Impress Your Interviewer: Create a 30/60/90-Day Plan

30/60/90-day plans are typically used for sales jobs, but did you know that you can use a 30-60-90-day plan for non-sales jobs? You can--it works for marketing, project management, technical support, and many others. For instance, I got a call from a candidate going for a job in Marketing Communications. He had a 30-60-90-day template, but needed help translating it into a document for a non-sales job like the one he wanted. We spent a few minutes brainstorming together, and came up with some ideas and new directions that I also wanted to share with you.

To begin with, remember that there are objectives you have to achieve in every job. They aren't all achievable in the first 30-60-90-days (or even in the first 180 or 360 days), but even with a really long-term objective, there should be some kind of break down of what needs to be done when, and certainly at least some of them can be taken care of within the first 30-60-90 days. So, for example: if you are in Marketing Communications, and you're supposed to be building to a complete product launch in 9 months, there are some things that can be listed out to be done in the first 30-60-90-days in order to set yourself on the path to success and prosperity. Those are the objectives that you would use in place of sales objectives.

The same types of communications happen in many kinds of jobs - just not necessarily with customers. Instead of meeting with outside customers (as in sales), you might have more internal meetings, or you might be meeting with external vendors. For example, if you're an events coordinator, you're going to have to go on sites, request and review bids, share those with the sales staff perhaps, and have a plan for what needs to be done when.

Other possibilities for objectives to include in your 30-60-90-day plan: training, site visits, or learning company systems. There are many ways to tailor a 30-60-90-day plan to whatever job you're interviewing for. Also, learning enough about the job to put one together will be helpful to you when you ask your own questions in the interview, because you'll start off with more information than the average candidate.

The point to keep in mind is: Creating a 30-60-90-day plan shows initiative, preparation, written communication skills, and that you're interested enough in this job to have done your homework. That's always impressive to hiring managers.