Money talk is cheap…
How wage brackets influence developers recruitment (A/B testing case).
Money talk
…has always been a problematic subject. So it remains during the recruitment process of a person we actually don’t really know. No one wants to come first with a figure, petrified not to over- or underestimate.
And so the peekaboo goes…
I’ve talked to many developers who instantly get dozens of messages from HR recruiters weekly. Refusing job offers is just like another teeth brushing every morning. Every one of them told me that they don’t even read the message, they just scan them in a search for any number. “Numbers” are of course salary brackets.
I wanted to test if adding wage brackets information in the first message to a developer would change the number of people who connected with me via Linkedin.
I aimed at mobile platforms developers
…(N=59) and was looking for people suiting these three positions:
- iOS/Android Developer (2+ years of experience), n=19
- Senior iOS/Android Developer (3+ years of experience), n=22
- Mobile Team Leader (3+ years experience, other coding languages skills), n=18
I sent out two versions of messages splitting them between job positions.
Control Group (Version 1, n=30):
Hello Mr Developer,
I’m looking for a talented Mobile Team Leader. Your experience is interesting. Great working atmosphere, interesting projects, SCRUM, benefits package, competitive salary. Would you like to know the details?
Experimental Group (Version 2, n=29):
Hello Mr Developer,
I’m looking for a talented Mobile Team Leader. Your experience is interesting. Great working atmosphere, interesting projects, SCRUM, benefits package, competitive salary (X-Z + VAT). Would you like to know the details?
The only difference between them was the existence of wage brackets in the message. They were quite wide and went along with typical wages for these job positions in Poland.
I counted how many times a developer clicks “Connect” with me via Linkedin after reading certain version of the message.
So not true!
There is no significant difference in the response rate of potential candidates between the control and the experimental group (p ≥ 0,05).
Giving the information on the expected wage in the first message to a developer did not significantly influenced the decision of connecting with a recruiter via Linkedin.
Personally,
…I was very surprised with the results. It was so obvious to me that wage brackets would be a game changer! Ther weren’t.
But, the hypothesis I draw from these results is sooo refreshing :)
Developers don’t work for money!
But rather may be working for something more intangible, like the quality of projects they would work in, main duties etc. Of course these are just my guesses, which inspire me for future A/B tests :)
These results may be interesting for those who want to do something awesome, but cannot offer a competitive salary to great developers.
It is also good to know that offering wage brackets don’t have to waste this precious space in the Linkedin Connect Message. There are only 300 characters there to use, so you’d better be reasonable about them!
