A 30-60-90 Plan Provides Advantages during Job Interviews and Onboarding

By Susan Hoffman
Contributor, Online Career Tips

Lack of preparation for a job interview often damages the chances of impressing your interviewer and proceeding to the next stage of the hiring process. Ideally, you should research the company’s website, the social media sites associated with that organization, its press releases and any other public mentions of the company before any interview.

Also, there is a useful tool called a 30-60-90 plan. You can create this plan prior to your interview and begin using it after you are hired.

What Is a 30-60-90 Plan?

A 30-60-90 plan is an action plan that describes what you plan to do after you become a company employee. You can print it out on paper or create it as a PDF document for your interviewer to review from your tablet computer.

Creating a 30-60-90 Plan

The exact details of a 30-60-90 plan vary, depending on the role for which you’re interviewing and the responsibilities described in the job ad. For example, a salesperson’s plan would significantly differ from the plan of a chief financial officer or a chief technology officer.

However, many 30-60-90 plans share similar characteristics. Here are some tasks you can expect when you start a new job; these tasks could be incorporated into your 30-60-90 plan.

30 Days: Training

The first 30 days on the job largely involve learning. You’ll meet other employees, learn company procedures and hierarchies, and get familiar with software or websites the company uses. You will also undergo new employee training if the company offers it. At this stage, you’ll want to learn who are the “go-to” people if you experience any problems.

60 Days: Deep Dive

After 60 days, you should know company basics and start delving into other details. You’ll learn more about the company’s customers, target markets, market differentiators and vendors. At this point, it’s time to for you to attend meetings and listen actively to pick up knowledge from others, especially from your manager.

90 Days: Fully Engaged Employee

At the end of 90 days, you should have a much greater knowledge of the company and be able to work without constant supervision. In addition, you should be able to make substantial contributions in meetings, anticipate your manager’s needs and be ready to offer solutions to any problems.

Benefits of a 30-60-90 Plan

There are multiple benefits to creating a 30-60-90 plan. First, it shows your potential employer that you’ve done exhaustive research and thought hard about what the job would involve.

A job ad provides great clues about job responsibilities to put on your plan. Another useful resource is O*Net Online, which describes the typical responsibilities of various jobs.

Second, having the 30-60-90 plan with specific details at the interview allows for a high-level discussion about what you would do after being hired. Oklahoma recruiter Peggy McKee of Career Confidential notes, “The more details you can incorporate into your plan, the better. Specifics count for a lot in terms of impressing the hiring manager (your future boss).”

Third, the 30-60-90 plan provides you with concrete tasks to follow after you’re hired and are going through the onboarding process. New employees often experience some nervousness, especially if they have been unemployed for some time. But having a specific action plan alleviates that stress by providing certain tasks to accomplish as you get up to speed on the job.

While creating a 30-60-90 plan may feel time-consuming, it is worth the effort. In an interview, this plan helps you stand out from other candidates and be memorable to hiring managers.