The salary in the advert and the figure on your payslip

These are listed in the order worth acting on, which with advertised salary is not the order they are usually presented in.

A range is a band, not a prediction

An advertised range usually describes the whole pay band for the grade, including people who have been in it for years. New entrants are commonly placed in the lower portion, because the upper portion is what progression within the role is meant to deliver. Reading the top of a range as an achievable starting point is the most reliable source of disappointment in a job search.

Asking where a typical new joiner lands within the range is a fair question and the answer is usually honest. Where an advert states a single figure with no range, that often signals a fixed structure with less room in the initial conversation.

Bundled variable pay

Headline figures that combine base pay with expected commission, bonus or tips describe an outcome rather than an entitlement. The base is what you can plan around; the rest depends on conditions, targets and decisions that may not survive a change of manager.

Ask what proportion of people in the role reached the quoted total last year, and treat a vague answer as an answer. Ask also whether the variable element is contractual or discretionary, because the two behave completely differently in a difficult year. A role paying a modest base with a large variable component is a different financial risk from one paying the same total as salary.

Allowances inside the headline

Shift premia, unsocial hours supplements, location allowances and on-call payments are frequently folded into a quoted figure. Each of those depends on continuing to work the pattern that generates it, and patterns change without the salary changing. A figure that assumes permanent night working describes a life as much as a wage, which is the part the advert leaves out.

Put simply, where an allowance is temporary or attached to a specific site, it can end while the job continues at a lower rate. Ask which components are permanent and pensionable, since that question separates real base pay from everything stacked on top of it.

Pro-rating and the part-year job

Part-time roles are often advertised at the full-time equivalent, sometimes with the pro-rated figure in much smaller text. Term-time and seasonal roles are worse, because the annual equivalent depends on a formula that varies between employers. A quoted per-annum figure derived from an hourly rate assumes a number of hours that may not be guaranteed to you at all.

For any variable-hours role, the useful question is the minimum hours you can rely on rather than the maximum available. Multiply the hourly rate by the hours you would actually be offered, not by a standard full-time week.

What the advert never mentions

Employer pension contributions vary widely between organisations and can be worth more than the difference in the salaries being compared. Paid leave, sick pay arrangements and notice periods differ substantially and all of them have a cash value. The cost of getting to the job, of parking, of required clothing and of any equipment you must supply comes straight off the top.

The useful part is this: a shorter commute or predictable hours can be worth more than a modest salary increase, and neither appears in any comparison table. Build a single annual figure for each option, listing what is guaranteed, what is likely and what is merely possible.

Adjust the size of it until it is something you would actually do tired.

Translating the offer

When the offer arrives, check the written terms against the advert, since the two are drafted by different people at different times. The contract governs, and any component described verbally but absent from the document has a habit of evaporating. Confirm the review cycle and when your first review falls, because joining just after one can mean a long wait.

On an ordinary week, confirm whether the figure is subject to probation, since some employers apply a lower rate or restricted benefits during that period. Only after all of that does a comparison between two offers mean anything, and by then the higher headline has often changed places.

Everything above, in order of what to do first

1. A range is a band, not a prediction. An advertised range usually describes the whole pay band for the grade, including people who have been in it for years.
2. Bundled variable pay. Headline figures that combine base pay with expected commission, bonus or tips describe an outcome rather than an entitlement.
3. Allowances inside the headline. Shift premia, unsocial hours supplements, location allowances and on-call payments are frequently folded into a quoted figure.
4. Pro-rating and the part-year job. Part-time roles are often advertised at the full-time equivalent, sometimes with the pro-rated figure in much smaller text.
5. What the advert never mentions. Employer pension contributions vary widely between organisations and can be worth more than the difference in the salaries being compared.
6. Translating the offer. When the offer arrives, check the written terms against the advert, since the two are drafted by different people at different times.

The takeaway

Rebuild every advert as one annual number, split into guaranteed, likely and possible, before comparing anything.

Pick the one that costs you least, and let the rest wait.