Having a degree in economics allows me to say that the only good summation of the "dismal science" I have ever read is "There is no such thing as a free lunch." If you want the' job for you, you are going to have to spend some time and money getting it. Now the question is, how much of both?
Somehow I have the feeling that before we decide how much money you will need we better see where the money you need is coming from.
Let's start with the nasty assumptions and look at the worst first. Let's say that none of your friends, relatives, or family will lend you $50 to $500 for you to land your job. Either they are a bunch of cheapies or you are simply not a good bet or nobody has any bread right now. Where do we go from here?
Well, there are several alternatives. You can save it, which may take some time, but it is possible. Of course, that means getting some job which gives you the money to start doing what you would like to do instead of saving it. Well, if the savings route is not your bag for one reason or another, now what.
Establish your credit. No, I'm not kidding. Let's say you are fairly young, have had a few menial jobs, little cash, and lots of doubts. Now what?
Well, maybe you can learn from an experience that happened to me when I was cynical, too. In 1949 new, brand new PhDs were selling on the market for $3800 per year, so this guy I knew said he wasn't going for a Ph.D. but would stop with a Master's and would get a job at $7500. The place shook with laughter. Only trouble was that he did it. He was then in his middle twenties and had been going to the bank for a year and borrowing all he could on his signature. You know, maybe $50 the first time and then putting it in a savings and loan company for the time of the loan and taking the money back to the bank at the end of three or six months, whatever the time of the loan was, and repaying it. Over the course of a year he had, as the finance boys say, "Established credit" and could borrow up to $500 at the bank-no questions asked. Well, I can tell you one thing-it was something the rest of us couldn't do, and we were envious.
Incidentally, he didn't make money on the loan. He lost a little, and you will too (savings and loan interest is not as much as loan interest charges), but the point was that he had established his credit at the bank and could, each time he went again to the bank, get more money on a loan than the last time for the very simple reason that he had proven to the bank that he would and could repay on time. So with going wages at $3800 he borrowed $500 on the gamble of a better job. So you won't be left in suspense, he was looking for a job in junior sales management in the earth-moving equipment field. He made up his personal data sheet very carefully and then had each page put in a plastic cover. After much research he decided to apply to twenty firms. Now the whammy part: He had each PD sheet bound in leather with the name of the man he was sending it to on the cover in embossed gold. I know you have guessed the rest. He got eighteen invitations for interviews, eight jobs offers, and took a job starting at $7500. We could have killed him, but he did it and we... we went out at $3800.1 know, 1 know. It could have been luck, it could have been his personality, it could have been his ability, it could have been the company's need at that particular time, but my secret hunch is that the PD sheet had a whole lot to do with getting the door open and impressing them at the start. True. You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but who doesn't?
So now to your toughies: How much will you be willing to spend for your job in both time and money? Naturally the higher the job you are shooting for the more time and money are likely to have to be spent. But it also depends on just how much you want that particular job.
Let's take what looks like the easier first, the time budget.
1. No matter what you are planning, start and work backwards. Yes, I mean it. 2. Let's say realistically you would like a new or first job six months from now, and that is not an unrealistic time frame to work in. 3. Then start with a day at least six months hence and then list, in reverse order, all the things that have to be done and how long each realistically will take to do. Include a goodly amount of "goof-off time interspersed within each work period. Let's face it, few if any of us accomplish all we say we will or hope to in any given time period. So we might as well plan for it. As an example, let's say that you want to shoot for the job of assistant PR director of a mid-west manufacturing firm at a starting salary of $9000 plus. Now in laying out your time schedule, first you have to list all that has to be done and then decide how long each is going to take to be done.
Such as:
- a. How large does a mid-west manufacturing firm have to be in order to have a PR department? What unit of measure should I use to judge the size of the firm's worth or number of employees or type of business? 2 days-telephone calls and library
- b. Where do I find a list of this size firm? 1 day
- c. Is there an association of PR people who would list the firms in which they are employed? 1 hour
- d. Would any of my local university people have any information on how to get started on contacting them? 1 day
- e. Are there local PR people who possibly might know fellow PR people in the region I'm interested in? 2 days phone .
- f. Are there types of products which I would feel more comfortable in representing than others? Think time-I day
- g. Drafting a letter to people introduced to me by my contacts. 1 day
- h. Drafting a letter to PR listed individuals with whom I have had no contact. Yj day (steal from first letter)
- i. Specifically, plan a personal data sheet for this type PR job. 2 days
- j. Layout cover for PD sheet. 2 days
- k. Check permission of references to be used if asked for. 2 weeks
- l. Get PD sheets carefully typed. 2 days
- m. Select printer to do work. 3 days
- n. Get professional photograph of self-taken for use on PD sheet. 1 week
- o. Add 3 days to printer's estimate of length of time to do PD sheet.
- p. Get letters to each firm individually typed. 4 days
- q. Get addresses and envelopes typed for each firm to send. 3 days
- r. Edit all letters and galleys of PD sheet. 2 days
- s. Fold, stamp and mail all PD sheets. Yi day
- t. Add goof-off time during period of at least 7 days.
The example on page 33 will give you some idea of what I'm trying to say.
Once the time chart is done and we know when we have to start in order to finish by a certain time we can then translate each time item into a cost item and determine just how much it will cost us to make a first class pitch. Of course, we should add travel costs and appropriate clothing for interviews if it is not now available, plus, for some, a possible visit to the barber
