Why it's important to include salary in your job ads
Did you know that three in five candidates find it frustrating when salary isn’t included in a job ad? Find out why including a salary in your job ad not only improves the candidate experience by also helps your ad attract more relevant applications.
There are many reasons why businesses may choose to not include a salary in their job ad, however there are clear benefits for hirers who list a salary or salary range. Salary information is incredibly important to candidates, with data revealing that job ads on SEEK that show a visible salary receive on average 47% more applications than those that don’t.
Research also shows 64% of candidates find it frustrating when salary isn’t included in a job ad. SEEK’s Laws Of Attraction also shows that salary is one of the top three drivers of attraction to a role, along with work-life balance and working environment, across all industries.
So as such an important factor, it’s worth asking: how much is it costing you to leave out salaries from your job ads?
The benefits of including salary in your job ads
Setting expectations early on
A great job ad doesn’t just attract talent – it attracts the right talent. As recruitment consultant Urvish Kahar explains, one of the main benefits to including a salary in a job description is that you can set a necessary expectation early on.
“In most circumstances, it’s a good idea to include salaries so that candidates know what the company is expecting to pay them,” he says. “[That way], if their expectations are too high, they will not consider those opportunities.” And, this bodes particularly well for roles offering a salary higher than the market average. Job ads on SEEK that include a salary and are offering more than the market average, receive up to 94% more applications than job ads that don’t show a salary.
Elise Maki, recruitment lead for Orchard HRO, says listing salary helps candidates make an “informed decision” before applying, and can also significantly lessen the negative impacts on both candidates and companies.
“If a salary isn’t shown and the candidate applies for the job and is identified as a good fit, the company will feel excited by the candidate,” she says. “Then after a screen, it may be discovered their salary is above budget and they cannot proceed.
“The candidate could feel their time has been wasted and may then have a negative impression of that company. Likewise, the company has invested time and resources on a candidate that they like but can’t afford. The likely result of this is the company needs to go back out to market to find new candidates who are ‘in budget’, thus extending the time to fill.”
Differentiating yourself from the market
In a competitve job market, being able to stand out from other companies is essential. While it’s not always possible to compete on salary, that doesn’t mean you should forgo mentioning it. Coupled with advertising the other benefits you can offer within the role, it can still be hugely beneficial.
“Including other benefits that aren’t remuneration-based can differentiate one job from the other,” Maki says. “For example, if the base salary is the same for two opportunities but Company A has added benefits such as a bonus or car allowance, there would likely be more applicants to Company A.” Kahar echoes this sentiment, explaining that it’s more beneficial to list a salary if it’s accompanied by other incentives and job descriptors.
“Undoubtedly, for most candidates, money and salary are essential motivators,” he says. “However, I truly believe that the work environment and culture are incredibly important for candidates, and that information should be provided in job advertisements as well.”
How to include salaries in your job ads
When it comes to listing a salary in a job ad, you have the optition to provide a range, a fixed budget, or even display salary bands. Maki says this decision really depends on the role and the company.
“Some companies may prefer to advertise a range so they can assess through the recruitment process what salary best fits the candidate’s skill level,” she says. “Other companies may have a fixed salary.”
How to include salary in your SEEK job ad
When creating a SEEK job ad, you will be prompted to enter a currency and pay range on the ‘pay details’ page before proceeding with your ad. This range is used to index your ad on SEEK to enable candidates to search for relevant jobs based on their preferred salary range – but this salary is not automatically shown on your ad.
To ensure your salary is shown, you need to do two things:
Make sure the ‘Hide salary on your ad’ slider is switched off.
Include salary details in the ‘Pay shown on your ad’ text box. This will automatically include the range you entered in the ‘pay range’ section but can be edited to include up to 50 characters.
The ‘pay shown on your ad’ text box is a free text field, which means there is flexibility in how you represent salary and benefits on your job ad. Here are some examples:
$80,000 - $100,000
$75,000 + Super + Salary packaging
$25-$35 per hour
Competitive salary + company car
$76k-$83k + super | 9 day fortnight | hybrid
$50K – $75K based on experience
Source: Independent research conducted by Nature of behalf of SEEK, interviewing 4800 Australians annually. Published July 2024.