If you’re getting back into the workforce after an absence, you may find it tough going. The good news is that you don’t always have to settle for a job that’s less than what you were doing before. You can get hired at a great company if you present yourself the right way in your interview.
Whether you’ve been a stay-at-home parent, a caregiver for a loved one, or in ill health yourself, it can be hard to bridge that employment gap with a potential new company. The best way to do this is to go to every interview with a 30-60-90-day plan for the job.
What a 30-60-90-Day Plan Does for You
After Dereck took 5 years off work to care for his children, he had a really hard time getting interviews. When he did interview for a job he said he could have done with his eyes closed, he bombed it. But, for his next interview, he brought a 30-60-90-Day Plan. With the plan, he received an offer for a higher-level job than what he interviewed for, with a higher salary, too.
Why did the 30-60-90-Day Plan help him so much? It’s because the plan allowed that interviewer to sort of have a test drive of Dereck on the job. They could see his thinking process, approach, knowledge, initiative, and even communication skills.
When you bring a 30-60-90-day plan, you get to demonstrate all those wonderful qualities, too. You get to show that you haven’t lost your touch and you’re just as competitive as someone currently working in the field. A good plan can get you a great job offer.
What Does a 30-60-90-Day Plan Look Like
A 30-60-90-day plan is an outline for what you’ll do in your first 3 months on the job. It’s broken into 1-month sections. Usually, in the first month you’ll be meeting people and getting to know what’s what. In the second month, you’ll dig a little deeper and start evaluating problems. By the 3rd month, you’re launching into full productivity; maybe getting started on some projects of your own.
Your plan should be very specific to your job at that company. That means that for instance, you should try to find out the name of the software they use for reports or organization and include that in your plan.
Read more about how to create a 30-60-90-day plan:
- Best Guide to Writing a 30 60 90 Day Plan
- 5 Tips for Writing the Most Effective 30-60-90 Day Plan
- 30-60-90-Day Plan FAQs
#1 Interview Tip for Getting Back into the Workforce: Bring a 30-60-90-Day Plan
When you show your plan to the interviewer, you go through it with them asking questions about it to get their feedback. As you do, you’ll find yourself having a positive, in-depth, professional conversation about what they need someone to do in this job and how you can make it happen. All of a sudden, whatever employment gap you have is melting away because they can see you stepping in without a problem. They may even see you in a higher-level role, like Dereck.
Because it is difficult to create a detailed plan from scratch, I’ve developed perfect 30-60-90-day plan templates for you. Each template provides a fill-in-the-blank structure proven to impress hiring managers, and coaching to show you how to personalize it for your interview. We have 4 plans to choose from. See what’s in each one:
Use Career Confidential’s proven perfect 30-60-90-day plan templates:
- All White-Collar Jobs: 30-60-90-Day Action Plan
- Sales Roles: 30-60-90-Day Sales Plan
- Management Level Jobs: 30-60-90-Day Plan for Managers
- Executive, Director, or C-Level Roles: 30-60-90-Day Plan for Executives