Has this ever happened to you?
You spot a role advertised at £50,000.
The opportunity looks attractive. The salary aligns with your expectations. You spend time researching the company, tailoring your CV, preparing your application and progressing through the recruitment process.
Then comes the surprise.
After investing hours of effort, you discover the actual salary available is £40,000.
Naturally, this raises an important question.
If the genuine budget for the role is £40,000, should the position ever have been advertised at £50,000 in the first place?
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with legitimate salary ranges. Employers often assess candidates based on experience, skills and market availability. A role advertised at £40,000 – £50,000 may genuinely accommodate different levels of candidate.
The concern arises when a higher figure appears to be used primarily to increase application numbers, despite there being little realistic prospect of paying that amount.
From a candidate perspective, this can create:
• Frustration and disappointment.
• Reduced trust in the recruitment process.
• Wasted time and effort.
• Increased likelihood of withdrawing from the process.
From an employer perspective, the consequences can be equally significant:
• Damage to employer brand and reputation.
• Lower candidate engagement levels.
• Reduced offer acceptance rates.
• Negative feedback across professional networks and social media.
Ironically, many organisations invest heavily in improving candidate experience, while salary mismatches can undermine trust before employment even begins.
Transparency matters.
Candidates understand negotiation. Candidates understand salary bands. What most candidates struggle with is feeling that they have entered a process based on information that was never genuinely available.
So we’d like to hear from you.
Have you ever applied for a role where the advertised salary turned out to be significantly different from the actual budget?
And from an employer’s perspective, what do you believe represents a fair and reasonable difference between the advertised salary and the final offer?
The Career Experts
Helping professionals navigate today’s job market with clarity, confidence and informed decision-making.
