If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting. (Benjamin Franklin)
Most people have no clue how much money they save at the grocery store, much less how much they save at work. They don’t know their objectives, normal expenses, or budget at work. The people who worry about the budget at work get all the credit for saving money and time. It isn’t hard to become a budget and savings guru. Just ask your managers how much time an average person is supposed to take to finish each project. Write that number in your job journal. If your managers won’t tell you, make an estimate, write it down, and see if you can beat it. Report back the estimate and results.
At your job you can help save money. You do it by finding out what performance level is expected, then exceeding that level. If you get your job done in 4 hours instead of 5, you saved one hour for your company. If you do that every day for 80 work days, you have saved 80 hours of time. That is two work weeks. You have saved your company two weeks of your wages in 80 days. Put that into dollars and report it on your resume and in your weekly report to your boss.
Here are some more ways to save money and get credit for it:
If the average salesperson is paid $800 each month for expenses and you spend only $600, you will save your company $2400 each year on expenses. Make sure your boss knows it. Take credit.
If a project you are on is supposed to take 8 months and it is done in 6 months, you have helped save 2 months of time. Brag about it. Convert the 2 months into wages for everyone involved and take full credit with your boss and 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 also estimate the savings of a bare minimum of $120,000 to your boss. He will want to brag about it to his boss too. When you are looking for a new job, you should be able to go to your job journal and get that number to brag about.
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 also put it on your resume.
When you show cost cutting and savings on your resume, you prove you are keeping an eye on expenses. If you can prove even a minor cost saving, it shows that you are interested in something the hiring manager works on every day. Take the time to keep a job journal tracking the changes you make and the time and money you save. Then put it down on your resume. It could get you an interview. It can even get you a job.
Something To Do Today
Look for ways to prove you save money and time. Ask your managers what the budget is and then beat the budget. Track it.
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Monday: Show increased revenue
Later: Show better customer service
The Heisenberg uncertainty principle
Post-it notes