My husband recently took a job to bring in some extra income while we wait (and wait and wait and wait…) for this baby to arrive, for our opportunity to move into our house, and for his “real” job to start. As I looked at our Mint.com account for the last month, there were a few large purchases that stood out – and that all were associated with obtaining and maintaining this new job. They surprised me, to be honest, as I forgot how much a new job can cost.
Jeans (both pairs of his jeans were too holey to wear to work) – $48.85
Cobbler (to fix his work shoes) – $20
Goodwill (to buy shoes for the interview as we had just taken his only pair to the cobbler) – $17.83
Dress Shirt – $23.95
Liquor Permit – $27.36
Food Handler’s Permit – $10
Total: $148
He also drives 20 miles roundtrip about 4 times a week, so our gas costs have been pretty high as well. Regardless though, it is obvious that the benefits of working outweigh the amount he paid to obtain/maintain the job.
However, what if he spent all that money only to not get the job?
The big problem that a lot of people (me included…) have is that we invest money into getting a job, only to fail at finding viable employment. There are a lot of costs associated with job searching – including new clothes, parking, paper to print out resumes, and of course time.
This time around, I spent $25 on job searching. This cost was minimized because my husband dropped me off at various interviews, making the cost of parking almost nonexistent (there was one time we had to pay). I bought a maternity dress suit at a consignment store and goodwill. I used the library and the free printing they have there to print out copies of my resume. So in reality, the costs associated with searching for a job was minimal – but I still can’t help but feel that it was money and time wasted since nothing came of it.
If I had spent as much money as my husband spent on job searching – only to fail – I would have been pretty upset!
Luckily, we were pretty sure that my husband would get the job he applied for, and therefore didn’t feel like any of those costs were a waste. Also, many of those costs were incurred to maintain the job standards, so that has to be taken into account as well.
Job search costs definitely add up. When I graduated a couple of years ago, I spent a ton of money on gas. I applied to jobs all over the area, and some jobs were 45 miles away. I was just applying to apply, to see what I could get. And then I also spent a ton on interview clothes.
Seriously right? Gas, parking, bus fare, clothing…it all adds up quite quickly. Right now I have to force myself NOT to job hunt since I know no one will hire me, and going on more interviews and spending more money to look for a job that I won’t get (being 39.5 weeks pregnant and all) is a fruitless endeavor.