How much did you save at your last trip at the grocery store? I’ve got no clue what I saved either. Maybe you can look at the bottom of the receipt where it says “Total savings: -3.46” before your total.
Even that’s not the way to show savings. What was the budget when you went to the store? If you had $50 budgeted and spend $40, that’s 20% below budget.
Better than money: TIME
How much time did you give yourself to go to the store? An hour? If you make it back in 15 minutes, you just saved 25%.
Ask your manager how long it’s supposed to take each person to finish a project. Find out how much you and your team are saving on each project by completing them early. Make sure your boss knows it. Put it on your resume.
As a network technician you know that last year the network was down 110 hours during work hours. This year it was only down 10 hours. You cut network down time by 100 hours. You also kept 120 clerks from wasting 100 hours.
In other words, you cut wasted clerical time by 12,000 hours as a network technician. Report the hours and estimate the savings of a bare minimum of $120,000 to your boss. He will want to brag about it to his boss too.
Does that sound impressive? It should. That’s why you want it on your resume.
You suggested and/or made a programming change that allowed the company to reassign 3 people to new jobs. You saved the company the wages of all those people. Figure it out and take credit for every dollar.
Is it $30,000 x 3 = $90,000 or is it $60,000 x 3 = $180,000 ? If you tell your boss how much you saved, he may change the number a little, but he will certainly report the savings to his boss. You should put it on your resume.
Big numbers stand out more than percentages. Say $12,400 instead of 8.3%. They’re more impressive and seem more real. Even if you have minor savings, it shows that you know your numbers and know what you’re talking about.
Something To Do Today
Look for ways to prove you save time and money. Ask for the budget and timeline from your boss. Then beat it.