You’ve sourced your resumes, you’ve screened your candidates, and now you have found someone you think will be a good fit for the position and the company. Once that is said and done, the next step is making an offer that you think they will accept. But how do you begin the complicated task of determining their market value?
Many states have recently outlawed questions related to a candidate’s salary history. This prohibits employers from relying on a candidate’s current or most recent salary to set compensation. Fortunately, there are many other ways to determine how much an employee should get paid. It is critical that you neither overpay a new hire based on false data nor sell a candidate short and run the risk of losing them. The rule of thumb is this: the maximum salary is determined by how valuable this new employee would be to the company, while the minimum salary is determined entirely by the market. Since the market rates set candidates’ expectations, try running a search on websites like Glassdoor, Payscale, and Angel.co, LinkedIn Salary, and Salary.com using details such as a specific job title, years of experience, and location to get a salary estimate based on today’s job market. The data here may not be exact, since there are so many variables to consider, but sampling from multiple sources can provide a closer estimate and give you a better idea of the current labor market.
In order to ensure a fair and equitable salary offer, it is also important to ask a lot of questions. These other questions can be related to issues such as who else is looking to hire this candidate and what kind of salary and benefits this candidate may be looking for when determining where to apply. Your recruiting firm will hold all of the necessary demographics of the relevant labor market and can provide competitive, market-driven salary and benefits information. As this is their expertise, they will be able to match market data with that of your company to fulfill your recruiting needs.
Talking to other businesses, particularly those in the same market as yours, is another excellent source for pay scales as you can exchange relevant knowledge and experiences. These connections can be made by joining a business networking group or by talking to members of your local chamber of commerce. You can also compensate for employee salary using company culture and other benefits. Overall, in order to determine a candidate’s market value and remain competitive, you must stay up to date on pay surveys, market figures, and any other relevant data.
Thanks for reading, and happy recruiting!