What does it cost to hire a new employee? If a company is replacing an old employee, the cost is anywhere from 6 months up to 2 years of the employee’s annual salary. That means, to hire a new employee earning $30,000 to $50,000, the company pays around $8,000 in recruitment, screening, and interviewing costs.
And that’s not the end of the costs: once an employee is hired, the company has to pay for onboarding and possibly training. Productivity is lost while the new employee learns on the job. A new hire is more likely to make errors; that cost could be substantial if customers bear the brunt of a rocky transition. Finally, if a company is expecting the new employee to bring new ideas and strategies, it will likely be a while before both the long-term employees and the new hire feel comfortable in changing the company’s direction—adding yet another cost.
All of these costs are signposts to the alert job applicant, indicating what a company would appreciate seeing on a resume. For example:
- Accomplishments that show the job applicant has helped increase productivity (or presented new ideas and strategies) in a previous job
- Soft skills such as an open communication style and the ability to collaborate that shorten the learning time and indicate a commitment to finding solutions, not scapegoats
- Evidence of a continuous interest in education, whether accumulating new knowledge or teaching others
- Volunteer activity, indicating that the job applicant is willing to go above and beyond
- Results that suggest the eventual payback from this job applicant will offset the time and costs involved in hiring and training.
When a job applicant’s resume shows an awareness of the importance of productivity, communication, collaboration, education, and volunteering, companies feel reassured about hiring that person. At Robin’s Resumes®, we are keenly aware of the priorities and fears of recruiters and hiring managers. We write resumes that address those priorities and soothe those fears.