How to calculate what you're really worth to an employer, and how this relates to your CV

I was chatting with a job seeker today, and we started to break down the cold realities of applying for a job. Part of this revolved around what they were going to cost a future employer, and the return on investment the employer would likely want.

Here’s the calculation we did together:

Their expected salary was £100,000 (you can adjust the calculation to your desired salary accordingly). We multiplied that by 3, based on a 3-year tenure being a decent stint in a permanent role.

That gave us: £300,000

We then factored in employer costs, including:

• Employer National Insurance Contributions

• Pension contributions

• Bonuses

• Private healthcare

• Life insurance

• Income protection

• Enhanced parental leave

• Company car or car allowance

• Share schemes or equity

• Training and development

• Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP)

• Season ticket loans

• Cycle to Work scheme

• Recruitment fees

• Onboarding costs

• IT equipment and software

• Desk space and office costs

• HR and payroll admin

• Sick pay

• Holiday pay

The list goes on!

Rather than calculate each one individually, we applied a simple multiplier of 1.7, a common benchmark for total employer cost.

That took us to: £510,000

Then we looked at ROI. A widely accepted benchmark is that an employee should generate 3 times their total cost to the business in value.

That gave us a target value of: £1.53 million

So, in short, a £100k candidate needs to show how they can deliver £1.5 million in value.

Food for thought!

Then we started talking about CVs.

It’s no exaggeration to say that some roles attract 500 applicants.

So, what do you need to do to get an interview? If the employer interviews just 5 people, your CV needs to land you in the top 1%. To be offered the job, you’ll need to be in the top 0.2%.

So, regardless of all the conflicting advice, free CV appraisals, ATS scans, and expert views, the real question is this:

Is your CV strong enough to get you into the top 1%, and does it demonstrate how you can deliver £1.5 million of value?

If your CV is simply a list of where you’ve worked, with half a dozen task-based bullet points under each role, it probably won’t achieve that.

If you want to find out how to position your CV for this level of impact, feel free to DM me. Myself or one of the team will be happy to chat. No BS, no fluff, just 26 years working at the sharp end of recruitment and career development.