I've recently seen a lot of posts and comments on LinkedIn where the words 'competitive salary' seem to generate a huge amount of vitriol and criticism. As ever, my opinions and observations are largely seen from the perspective of someone working specifically in and around the marketing and advertising sector and with a bias to agency land although I do also work with some pretty big global brands too. I say this so that my observations are interpreted in the context of this sector. Never does a client ever send me a job specification with the words 'competitive salary'. Typically, I'll have a salary banding to work to and whilst any recruiter knows there may be a bit of wiggle room, they'll know what that might look like.
One commentator was scathing and retorted that 'competitive salary' basically means, 'tell me what you're looking for and I'll offer the lowest salary that I can get away with'. Genuinely, I don't see that happening and in fact, as we emerge from the pandemic, I'd say that salaries are being pushed higher and that clients are having to up their game in terms of attracting employees by offering them more money than competitors.
When an employer briefs me on a job, they ALWAYS have a salary bracket. Typically this will ensure that salaries are in line with what other employees are paid and dependent on experience and skills for the proposed role. If after searching, I can't find anyone within that banding, a client might go back to their spreadsheets and see if they can find more budget. At the time of writing, some disciplines are proving so difficult to hire for, salaries are starting to be skewed. The most in demand skill at the moment is paid media - traditional PPC and paid social. Clients are looking for hands-on campaign managers and there just are not enough candidates in the market. Recently, a global media agency had decided at board level that they would offer £28k for an Exec' with one years experience. Perhaps creating problems down the line and particularly where at that salary we'd be usually looking for a minimum of 3 years experience. It also puts a lot of pressure on the employee to perform because the expectation is that they will really deliver. So whilst that is certainly a competitive salary, the client had certainly disclosed the salary on the job description and they weren't trying to get away with anything untoward.
This leads me onto another observation. Some commentators also get their knickers in a twist over the number of years experience asked for in a job advertisement or specification. I don't have a problem with this at all. Within marketing and advertising agencies, the number of years experience denotes an ability to manage client relationships and different and often challenging situations. Yes, a paid search employee with 12 months experience may be able to create and run a campaign....but from an overall strategic level in terms of how the campaign fits with business objectives and driving growth with the client...that needs more time in the role and understandably, the more experience (years), the more situations an individual will have dealt with and therefore the more confidence that an employer can have that the hire will be able to do what they need them to do. Yes, some employers do take a 'sink or swim' approach and that's fine - but it leads to a lot of imposter syndrome and that catches up with people at some point in their career.
There are some employers in Manchester in particular who are known to offer above average salaries. They do disclose the actual salaries which are certainly competitive. However, the employers who I have in mind do have revolving doors when it comes to retention of staff, they certainly expect their pound of flesh and whilst some individuals can thrive in that environment, there is equally a percentage of people who don't. What the Pandemic has certainly done is make employees assess what is important to them. Yes, money is traditionally top of the list but increasingly, work life balance is up there and a desire to work less, even if that means less money.
So I've meandered around the subject there. Salary bandings are always disclosed and in current times, they are very competitive! I'm very keen to talk to any new candidates who work in paid media and traditional creative agency client services too - there are lots of employers looking to hire quickly! Please get in touch with me at fiona.christian@perfectmarketingpeople.com.