Post Salary Ranges in Job Postings!

82% of US workers are more likely to apply to a job if the pay range is listed.

74% of US workers say they are less interested in job postings that do not post a salary range.

73% of US workers are more likely to trust companies that provide realistic salary ranges that those that don’t post ranges or post too wide a range.

Let that sink in…

Because there has been so much attention on posting salary ranges in job postings, there is now legislation place in many states requiring it so we will start with looking at that:

There also 7 states that now require that employers post salary ranges on job postings: Colorado, Maryland, Connecticut, Nevada, Rhode Island, Washington, and California (New York joins the list in September 2023 and there is a proposal in the Illinois legislative to also join this list). 

As a note to also keep in mind….

There are 14 states that have state-wide laws barring potential employers from asking about a candidate’s salary history: Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania (state agencies only), Vermont, Virginia and Washington.

But, why did it even have to come to this point that laws needed to be passed requiring it?

This has been a long frustration with jobseekers and it should be a no-brainer for companies.  Would you ever want to go shopping without knowing cost up front?  Many of us have sat through sales pitches for timeshares and the like where you don’t find out the cost until the end – hasn’t that frustrated you? 

Now imagine how the jobseeker feels.

Let’s be honest, when you post a job without providing a salary range you are willing to pay you are sending a signal to the jobseeker that either 1) you don’t know what to pay for the position and hope to just figure it out once you get jobseeker feedback, or 2) you have a budget but want to get the highest quality candidate so you hope to get them interested enough that they will take whatever you offer, which we know will be on the low end. Is that the impression you want to give off about your company?  That you don’t really know the market value of the employee you want to hire or that you are being sneaky to pay the lowest possible?

Believe me, jobseekers are doing their homework to know what their market value is before they talk to you.

Stop dragging out the interview process!

Do you really have the time to spend going through interviews with candidates who will probably walk away when you finally propose the salary range and they find it’s well beneath their expectations?  Jobseekers definitely don’t want to waste their time.

Your relationship with your employees starts in the interview process, so why not start things out on the right foot.  Posting a salary range does two things: 1) shows candidates whether or not your position is within their salary expectations (transparency) and 2) starts to build the trust in you and the company that will continue if you choose to hire them – they will know that your company values their time and will be open with information. 

“But what if a great candidate decides not to apply because of the salary range we posted?”

Then you need to do better research into what the market is paying at the time for that type of position.  Just because you paid the previous person a certain range doesn’t mean that same range applies to today’s market.  That is a big mistake that most companies make – they don’t do their research and focus strictly on the budget that is typically based on past numbers and never reviewed or updated.  And don’t post ridiculously large pay ranges because that also shows that you don’t really know what you want to pay and you are “fishing” for candidates.

If you want to be known as an Employer of Choice and really succeed with the Employee Experience, then you need to start with the Candidate Experience…and it starts with writing realistic job postings and including salary ranges.  Don’t forget that the interview process is a two-way street: they are “interviewing” you just as you are interviewing them, so impression and experience are key.