Should you advertise salary on a sales job advert?
We spend a lot of time looking at companies that are hiring salespeople, the job adverts they're running and, where we can see it, the number of applications those adverts are generating.
We also speak to employers about something arguably more important than application volume: the quality of the people actually applying.
One subject keeps coming up in sales hiring.
Should you advertise the salary, or leave it off?
There seem to be two schools of thought. One is that leaving salary information off a job advert attracts a broader range of candidates because you're not restricting yourself to people searching within a particular salary bracket.
The other is almost the complete opposite. Advertise the salary, or at least a realistic range, and candidates can make an informed decision before they apply. You potentially receive fewer unsuitable applications, waste less time and speak to salespeople whose expectations are already broadly aligned with yours.
Looking at the number of sales job adverts we're seeing without salary information, plenty of employers still appear comfortable with the first approach.
But does the data actually support it?
Key Points: salary transparency appears to help sales recruitment
- LinkedIn research found compensation and benefits was the most commonly selected priority when candidates considered a new role.
- Totaljobs found 80% of candidates avoid applying for roles without salary information.
- CV-Library found adverts displaying salary information generated 60% more applications in its analysis.
- Reed found adverts displaying salaries received 27% more applications.
- For sales recruitment, employers should consider publishing both the basic salary range and realistic OTE or commission opportunity.
The figures vary between studies and shouldn't be directly compared because the methodologies differ. But the overall direction is difficult to ignore: leaving salary information off a sales job advert may reduce rather than broaden your candidate pool.
What do candidates want to know before applying?
Let's start with LinkedIn.
LinkedIn's 2025 research into what candidates want surveyed LinkedIn members about the factors that matter most when considering a new job.
Compensation and benefits came top, selected by 63% of candidates. Work-life balance followed at 49%, with flexible working at 44%.
That shouldn't really surprise anyone involved in sales hiring.
We can write an engaging advert about culture, progression, flexibility, purpose and the opportunity ahead. Those things absolutely matter. But people also want to know what they're going to be paid.
And if that information isn't available, there's increasing evidence that some candidates simply move on.
Could hiding the salary actually reduce applications?
This is where some of the numbers become particularly interesting.
Totaljobs' 2026 Salary Trends research found that 80% of candidates avoid applying for roles that don't include salary information, while 89% said they are more likely to apply when a salary range is listed.
CV-Library found something similar in its 2025 Candidate Behaviour Barometer.
- 67% of candidates look for salary information in a job advert.
- 65% consider salary information essential.
- 38% are less likely to apply when it isn't stated upfront.
These studies use different methodologies, so it doesn't make sense to directly compare the percentages.
But the direction is pretty clear.
If you're not advertising the salary, you may not be broadening your candidate pool at all. You could actually be reducing it.
Salary information can increase actual applications too
This isn't only about what candidates say they'll do.
CV-Library analysed applications per job over a 12-month period and found that job adverts displaying salary information attracted an average of 60% more applications than adverts that didn't.
Reed found the same overall pattern. Its analysis of behaviour on Reed.co.uk found that job adverts displaying a salary received 27% more applications than adverts without one.
Interestingly, Reed also found that 38% of hiring managers who advertised salaries felt doing so improved the relevancy of the applications they received.
You can read Reed's salary transparency research here.
So we have two different UK job boards, two different figures, but the same overall finding.
Advertising salary appears to increase applications rather than restrict them.
Sales recruitment needs to go further: advertise the OTE
For sales recruitment, I'd take salary transparency one stage further.
Don't just advertise the basic salary. Where possible, tell people what the realistic commission opportunity looks like.
A £60,000 basic salary doesn't tell an experienced salesperson everything they need to know.
- Is realistic earnings potential £70,000, £90,000 or £120,000?
- Is commission capped or uncapped?
- What does somebody realistically earn when they achieve target?
- How is commission calculated?
- When is it paid?
If you genuinely have a strong commission structure, it should be part of your attraction strategy.
Equally, if there's flexibility in the basic salary depending on experience, advertise a sensible range.
£60,000 to £70,000 gives somebody considerably more useful information than "competitive salary".
What about the argument against advertising salary?
There are legitimate reasons why companies sometimes choose not to publish salary information.
You may have existing employees doing similar jobs on different salaries. The package might genuinely depend on the experience of the person you appoint. There may be internal sensitivities around remuneration, or you might not have completely finalised the package.
I understand all of those arguments.
But I'd weigh them against what the candidate market is telling us.
If compensation is one of the first things people consider when looking at an opportunity, and a significant proportion of your potential sales talent is less likely to apply without that information, withholding it has a recruitment cost.
Salary transparency can prevent wasted time later
There's another cost that's easily overlooked: time.
You've advertised the vacancy. You've reviewed the applications. Someone has screened the candidate. The hiring manager conducts a first interview. Perhaps there's then a second or even third stage.
Eventually, somebody has the salary conversation and discovers that the candidate's expectations and the employer's budget were never going to meet.
That's a lot of wasted time for everybody involved.
Totaljobs' 2026 research found that 33% of recruiters had seen candidates drop out when salary expectations were discussed too late in the recruitment process.
Why wait until the end to discover something that could have been established at the beginning?
What about salespeople who aren't actively applying?
For me, this is where the conversation gets particularly interesting.
An active jobseeker may still apply to an advert without salary information and ask about it later.
But what about the salesperson who isn't actively looking?
They're employed. They're doing well. They're not spending every evening searching job boards. They might be open to the right opportunity, but they don't need another job.
They see your advert. The role looks interesting. But there's no salary or OTE information.
Is there enough there to make them take action?
Maybe. Maybe not.
And that's an important distinction when you're hiring salespeople.
Advertising is one route to the candidate market. You publish an opportunity and wait for somebody to respond.
Search is different. A specialist sales recruiter can identify and approach relevant people who aren't necessarily applying for jobs, understand what would motivate them to consider a move and introduce the opportunity directly.
So, if you decide not to advertise the salary, there's another question worth asking:
Do you have a strategy for reaching the people who won't apply?
So, should you advertise salary when hiring salespeople?
My view is yes.
Advertise a sensible basic salary range. For sales positions, provide realistic information about commission and OTE. Be as transparent as you reasonably can about the overall package.
The research suggests that doing so can increase applications, help candidates make better-informed decisions and potentially prevent both sides wasting time later in the sales recruitment process.
But don't take my word for it.
Have a look at the research from LinkedIn, CV-Library, Reed and Totaljobs and make up your own mind.
Key takeaways for employers
- Salary matters: compensation remains one of the biggest factors candidates consider when assessing an opportunity.
- Transparency doesn't necessarily restrict applications: UK job board research indicates adverts with salary information can attract more applications.
- Think beyond the basic salary: when recruiting salespeople, realistic OTE and commission information are important parts of the proposition.
- Set expectations early: greater transparency can reduce the risk of discovering a fundamental salary mismatch late in the interview process.
- Don't rely entirely on advertising: particularly when you need experienced salespeople who may not be actively searching for another role.
Want to improve the rest of your sales job description?
Salary is only one part of creating an advert that attracts the right salespeople.
CN Sales Recruitment has created a free A-Player Job Description Guide to help employers think through what good looks like and build a clearer, more effective brief for the people they want to attract.
Download the free CN Sales Recruitment A-Player Job Description Guide here.
Because ultimately, the objective isn't simply to generate more applications.
It's to attract the right people.