they might just say that they are looking for a job within a particular salary band or go along with the salary given for a role they’ve seen advertised.? I don’t think that’s particularly helpful to anyone. Of course, it is up to you, but my advice is to get really clear about your salary expectations, put a figure on it and tell that figure to your recruiter. This is going to make it more likely that you get matched with jobs that meet your expectations, providing that you have the relevant experience and expertise required. We simply can’t match you if you’re too vague about what you want.

Equality in salaries is a different topic, and we’ll pick up on that another time. Today, we’re thinking about your salary expectations and the budget for the role you’re applying for, and we'll make what you want clear when you get in touch. Is a new role a chance for a big pay increase?

Yes and no. During late 2022 and through 2023, in our sectors (marketing, PR, communications, events, social media, digital marketing), we spoke to candidates looking for a 20-25% pay rise just for moving jobs. And to be honest, this was possible at that time. The market was so busy with LOADS of opportunities for skilled applicants and so,? in some cases, candidates were achieving that.? But that has an impact in future years. It means we have ended up with a whole bunch of employees being overpaid for their level of experience and skill, because demand exceeded supply, post-covid. Of course, those employees probably won’t be moving any time soon, as they can now not increase their salary again and the market has contracted over the last year or so.

How to talk about money when you’re applying for work

So, what’s our advice regarding salary expectations and discussions?

●????? Firstly, do your maths before you start your job search

●????? Work out exactly what salary or day rate you are expecting for the new job

●????? If you are looking for an increase, tell the recruiter your salary expectations are

●????? Do your research on salaries being offered and paid at your level of experience

This advice is true for both agency and in-house roles. Most of the people we work with at Moxie and Mettle say something along the lines of (again an example) “￡40k plus, ideally”.

So we then discuss your salary expectations in more detail:

●????? Does “ideally” mean that’s your minimum salary requirement? If not, what IS your minimum?

●????? Would you want to hear about a job that’s paying less, if it ticks the boxes for all your other requirements? (eg: The role is ￡38k, but your ideal salary is ￡40k?)

●????? Remember, in general, if you’ve said that you are looking for a salary of above ￡40k, we’re unlikely to let you know about the jobs paying less than that, unless you’re clear that you’re also open to lower-paid roles.

So we ask these sorts of questions and some say yes, some say no.? Either is okay, it helps us rule out the wrong roles and ensure we are discussing the right ones. We are trying to make sure that we are giving the applicants the best range of options, not get them to accept less than their worth.?

Factor in the lifestyle you want

Of course, not everyone’s primary motivation is money, but as this is a post about money, we’re just sticking with that topic. You will have noticed that there was then more flexibility a few years ago, than there is now, about working remotely and not being in the office at all. And when it comes to money, remember to factor in the costs associated with commuting if comparing a role that’s almost entirely work-from-home with one that requires a daily commute. However, employers won’t pay above the market rate/budgeted salary for you just because you live further away.

Keep your recruiter updated if your salary expectations change

Very often, a candidate already registered with us will see a newly advertised role and send us a note asking for the details. Perhaps they’re wondering why we’ve not matched them with this vacancy, and it might be because there is a salary mismatch (eg. the role is paying ￡40k, and they’ve told us they are looking for a minimum of ￡50k).? So maybe their situation has changed; perhaps the candidate doesn’t now need to relocate because the role is mostly remote, for example, which changes everything.? We know things change, of course they do.? One of the first elements of our matching process is to check that salaries are aligned, so if your expectations change, remember to let your recruiter know.

Freelance day rates

The same principle applies to freelance day rates.? Lots of agency heads and leaders that we work with will pay a day rate based on the skills and experience of the job that needs doing, rather than the candidate's seniority.? So if someone marketing themselves as Account Director level is happy to complete a role at a different level, with the relevant day rate, that’s fine.? Many freelancers prefer to be busy and work more regularly rather than have no work or limited work at the ideal day rate. Hence, they are happy to compromise on the day rate, especially if it’s regular or longer-term work.

Again, freelancers need to do their own maths and work out what is best for them and their circumstances.? As the freelance market is pretty volatile in our sector at the time of writing, people have to be more creative and flexible – remember to make sure your LinkedIn profile is offering the right information to potential clients and that you are keeping your skills updated on your LinkedIn too, it all adds to the story!

Employers, this is why we urge you to display salaries

Of course, the flip side of this is that we encourage clients to always display the salary on their job advertisements. One of the many reasons for this is that there are literally hundreds of different job titles nowadays, and salary ranges are huge as more specialist subjects are developed.

One business might call a role Head of Marketing and it pays ￡40k, and another business may be paying ￡80k for the same job title.? Also, a Social Media Manager may have to have two years’ experience for one role while perhaps five years’ experience is preferred by another employer for the same job title. Which explains the difference in salaries for two people with the same title at different companies? And then all the other factors need to be considered like location and working patterns.

With the way that LinkedIn and the job boards work, many candidates just do ‘one-click apply’, and so we get CVs daily from applicants for jobs paying ￡40k while their profile says they are looking for ￡60k.? My advice is read the job advertisement properly including the salary, not just the job title.

In summary, for candidates, know your worth, do your maths, keep us informed.? And for clients, advertise the salary or the day rate!

As always, happy to discuss

Take care,

Liz

Liz Gadd | 07377 400413 | [email protected] | www.linktr.ee/lizgadd

Salary Survey

Our friends over at Major Players publish a salary survey every year, which is based primarily on research from London. However, the “from” figure in all the charts is mostly relevant for regional agencies and companies too, and it’s an interesting read!

Job hunting?

Did you know I now offer expert support through our closed Facebook group? We want to help more people into creative, marketing, PR, events, communications, digital, and social media careers, so we’ve set up a new Facebook group.? We don’t place every candidate who registers with us, and we can’t always offer one-to-one support outside of actual job applications, so this is a way of using our time to offer more personal support.

If you’re looking for help finding freelance work, or a new contract or permanent job, come and join us for tips, hints, advice and community support.

There’s a ￡25 subscription fee which gives you unlimited access for the lifetime of the group. Here’s the link for all the information:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/lizgaddrecruitercandidatesupport

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