A 30-60-90-day plan is the #1 way to strengthen your interview performance so you get the offer. How can you build the best 30-60-90 Day Plan?
Benefits of a 30-60-90 Day Plan
It helps a potential employer visualize you in the role, which moves them a long way to offering you the job over all the other candidates. What’s more, it changes the dynamic of your interview in a positive way. Instead of answering question after question, you get to participate in a professional-level discussion with your new boss. This discussion demonstrates your knowledge, drive, work ethic, and more.
What to Watch Out For
Don’t be fooled…not all 30-60-90-day plans are the same. I’ve seen plenty of job seekers try to Google ’30 60 90 day plan’ only to find a template that’s actually damaging to their interviews. Most free online plans are either too short, too long, or just don’t include the right actions.
How to Build the Best 30-60-90 Day Plan
To begin with, the best 30-60-90 day plans should have one page of action steps for each month of the first 3 months in that role. So, the first section covers the first 30 days, the second section covers the next 30 days, and the last section covers the last 30 days. You can arrange it into an outline form or bullet points—whichever works best for you.
Two important factors in a job-winning 30-60-90-day plan are strategy and specificity. So what does that mean?
Strategy
To build the best 30-60-90 day plan, must think strategically about this job at this company. What specific actions would be most beneficial to your success in the first 3 months?
If you’ve never done this job before, you’re going to have to research or get some help from others who have been in this role. If you have held this role before in another company, this should be easier, although it never hurts to ask for input.
Specificity
The most impressive plans are specific to that company. For instance, you could include the kind of software they use for inventory, or what training they send new employees to, or the name of a conference they’ll be attending. Hiring managers are very impressed by those kinds of details.
(See How to Find Information for Your 30-60-90-Day Plan.)
What if there’s a mistake in your plan? What if you get a detail wrong or misplace an action step? That’s OK. There’s no way your plan will be perfect if you’ve never worked at the company, and no one could expect that it would be. If you’re worried about it, just acknowledge it up front: “I’ve put together a plan for how I could be successful in this role. I did some research and put together some ideas, but I know it won’t be exactly right. I’d love to get your feedback.”
The 30-Day Section
In most jobs, the first 30 days or so are focused on getting to know your new surroundings. For instance, you might be completing work training or HR orientation. And, you’ll probably be getting to know the people you’re working with. List those things out so the hiring manager knows that you know how important those things are.
The 60-Day Section
In this second month, most people settle in a little more. They may be getting to know a second tier of people (those that aren’t a primary part of everyday work). You might be establishing or refining routines. If you’re a little farther along, you might be evaluating plans. You should also plan to get feedback on your progress so far.
The 90-Day Section
This last section is your time to show how you can be fully up to speed and actively contributing. This may mean that you are going after new business or starting new projects. You may be establishing new procedures or implementing the plans you evaluated last month.
Each job may require a slightly different timeline, and that’s fine. Adjust your plan for that job.
(See 30-60-90 day plan examples for sales, management, or technical jobs, even teachers.)
(See more 30-60-90-Day Plan FAQs here.)
A Proven 30-60-90 Day Plan Template
Don’t waste time or lose out on a great job with a bad plan!
We’ve developed 4 different 30-60-90 day plans guaranteed to work for you. These plans are proven to impress hiring managers, based on our experience with thousands of successful job seekers.
Each plan comes with a fill-in-the-blank template and detailed video coaching on how to customize your plan for your job. Explore our plans here:
For all white-collar jobs: 30-60-90-Day Action Plan
In a sales role? Use this plan: 30-60-90-Day Sales Plan
Interviewing for a management role? Use this plan: 30-60-90-Day Plan for Managers
In the C-Suite or the Director’s chair? Use our 30-60-90-Day Plan for Executives
We want your success—so, we’ve even added an optional plan review for you. Send your completed plan to me and I’ll review it for you (with feedback) at no extra charge.
Get your plan and get your job today!