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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:
75.7% of vet nurses said they would read adverts which display a salary first (before those that don't)
54.5% of vet nurses said they would respond to adverts which display the salary first (before those that don't).
28.8% of vet nurses said they would ignore ads that don't show a salary.
Only 18.4% 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. 66% of vet nurses said 'negative', 32.2% said 'neutral' and 1.1% 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'.
1.9% of veterinary nurses said: 'Not at all annoying"
30.7% said 'Mildly irritating'
67% 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.'
By comparison, veterinary surgeons were a little less salary conscious, but very much the same patterns emerged (full results of the vet survey here).
The bottom line is that if you spend £99 to advertise a job on VetNurse and you don't advertise the salary, you're effectively throwing away £28 there and then. Might as well just set fire to a £20 and a £10 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 VetNurse and VetSurgeon, 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 VetNurse.co.uk and VetSurgeon.org, 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:
Publishing Editor Arlo Guthrie said: "I've lost count of the number of nurses who remark that all veterinary recruitment adverts say that there's a 'happy working team' or a 'supportive environment', or 'all the latest toys' and it's only when they arrive at the practice that they discover that everyone's at each other like ferrets in a sack, and the practice's idea of 'all the latest toys' is a 1972 Goblin Teasmade."
VetNurse Jobs now includes the ability for advertisers to display in their advert links to the VetNurse profiles of other employees at the practice who are prepared to have an informal chat with candidates about what it's like working there.
Using the messaging system on VetNurse.co.uk, the potential applicant and the employee can then arrange a time for a chat, without revealing the employee's email address, after which the candidate will hopefully feel far better placed to decide whether it's the job for them.
Arlo said: "Of course, no advertiser is going to display the name of an employee who is going to say bad things about the practice, but it still offers the chance for candidates to ask questions and make their own mind up before applying for an interview."
Aside from that, just the fact that a practice shows that it has the confidence in its employees to put them in touch with potential candidates says something very positive about those practices which use the feature.
To use the new feature, job advertisers need to enter the email address of another employee at the practice who is also a member of VetNurse.co.uk and has agreed to talk to candidates, when they place their advertisement. When it goes live, the advert will then contain a direct link to the employee's profile, under the title: "Talk to other employees of this practice."