Job adverts
Should I put the salary in a job advert?
Yes, in almost every case. A salary range is the first thing a candidate looks for and its absence is read as bad news, so hiding it costs you applications from exactly the people who have options. The two defensible reasons to withhold it are a confidential replacement for someone still in post, and a genuinely open band where the right person sets the number — and both are better handled with a stated range plus a line explaining it than with silence.
What "competitive salary" actually communicates
A candidate reading an advert with no salary makes one of three assumptions, and none of them helps you: the salary is below market, the employer is hoping to anchor low, or the process will be slow and cagey. The strongest candidates — the ones with a job already — simply move on, because they are not going to spend an evening applying to find out.
The two cases where withholding is reasonable
A confidential replacement. Someone is still in post and does not know. Naming the salary can identify the role internally. Even here, a band ("£38,000–£45,000") usually gives away far less than the job title and location already have.
A genuinely open band. Some roles really are shaped around whoever turns up. Say that: "£45,000–£60,000 depending on the depth of experience — we would rather find the right person than defend a number."
What to publish instead of a single figure
- A range you will honour. A range you would not actually pay the top of is worse than no range, because you will lose the candidate at offer stage instead of at advert stage.
- The whole package. Overtime, shift premium, vehicle, bonus structure, pension above statutory. On a £32,000 base with paid overtime, the overtime is the story.
- What moves someone up the range. "Toward the top if you have run the ledger independently" tells a strong candidate they are being paid for the thing they are good at.
One thing to keep out of it
We do not quote a specific salary figure back to candidates in outreach — the wording is that the salary is negotiable for the right person. That is a different situation from the advert: the advert is a public statement of what the role pays, and it should be honest and specific. See how to write a job advert for the rest of the structure.
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