RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Assets

Until now all you have spent is a few pounds on stationery. Perhaps some on clothes, perhaps even a sober business outfit. These were set up costs. Costs that will not have to be found every operational day.

Now you are going to need a regular amount of funding for your everyday operational requirements.

There is no way you can measure, with any degree of accuracy, the amount of money you will require, when you will require it and for what.

The days will come and go, they will fly by if you have done your planning correctly. You will be busy, and if you are not careful your most valuable resource, your money, your available operational funding, will flow through your fingers like quicksilver.

Unless you have a huge amount of redundancy money in the bank-even if you have a huge amount of redundancy money in the bank, it should be treated as a commodity that is disappearing too fast. Whatever you are spending, if it is less than you have coming in it is:

Too much.

This is stating the obvious but there is good reason:

JOB HUNTING requires concentration on one task, or on several tasks at one time, demanding a cohesive operational routine: one that is a progression of events allowing you to constantly assess your degree of success.

The flow of money, incoming and outgoing, helps as a bond that holds the various tasks together.

I have said many times that the level of self worth is invaluable as you progress along the path to a job offer. If you measure what you have achieved against what it has cost you in monetary terms you should find quite a lot of self worth, feel-good factor and ego enhancement mileage. If the ratio is favourable to you that is.

Disciplined management of money should be used as a tool in your day to day activities.

Measuring what you get against what you spend certainly concentrates the mind.

You should be aiming to get as much as you can by way of transport, typing, photocopying, 'phone calls, cups of coffee and sticky buns, to mention but a few of the basic essentials, for the absolute minimum of spend.

For example let us look at a snapshot of your activities at the end of a dayJOB HUNTING.

You are in a car, someone else's car, travelling home at no cost to yourself for you have "resourced" the ride. The driver is fed up, the weather is filthy. Ignore the seemingly endless barrage of moans, complaints and wingeing. Close your eyes and direct your thoughts to the chain of events that has unfolded today.

• Ride into the town centre this morning: Resource: Captain of darts team
• Visited library. Admission free.
• Scanned papers. Recorded 5 job leads from daily papers and magazines.
• Treats time. Went to coffee shop. Coffee and toast £2.50.
• Bus to Bill's house.
• Allows use of 'phone for 10p per call.
• Followed up 5 leads gathered today plus 3 from last evening's paper.
• Tried 2 info sources, not available.
• Bus 80p.
• Calls 10 = £1.
• Ride into town With Bill's wife who was going into town shopping.
• Newspapers. Midday editions 80p.
• Three new leads. 'Phone box 80p.
• Two application forms posted to home One said write in.
• Decided to visit. Bus fare £1.20. Seen by assistant personnel manager.
• Job centre. Main office.Chatted to contact. Said two jobs in today. Box numbers. Got out of him who one of them was. Write tonight.
• 'Phoned for lift from Andrew.
• Bus to Job Centre 60p. Phone 20p.
• Ride home with Andrew. Resourced.

What a comfortable feeling it is to know you have matters under control.

I make that £6.25p, not bad for the results obtained in the early days of JOB HUNTING. When you start attending interviews you might be fortunate enough to be able to claim expenses. When, or perhaps I should say if, that happy day dawns and someone asks how much it has cost to get to their office you need to have an answer ready. What follows I have used for many years:

"I have a sort of unofficial arrangement with a chap at my local garage. On the days I need a car he lets me borrow one and charges me by the mile. It's not cheap but its better than risking the train being late and it works out cheaper. I've done 120 miles getting here from door to door. 240 miles at 20p, I make that £48.00. Are you agreeable to that? Its about £10 less than the rail fare".

You may not be comfortable using it. If you are not then ignore this part of the section and move on.

You may be inclined to say, it doesn't matter, I have my own car, my wife's car, my father's car, and the journey was not a very long one, so why bother to ask for money. Not to do so is to miss the point.

If you suspect you are to be asked about travelling expenses, be prepared. Do not simply give a figure that implies you have been waiting for the question.

Claiming travel expenses is commonplace. A fair and honest thing to do.

The example I have suggested is plausible. It shows you have made provision for transport, an absolute necessity in the circumstances, and that you have done so wisely. What more could an interviewer want from a prospective employee?



You are a winner in more ways than one if you think it through.

• Brownie point ONE. Whilst your interviewer is admiring your well thought out transport policy the amount will be a secondary consideration.
• Brownie point TWO. You had an answer worked out in advance, giving the impression of being forward thinking thus putting you in a favourable position. That sets you aside from whoever else is being interviewed.
• Brownie point THREE. You have become richer by the sum of £48.00 and in that there is an element of profit to help finance your future activities.


The fact that you have built in a little justification for your claim is to my mind reasonable. The bottom line is this: control of resources is part of your daily routine, one that serves as a framework for your activities. Practise it.