When I coach job seekers, I send every one of them into interviews with a 30-60-90-day plan because it’s the best tool available for helping those candidates stand out from the competition.  It’s exponentially more important that management-level candidates come to the interview with a high-level plan for how they’re going to attack the job and the problems that need to be solved.

This goes above and beyond the technical and industry expertise employers rightly expect to see in managers—that’s a given.

What a 30-60-90-day plan does is showcase that experience in a “this is how it will look when I’m on the job” and “this is how I’m going to begin solving your problems and making you money” kind of way.

A well-thought-out plan highlights the “it” factor for employers.  It shows them you know your stuff, AND you think strategically and know what it takes to get to a goal.

How you put together your plan will vary by whatever industry or career area you’re in, but all jobs will have a basic structure you’ll follow when you start:

(1)    an initial period of learning the specifics of the company—systems, procedures, getting to know your team—that’s the first 30 days;

(2)    a secondary period of getting your feet wet—getting more in-depth, evaluating changes you’ll be making; and

(3)    a “ready to run” period of implementing changes, initiating action plans, etc.

Customize your plan with the research you do on the company and its position in the industry, since these plans are even more impressive the more you tailor it to the job.  Use Google, LinkedIn, and your recruiter to start finding essential information for your plan.  You might even consider doing a SWOT analysis to help you.

When you come to your interview with a top-notch resume, a brag book that takes a historical look at what you’ve been able to accomplish in the past, and a strategic action plan for success in the future at this job, you’ll be on your way to a job offer in no time.

Learn more about creating a plan on your own here.

Get a step ahead and save time by getting a 30-60-90-day template and coaching.

There are all kinds of resources online for you to tap into:  LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, corporate websites, and Google.  Your network can come in pretty handy here, too.  They're all a part of job interview preparation you need anyway, and they can be tremendously helpful for writing your plan.

If for some reason there’s a lack of information online (like maybe it’s a smaller company) and you can’t, then that’s definitely a strong reason to do what you can and bring it into the interview anyway, since that’s an excellent opportunity to ask the questions that will lead to a greater understanding of what it will take to be successful in that job.

Candidates often think that their 30/60/90-day plan has to be perfect before they show it to the hiring manager, and that keeps many of them from creating a plan at all.  In fact, all plans have room for improvement once you talk to the hiring manager in more detail about the job.  It’s not unusual at all to make changes to your plan after the interview (for the second interview).  If you’re discussing your ideas in the interview in a conversational style, you can learn a lot and make the hiring manager more comfortable with you.

There are 4 things that a hiring manager looks for when hiring someone:

• Does this person understand the job?
• Can they do the job?
• Will they do the job?
• Does this person pose a risk to their own continued employment?

The 30/60/90-day plan addresses all those issues.  That’s why finding out this information (or at least bringing a plan to the interview so you can figure out what that information is) is key to standing out from the other candidates and getting the offer.

Even though there are many sources of information you can tap into for your 30/60/90-day plan, the very best one by far is LinkedIn.  If you could only choose one, it would be that one.

Why LinkedIn?

The groups, the question-and-answer discussions, the company pages, the people pages, and the ability to reach out and contact actual people who can help you with what you need to know are all parts of the very valuable LinkedIn whole.

The first step for you is to establish a LinkedIn profile that stands out.  Spend some time on it, detailing your experience, crafting a compelling summary, and posting a professional photo.  Begin making contacts and connections, and join groups that will be appropriate for your area.

Once you’re in the groups, you can participate in discussions that both expand your knowledge base and help you to become known to others in your field (if you make good comments).  These become resources for your 30/60/90-day plan.

When you’re interested in particular companies, you can research company pages (that are often more informative than corporate websites) and the personal pages of people who work there or used to work there.

LinkedIn has a rich array of opportunities for you and your job search.  If you’re not on LinkedIn yet, get a profile today.

The more specific you can be with your plan, the better.  But someone who’s new to the company or new to the field probably won’t know what needs to go into the plan.  That can make creating a plan seem overwhelming.  The answer is research.  The more research you can do, the better your plan will be.  Where can you find the information you need to create a great 30/60/90-day plan?

