Should salaries be on job adverts?

If salary is the top factor that candidates consider when applying for a new role (as evidenced by?Glassdoor?and?LinkedIn?research), why would companies not publish a salary on a job advert?

It’s something I discuss a lot with people I’m supporting with?career coaching?or?the search for their next role.

There are lots of reasons a company would choose not to publish a salary, or salary range, on a job advert, including:

• Sounding out the market to see what talent they can get and for what cost
• Not wanting current employees to see what salary they are willing to offer for the same role
• Trying to make it harder for the competition to poach employees with more attractive offers
• To create negotiation leverage later in the recruitment process
• Enabling flexibility on salary based on where remote employees live and associated costs of living (as Google demonstrated earlier this year)

From an employer point of view, all of these would seem to make sense. Why would you not want to get the best person for the lowest cost? And why would you make it easier for competitors to poach your talent?

But these attitudes reveal something about the values of a business. And?finding a new role in an organisation where you share values is a really important thing. So, if you value openness, transparency, and fairness, you might make some assumptions about the behaviour of the organisation you’re considering applying to, based on whether or not they are willing to publish the salary of roles they’re advertising.

I had started writing this blog a month or so before?The Fawcett Society?called for employers to stop asking for existing salary as part of the recruitment process, claiming it reinforces the gender pay gap. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of this, as it opens up a whole new debate about how jobs are valued and salaried. It’s an intriguingly blank sheet of paper for both parties if the employer doesn’t know a candidate’s current salary and the candidate doesn’t know what range the employer is prepared to offer.

In my view, publishing salaries may not stop people from applying, and could actually attract the right candidates for an organisation – which is better than just trying to get someone for a bargain price.

How do you know whether to apply for a role if the salary isn’t in the advert?

There’s often not a lot you can do to get your hands on the information if the salary isn’t included in the job advert. Sometimes there’s a phone number to call for more details of the role (especially in the public sector), which might mean you can get an indication of the salary range to help you make a decision. But this isn’t always an option.

What you can do is evaluate what the advert is asking for. Is there a detailed explanation of the required achievements, desirable skills or level of qualification? How does your current position match up to the key roles and responsibilities the job advert outlines? Do you feel like there’s some stretch in what you would be asked to do, or could you comfortably nail every task in there? When looking for a promotion, I always recommended looking for?at least 20% stretch in a new job’s roles and responsibilities.

Ultimately, evaluating whether a job will pay what you want involves a bit of guesswork. It can be frustrating when you spend a lot of time on an application only to find out the salary is way below what you are looking for. Having said that, I have known people make a positive switch for a lower salary because the opportunity, role itself and company culture motivates them more than the money.

What to do if your company is advertising an equivalent job at a better salary

Sometimes the boot is on the other foot, and you might not be looking for a new role, but you see your company is advertising for a similar position to yours at a better salary. You might think that finding a new job is the only option in this scenario, but there are other factors to consider before you make a move.

Comparison is the thief of joy, so comparing your wage to someone else’s isn’t necessarily the right thing to do. Everyone has their own success criteria, so you need to work out what yours are.

Start with what it is about your current role and company that you value most. While the LinkedIn and Glassdoor research suggested that people looking for a job valued salary most highly, people who aren’t looking might have other factors that are more important.

Do you have good flexibility, for example? Is your commute short? Do you have a different working pattern that you might not be able to replicate elsewhere? Are there other benefits, such as discounted gym membership, health insurance, or a great pension scheme which add value without being pounds in your pocket? Are there greater opportunities for personal growth, learning and development or progression? Or are you simply highly motivated by the work you do. Everyone will have their own definition of what the right overall package will be, and that needs to take account of?more than just salary.

That said, money is a big part of how many of us rate how we are valued by our employers. If you know you’re being paid less than the new person that could be de-motivating and could end up damaging your confidence. What you need to weigh up is whether the grass would be greener elsewhere. Would you find?the right environment?in which you could grow and flourish along with a higher salary?

Of course, you could try to negotiate a pay rise using the job advert as a starting point. You’d need good evidence about why you are performing well, or even over-and-above in your role, but the increased salary being advertised for someone outside the organisation would lend some weight to your argument. It’s important to challenge and give your employer the opportunity to remedy the situation as it could be market forces that are driving the increase more than them not valuing your contribution. But if you don’t get a positive response, it could be time to start to look outside your organisation for a new opportunity where you will be more valued. That decision is yours.

Interestingly, I have seen a number of different outcomes with clients who have applied externally due to their feelings of frustration. For some, it’s worked out really well. But others have regretted moving for more money, realising other factors are more important to them than pay.

Is transparency win-win?

With countries like Latvia making it mandatory to publish salaries in job adverts, and Colorado in the US forcing employers to disclose hourly rates or pay ranges, there are some clear moves towards transparency in some areas.

But until this becomes more common place, you have to use your instincts and some analysis to decide whether to apply for a role with no published salary. You might think salaries should be on job adverts, but there are ways to figure out whether or not the role is the right one for you.

If you need help with your defining your success criteria and non-negotiables, get in touch to book a free 30 minute chemistry session by email [email protected]