Month: August 2016

Think of TIME as an asset

Would you say you value your time? If yes – in what terms?

Time is one thing we definitely cannot gain back, so how we choose to spend our time has direct repercussions on our personal and professional lives.

Every hour you spend in the office or working on a project has a monetary value as specified in your contract. Every hour you spend away from the office/project is time when you are not generating income. This allows for time to be categorised as follows:

  1. Business Hours, where (X hrs)(£Y/hr)=Salary
  2. Work-related Hours a.k.a overtime, work from home, commuting, etc.
  3. Free Personal Time – its value is not expressed financially but through your health, social life and personal development.

Business hours are clear so I will not elaborate on them. Work-related hours however,seem to create occasional confusion. Unless the company you work for compensates you for extra hours via contractual overtime pay or the opportunity to take equivalent time off, I encourage you to be mindful of the overtime you do. Every minute of it is time away from your family and friends, from your health and fitness regime, from learning new languages and skills. I myself am a bit of a workaholic and I’ve spent more extra hours in the office than I should have. With time I noticed that at least half of the overtime does not matter: there will be more work waiting for you the next morning; none of the tasks are a matter of life and death, leading to the financial collapse of the company; the dedication of extra hours does not constitute a factor for promotion or an outstanding work ethic award; and some of the tasks can be completed from the comfort of your own home. Hence, I have been working on filtering through my tasks in order to minimise overtime as much as possible. I advise you to do the same.

Now commuting has to be my favourite aspect of business-related time. Although it is a work related activity, it is rarely reimbursed by employers, and so the longer you commute, the longer your time is poorly invested. Living further away from work may save some money on rent, BUT your travel expenses are bound to increase and fill the gap. Spending more time on buses and trains than you spend in your own home is eventually detrimental. My commute is 15 minutes, (35 mins if I walk). Rent in the area is higher than if I were to move out to Zone 3 or 4. However, any money I save will go directly on my Oyster card and my travel time will increase by 30 minutes at least. The relocation would not be profitable and so I’m resolved on staying in the area.

This finally brings me to the Personal aspect of time. How you choose to spend your free time is up to you. I spend mine reading, walking, resting, writing articles, doing house chores, talking to family and friends, working on my project management qualification. Although free time does not generate financial profits, its social, emotional, and psychological value is very important. What you do/think/learn in your spare time eventually makes you a better person and a better professional. If you are contemplating a career move, it is time you can dedicate to your research and presentations, to ensuring you are the best candidate you can be for the role you’re going after.

Cut the fruitless activities, meetings, conversations and interactions from your life and spend the time saved on improving your skillset and thinking about your future goals. Not all calls, texts and emails are worth answering, not all tasks are worth losing sleep over.

Time is an asset. Invest it wisely.

The Motivation Cliche

What motivates you?

What motivates your work and studies?

What motivates your job search?

Is it passion for the subject, interest in the project/company/organisation, the career progression opportunities, the salary, the location, the team, the benefits package? None of the above?

Figuring out what motivates you is crucial  if you ever want to answer the “Why do you want to work for us?” with any degree of honesty.

Fresh after graduation or while still studying, this question generates a high level of exasperation in young people. Because 85% of the time the honest answer is “Because I need a job and you happen to have an opening that will pay enough so I don’t starve.” But you can’s say that. You really want to, but can’t. And so you come up with an elaborate answer aligning your interests and future career goals with the company’s “vision” and projects and hope for the best.

Although I find the idea of money being the primary factor for anyone’s job applications sort of revolting, we have to admit that it is important. Unfortunately, there are companies who fail to realise just how important. Once you are older and more experienced you look for other things of course – maternity/paternity leave arrangements, pension schemes, annual holiday, bonuses etc. Because you can afford looking for other things. But once you are older and more experienced you also know exactly how much your talent is worth.

When a job posting’s desired skill set list is 45 items long (with a minimum of 3 years related experience) but the salary offered is £23000 pa max you can’t help but laugh. We are not talking about a small business or a start up here, where any career move can be classified as a leap of faith. This particular example is from an international company, well known. It makes you wonder whether their recruitment process is a spin off of the hunger games – only those excited by the prospect of going hungry and broke while working on highly demanding projects will be invited to an interview… How much do you have to love a company or a project to agree to this? What should the development and progression opportunities be to make it worth it?

Long ago my job search used to be a bit hectic. I had my eyes set on an industry or two but the roles I used to apply for were almost everything and anything as long as it is within that industry. Big mistake. It was a lot of work that produced zero results. So I thought about it – what do I want? What do I know and what can I do? What would I like to learn? How much would I like do get paid?  Where do I want to live? What holidays do I like to take? What roles allow for part time study and flexible working hours? Would I like to work from home? What team do I want to work with? What projects would I like to be associated with? Do I prefer independent work or carrying out instructions? Where do I want to be in 3/5/10 years time?

This filtered out 70% of the advertised roles. And with the remaining 30% I have decided to focus – research, network (whenever possible), re-qualify (if necessary), target and apply. It is a thorough process but it does render much better results in the end. And even if a particular role does not happen for you, you will have gained skills and contacts that you wouldn’t have otherwise. If you apply aimlessly you are just a number, if you target your projects you become an asset.

So… what motivates you?