What does it mean if a job salary is 'pro rata' or says 'FTE'?

Sometimes you'll see 'pro rata' or 'FTE' written next to a salary on a job ad. This means that the salary shown is what you'd get if you were working in the role full-time for a whole year – and the salary you'll actually receive will be a proportion of this amount, either because it's a part-time role, or because it's a fixed-term contract lasting less than a year.

Pro rata is an abbreviation of 'proportional representation'. If you work part-time at half the hours of a full-time worker then you'd receive half of the full-time salary. Similarly, if you're hired on a fixed-term contract lasting six months, you'd receive half of the full salary for someone working a full year.

FTE is used in a similar way – it means 'full-time equivalent'. If a full-time worker does 5 days a week and you work 4 days a week, you'd be at 0.8 FTE. And if you work 2.5 days a week – half the number of days of a full-time worker – then you'd be at 0.5 FTE. So if you see FTE after a salary, it means that's what you'd get if you were doing the role full-time.

Why not just show the actual salary I'd receive for the job?

It can seem confusing to see a salary advertised when it's not the actual amount you'll receive. But it can be helpful to see the pro rata salary as it allows you to compare the salary with other salaries you've seen advertised for full-time work or for fixed-term contracts of a different duration. It means you're not left trying to figure out the maths to see if the salary for a 9 month contract pays you at the same rate as a permanent job, or if a 3 month internship is paying you above the London Living Wage, for example.

Some job ads will show both the pro rata / FTE salary, and the actual amount you'd receive for the part-time hours, or for the fixed-term contract. This is a helpful way to present the information – one figure for comparison purposes, and one figure for knowing-what-you'll-actually-get purposes.