The survey was conducted after it was found that only 10% of job adverts on VetSurgeon.org and 16% on VetNurse.co.uk include an indication of the salary. By contrast, a quick analysis of the adverts on other leading job boards for professionals found that 66% of jobs advertised for doctors include salary details, 87% for human nurses, 64% for architects and 92% for computer programmers.
The survey received 1,147 responses: 524 from veterinary surgeons and 622 from veterinary nurses.
When asked how they would likely react to job advertisements seen online or in print:
61.5% of vets said they would read adverts which display a salary first (before those that don't)
51.5% of vets said they would respond to adverts which display the salary first (before those that don't).
21.9% of vets said they would ignore ads that don't show a salary.
Only 30.3% said they would consider the job adverts equally, regardless of whether or not they displayed a salary.
Respondents were then asked what impression it gave them if a practice advertised a job without stating a salary. 57% of vets said 'negative', 41.4% said 'neutral' and 1.3% said 'positive'.
The final question asked how annoying it is to read job adverts which only describe a salary using words like 'competitive' or 'generous'.
9.5% of vets said: 'Not at all annoying"
37.7% said 'Mildly irritating'
52.7% said 'Very annoying. It's a waste of my time to ring and find my definition of 'competitive' is not the same as the advertiser's.'
Interestingly, veterinary nurses were even more salary conscious, being much more likely to prioritise adverts which give salary details and ignore those that don't (full results of the nurse survey here).
The bottom line is that if you spend £99 to advertise a job on VetSurgeon and you don't advertise the salary, you're effectively throwing away £22 there and then. Might as well just set fire to a £20 note. Even if you think that is a price worth paying (and let's not forget that it'll be a considerably more expensive mistake if you advertise elsewhere), you then have to think of the monetary value of having sent someone away with a negative impression of your practice, or worse still if you described the salary as 'competitive' or 'generous'.
It is worth highlighting that on VetSurgeon and VetNurse, employers are invited to advertise the 'Minimum Offer', described to jobseekers as the starting point for discussions, or a salary range. Both are designed to give jobseekers something to go on, whilst still allowing room for negotiation.
To help employers get the most out of their recruitment adverts on VetSurgeon.org and VetNurse.co.uk, we're sharing a special training video, which you can watch below. If nothing else, a quick reminder of what you need to include in the advert: