A lot of employers always wonder whether it is wise to reveal salary range in a job ad. Well, there is no right or wrong answer. But there are several advantages and disadvantages to salary disclosure in a job ad.

Below are five things you must consider before listing a salary range in your next job ad.

1.       Revealing salary range may affect the number and quality of applicants – If you are offering an attractive pay package, your inbox will be flooded with applications. In fact huge salary range means you will also get referral benefits – your email will be forwarded and shared with others. It is good too – because the more application you receive, the better are the chances that you’ll find the right fit for the role. However, there are several cons too. Chances are you may receive irrelevant applications too. Attempting to find the right candidate may get tough, especially if you have to sort from the huge applications. Also, if you disclose the salary range, and it’s not competitive, the best candidate won’t be bothered to apply for it.
2.       May give birth to unrealistic expectations – Wondering how? Let’s consider the two situations:

•         The applications are irrelevant – Every company fixes a salary range for the candidates with desired qualifications, such as those with professional degree, certifications or extensive experience. But as you receive the applications, you may discover that those are from people who barely have what you need to fill the position.
•         Applicants overestimate their qualification – When you have high salary range, even marginally qualified candidates may consider themselves eligible for the given salary bracket. If you select them and offer them a salary near the bottom of the range, they may feel cheated and may even react negatively.

  

So it is best, not to disclose the salary range.

3.      Internal split – Your current employee may feel offended if they discover that you are paying relatively high salary to a new employee. You may have valid reasons for doing this, but that does not guarantee your employees will understand and acknowledge it. And it could cause internal rift and may affect the staff performance.
4.       Competition disadvantage – When you choose to disclose the salary range, you may be providing valuable information to your competition. They will come to know the package and by paying little extra, they may woo your candidates – especially if you are offering lower salary.
5.       Non-disclosure may result in time and effort wastage – When you choose not to disclose the salary range at an early stage, you may find out late that your top candidate is not interested in your offer. This will result in a lot of time wastage – the time you invested in filtering and picking the right match, evaluating candidate’s information /details, arranging interviews, doing other hiring related tasks etc.

The decision to disclose the salary range may have positive or negative impact on the number of applicants and their expectations. A careful evaluation of pros and cons will help you make an informed choice.

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