As part of the interview process, many companies will ask a candidate to construct a 30-60-90 day plan.

Even if it is not required, doing so will demonstrate to the hiring authority a candidate’s serious intentions towards the particular position they are interviewing for.

A well thought out plan will include a preliminary preparation plan in addition to a concise and detailed business plan that includes both tactical and strategic initiatives.

We cannot emphasize how important it is to lay out a detailed and well thought out plan. An investment of maybe 3-4 hours will be more than worth the time and effort when the job offer is extended.  Don’t be overwhelmed – one to three pages of concise bullet points are enough to present in this preliminary plan.

Why Create a Plan?

• Creating a plan is a demonstration of your focused, strategic attitude, and it shows that you are someone who will go above and beyond to get the job done.  Most other candidates won't have done this plan (if they even know about it) because it takes some effort to do it before you even know if you've got the job. It's a tangible demonstration of your energy and enthusiasm for THIS job.
• It is a clear example of the time and care you will take in future work products.
• It helps you to have a targeted interview, focused not just on what you've done before, but on what you can offer for this job, at this company.  And it allows you to have a conversation between professionals, rather than a ping-pong style Q&A session.
• It helps the hiring manager "see" you in the job, because the whole plan is focused on what you will do in it for the first 90 days, and that's what you'll be talking about.

-Preliminary preparation-

Understanding why the company is seeking to fill a need with this position is critical: preliminary preparation includes initial company research and is more strategic than tactical. If the company is publicly traded, one would want to obtain the annual reports that are available for investors and potential investors and study them.  Understand competitors, products, company culture –and most important, how you will make an immediate impact in your new role, must be considered.

-30 days-

The first 30 days should not only include a thorough understanding of the internal workings of the company, but also include a plan to introduce oneself to all resource contacts as required by the role.

You will need to define that you will familiarize yourself with internal systems relevant to the role whether they be customer relationship management systems (CRM), reading and understanding company policy and procedure, attending training programs, mastering product knowledge, etc.

-60 days-

The next thirty days includes more practical application of knowledge, less training, and more interaction and contribution. Tactical initiatives must address and support the reason for the Hiring. Strategic plans may include studying additional material or systems, meeting with the internal teams, meeting with manager to discuss progress to-date, and joining industry specific professional groups.

-90 days-

The tactical part of the plan should contain development and implementation of a specific "game plan" which includes setting higher goals for six months and one year, developing target lists of goals based on needs analysis, and creating and implementing a measurable results plan. Strategic initiatives would include attending professional networking events, meeting with team members to assess progress of current projects, new initiatives, etc.

Everything in the plan must be tailored to the role, the expectations of your direct supervisor and the company, and measurements of success as outlined by the company in the initial interview.

Are you sleeping through your Job Search?

Over the past year, we’ve worked with a number of clients who, to their surprise and dismay, are experiencing hyper-extended (12 months or more) unemployment.

Stated one new client: “I just assumed I’d land a new job in 4 or 5 months.  I was sending hundreds of resumes and no one was calling. I’m working part-time at a grocery store in the evenings now, and never expected to be in this position. It’s been 14 months.”

While we spotted some fundamental issues with the resume that have helped our client start to see activity, the resume is but one branch of the entire personal marketing campaign of job search.  We’ve outlined the 2 key misconceptions of what a resume does below.

2 Things Your Resume Won’t Do

1: Get you a job.

A resume gets you an appointment with someone to discuss a job.  We have never heard of anyone who received a call from a valid employer saying,” We saw your resume, you start tomorrow.”

Think of your resume as a shortened marketing brochure, or expanded calling card.  Outline your skills, your history of practical and quantifiable application of those skills, pertinent information that defines your abilities and cultural fit, key achievements, publications, patents – work-related value added information - and that’s it.

This is not to say that the resume is not a highly personalized document; it allows you to manage the interview and articulate more effectively by pointing to those topics on which you are an expert, however, the key here is “interview more effectively.”  The resume gets you an interview, not a job.

2: Make up for a poorly written cover letter or lack of employer research

Excerpt from an interview with Senor Recruiter Paula Goodman of Columbia University (from SixFigureStart)

“…Cover letters are important here.  They need not be long, but they need to be specifically tailored to the job.”

No matter how well-prepared your resume, a generic, “Dear Sir or Madam” cover letter just doesn’t cut it.

If you are mass emailing generic cover letters and resumes, stop it.  It doesn't work.

If you are responding only to Job Boards, and while job posting boards are a good part of your overall campaign, this approach should be only a part of your search strategy, and you must still customize your introductory letter and resume to the position.

87% of new positions are found through a combination of deep research and networking; this is “active” job search as opposed to “passive”.  A passive approach is when you put your information out there and hope for a call - it's a deceptive time-eater, and there is little ROI in passive approaches to search.

If you focus on very specific companies where you know you are a fit, and watch those companies for career creation events - recent employees who have left, top management changes, new product releases, new facility or leased space transactions, new funding, new contracts, etc.- and then approach with a highly customized letter and resume defining your skills, accomplishments, value proposition and cultural fit, you will not be competing against 500 other people. You may not be competing with anyone at all.

If you don't have access to a research database, start with LinkedIn Company information, Yahoo Finance and Google. Dig deep - don't just read the company's website. Study their competitors and approach them too.

At RescueResumes.com, we do offer an affordable subscription research service, but these types of full research/CRM databases may not fit in everyone's budget, so if your budget is tight, use the free services and dig.

Research the people, participate in a positive and professional way in the groups (face-to-face if possible and web-based) they participate in. Follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook, and read what they are reading, understand their pain points and need.

Demonstrate your expertise, and watch for an event that signals new opportunities. Then make your case to the most senior level person you can in your functional area with a highly customized cover letter and resume.

While doing the above, certainly keep an eye on job boards, and keep in mind that there is often enough information posted for you to take the next step and not only highly customize your response, but do more thorough research on the target as well.

Please don't hesitate to ask if you have a question here in the comments section, or want us to write a blog article on a specific question - we love to provide helpful information. Invite us to connect on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook too.