Salary and money in recruitment ads
This post contains 3 points, an idea and a mini-lesson on recruitment ad copywriting.
You know it’s a good idea to reveal the salary on your job ads.
It helps attract more of the right people and filter out a few of the wrong ones.
Here’s some of the data we’ve mentioned before that reinforces this point:
- 42% hiring managers found that providing salary details delivered more applications
- 85% upcoming and recent grads say they’re less likely to apply for a job if the company does not disclose the salary range. Source: Adobe/Advanis ‘future workforce’ research.
- Women typically state their salary requirements at an average of 17% lower than men while the gender difference disappears when women know the pay range, as it allows them to negotiate fairly. Sources: Otto, Forbes, Fawcett Society
- The UK Government are considering legislation to enforce pay transparency with the aim of aiding ED&I. It’s already the law in some US states.
Don’t say ‘competitive salary’ in your ad.
It’s a cliché. Only the reader can decide if the salary is at the right level for their needs.
Money matters more to people earlier in their career.
Senior people might prefer a bigger challenge rather than a bigger salary. So that’s what you need to focus on in your job ad.
What this means to you
Ah, but some hiring managers won’t let you mention the pay.
So how do you tell someone about the salary without telling them about the salary?
Here’s an intro that Jackie wrote for an imaginary job ad where the money is the main differentiator:
—–
– Maldives or Marbs.
– Ferrari or Ford.
– Pay off your mortgage or get your kids onto the first rung.
Only you can decide how to spend your salary. All we can tell you is that it’s above average. And that you’ll have to earn it by overcoming tricky challenges, including A, B, C…
—–
Disclaimer: Your job ads don’t have to be wildly creative. (Jackie can’t help going in that direction. She’s been a copywriter all her working life.)
Your mini lesson on recruitment advertising
What you need to do is pick the one main reason why the reader should bother leaving their current job to work in the role you’re advertising, and focus on that.
Mention it in your headline or subject line, reinforce it in your opening statement, then go on to explain a couple of other key benefits (that is, things that answer ‘what’s in it for me?’ from the reader’s perspective, not the legal minimum pension and holiday allowance).
You can follow those sales messages with information about the company, what the reader will need to qualify, and details of how to apply.
When Jackie isn’t running recruiter copywriter training courses, you can find her on LinkedIn
