Ask any publishing candidate what puts them off a role and “vague on salary” comes up fast. Not low salary necessarily – vague. A job ad with “competitive salary” and nothing else. A first interview that dances around numbers. A verbal offer that shifts once it's in writing.
We see it from both sides. Candidates tell us they've stopped applying to roles that won't name a range. Employers tell us they're worried that publishing a number will “start negotiations too early” or reveal what they pay existing staff. Both things can be true. Only one of them is still working in 2026.
Why this matters now
Pay transparency isn't a trend anymore – it's an expectation, shaped by legislation elsewhere in Europe, wider hiring practice, and candidates simply comparing notes. Recent industry research from the
Recent industry research from the CIPD shows the majority of UK workplaces now advertise roles with salary information included, and that candidates are markedly more likely to apply when a range is given up front.
Editorial and publishing professionals talk to each other. If your rival's ad has a range and yours doesn't, yours looks like it's hiding something.
What “transparency” actually means to candidates
A realistic salary band in the first ad, not after three interview stages
Clarity on where in that band a candidate might land, and why
Honesty about what's negotiable (start date, benefits, title) versus what isn't
No unexplained gap between the advertised range and the eventual offer
What we tell employers
Publish a band. It doesn't have to be a single figure, and it doesn't have to be your absolute ceiling. But a credible range, tied to experience level, filters out mismatched applicants and builds trust with the right ones before you've even spoken to them.
The takeaway
Candidates aren't asking for more money as often as they're asking for straight answers. Give them that, and you'll spend less time in interviews that go nowhere.