Page 20 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

direct measure. Every role can and should be able to be quanti-
fied, and you should be able to demonstrate that value.
In the most direct way, if you work in sales, you create and
deliver revenue, which is easily measurable and very transpar-
ent, and because you have just won a new customer you can

show that you are having a direct, measurable impact on the
business. If you want a sales job and you can demonstrate to
me that you are able to generate four times your income in

sales value, that hiring decision is virtually a no-brainer.
In other roles, you have to find di≠erent measuring sticks.
What are the criteria, the key performance indicators for your
role? If you take the job of a P A, one absolutely critical measure
is the amount of time a P A frees up for their boss. Whenever

my P A is able to create an extra two or three hours a day for me,
that is a great contribution to my company.
If you are going to an interview as a P A for a chief executive,

as part of your preparation you can go to Companies House,
where the chief executive’s salary will usually be recorded,
because generally he or she is the highest paid person in that
business (and normally the highest paid person is listed in
the accounts). There is absolutely no reason why a P A – why

any future employee – should not search a Companies House
listing.
If you see that the chief executive is earning x amount of

money – be it £100,000, £200,000, half a million, whatever
the figure is – he or she has their own on-cost as well, and that
on-cost is naturally going to be greater than yours because they
will have a larger o≤ce, all the support sta≠, a raft of expenses.

8 get the job you really want