• Press releases
• LinkedIn
• Google groups
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google the company (set up a Google Alert for up-to-date info)
• Ask your network
• Ask your recruiter
• Ask the person who referred you to the company
• Ask someone who used to work at the company
• Ask a current employee

All of these are great resources for the kind of information that will help you flesh out what you’ll do for the company in the role you’re interviewing for in the first 90 days of employment.  It’s a lot of work.  But the fact that you’re willing to go to this much effort before you get the job tells the hiring manager a lot about your work ethic, your commitment, and your drive.  So, simply creating a plan will make you stand out, but the knowledge and insight you’ll gain from the experience will help you be the most-informed, best-prepared candidate—and that’s what will get you the offer.

Some candidates hesitate to bring one to their interviews because

(1)  they worry they'll make a mistake in it that will knock them out of the running,

(2)  they worry that the hiring manager won't want to see it, and

(3)  they worry that there won't be an opportunity to present it in the interview (and they can be a lot of work).

In this video, you'll see why 30/60/90-day plans are worth the effort, and you'll discover exactly what to say in the interview to overcome any of these obstacles.

Candidates who use 30/60/90-day plans experience tremendous success.  You should, too.

Ready to use a 30/60/90-day plan for your next interview?  Here are 3 options for you:

Get the 30/60/90-day Sales Plan with Audio Coaching.  It's everything you need to create a customized plan for your job--fast.

Get the 30/60/90-Day Action Plan with audio coaching.  It shows you how to customize the plan for any career area.

Sign up for this FREE, information-packed, one-hour webinar on How to Get a Better Job Faster to learn how to guarantee yourself a job offer every time you interview.

A 30/60/90-day plan is, of course, a written outline that tells the hiring manager what your plans are for the first 3 months on the job.  It covers how you'll get your training, how you'll begin to incorporate yourself in to the flow of the company, and how you'll begin contributing to the team.  It's very impressive because it shows your initiative as well as your strategic thinking skills, and it also demonstrates to the hiring manager that you are prepared for the job (even if you are new to the field).  I have never heard of any hiring manager who's failed to be impressed by this document and the candidate who created it.

Because I started out in sales and sales recruiting, that's where I started telling folks about this remarkable tool.  It's a natural for sales and sales management jobs.  I developed a product incorporating samples, templates, and serious, intensive coaching on exactly how to use the plan to win the job:  The 30/60/90-Day Sales Plan.

Because it's worked so well for sales reps, word got out.  Candidates in other career areas started asking if it would work for them, too.  The answer is:  Absolutely. A 30/60/90-day plan is a tremendously effective tool for all job interviews.

Why does a 30/60/90-day plan work so well for non-sales jobs?  For the same reasons it works so well for sales jobs:

(1) it shows the hiring manager you're willing to go above and beyond to get the job done;

(2) it shows that you have the thought process/experience/knowledge to do the job;  and

(3) it communicates to the hiring manager that it's going to be beneficial to their own success if they hire you.

In response to the questions and requests I was receiving from candidates who weren't in sales but still needed that extra boost to help them stand out from the competition, I developed a tool that is customizable for all careers:

The 30/60/90-Day Action Plan

This product includes detailed samples for different career areas, a fill-in-the-blank template, and intensive, comprehensive coaching on how to use your plan.  You not only learn how to create a customized plan, you learn exactly what to say to use it to control your job interview.  It's incredibly powerful.

I would never go into a job interview of any kind without a 90-Day plan for success.

Have you used a 30/60/90-day plan in your interview?  Did it make the difference?  What's been your experience?  Let me know in the comments below.  Tell others about your success and we'll celebrate with you.

Best of luck to you all.

Now that's a go-getter!

But, my answer is:

Maybe, but probably not.

I can see where there's a possibility that someone with tremendous amounts of experience who's going for a very high-level executive position might want to extend the plan out for a year, in the same way that someone who's starting their own business would do--it's a big deal.

A well-written 30/60/90-day plan is very impressive to hiring managers for a lot of reasons, and one of them is that not many people take the time to create one.  So you're already ahead of the game if you do. When you add in the advantages of your careful and thoughtful analysis for exactly how you're going to be successful at this job (and make your new boss look great!) and the way it helps you turn the interview into a professional conversation rather than a question-and-answer session, you become a job-winning candidate.

I think the answer is that for most people, a 90-day plan is going to be as far out as you need to go.  You're showing the manager how you're going to transition into being a contributing, productive member of the team, and by 3 months in, you should be sailing along pretty well.  And you'll have additional goals given to you from your boss and your boss's boss that you can't predict right now--so there's no point.

What do you think?

Listen to this audio of how to incorporate a 30/60/90-day plan into your interview. It will change your job search.