subject: The Economics Of Job Hunting [print this page] The economy has been pretty bad latelyThe economy has been pretty bad lately. Most people say this is the worst recession since world war II. I don't know about you, but that seems pretty bad. Very few people really understand what causes a recession, but we all can feel it's effects. People are spending less money, which means businesses are earning less profits, which means they are hiring less people, which leads us to spend less money. It's all a vicious circle, and it's a wonder that we ever get out of it. If you are without a job, you aren't alone. It can be tough to keep on looking day after day, not knowing if you are going to be finding anything. But when you understand the basic economics of the situation, it can give you some insight that might make it easier for you to get a job.
First of all, everybody hires somebody because they think it will help their company make more money. The added person will make their company more productive, which will increase their profits. If they didn't think adding more people would increase their profits, they wouldn't hire anybody. The amount of money, including all the benefits, they pay that additional person must be less than the amount of profit they'll add to the company.
For example, let's consider a small grocery store that has four employees. Each employee makes twenty thousand dollars a year, totally eight thousand dollars. The store profits are twenty five thousand dollars a year. So if they added one more employee, for an additional twenty grand a year, their profits would have to go up more than twenty grand, bringing their net profits to more than forty five grand a year. If the owner wasn't sure this would happen, he or she wouldn't hire an extra person.
If you were in the shoes of the store owner, which kind of person would you hire? Somebody who you would have to spend a lot of time training, or somebody who already pretty much knows what to do? Somebody who gets along well with others, or somebody who likes go gossip and create strife in the workplace?
When you look at things from this perspective, it's easier to see what kind of person most employers are looking for. They want somebody who can hit the ground running, and who won't interfere with their operations. They don't want somebody that is going to go through a lot of training.
So what do you need to do to get that job? Convince the hiring manager that with you added to the company, they'll make more money than they are now. That you will do a great job from day one, and you won't be a burden.
When you can present yourself like this to your potential employer, you'll have a much better chance of getting that job.
