Establishing Starting Salaries for New Hires
New starting salaries are determined by the candidate’s relevant knowledge, skills, and experience as this relates to the position’s minimum requirements. This information will help determine in which salary range quartile the starting salary will be placed.
Determining Starting Salaries
Considerations when determining starting salaries include:
- Tulane’s hiring and pay administration guidelines
- Internal pay relationships
- Candidate's applicable knowledge, skills, and abilities
- Budget and legal concerns
When considering new hire starting salaries, either through external recruitment or internal promotion, review of the starting salary should be compared to the unit’s internal employees to ensure consistency and equity within the unit.
The table below provides general criteria for placing starting salaries within appropriate salary range quartiles based upon qualifications.
| 1st Quartile | 2nd Quartile | 3rd Quartile | 4th Quartile | |
| Description of Minimum Requirements | Candidate is minimally qualified and less experienced. Candidate meets the minimum requirements of the position. | Candidate is fully qualified to perform all duties and responsibilities of the position. | Candidate is a highly experienced professional. Candidate possesses skills, competencies, and capabilities well beyond the minimum requirements. | Candidate has long-term experience. Candidate possesses well established skill sets and performance capabilities. |
An Example
A job classified as with a pay grade of 22 has the following hourly rate structure:
Based on the guidelines above:
- Candidates with the minimum qualifications would be hired between the minimum and 25th percentile ($16.11 - $18.46) as they are generally less experienced.
- Candidates who possess the preferred qualifications and are fully competent for the job should be generally hired between the 25th percentile and the midpoint (18.46 - $20.87) as they are more experienced.
- Candidates who are highly experienced and possess skills, competencies, and capabilities well beyond the minimum requirements and preferred qualifications may be hired between the midpoint and the 75th percentile ($20.87 - $23.27).
- Candidates should generally not be hired above the 75th percentile so that you can allow for pay growth and future merit increases based on performance. This quartile is reserved for candidates with long-term experience and performance capabilities.
