is it really a good idea to create a 30/60/90 plan for an interview?

by Alison Green on June 3, 2015

A reader writes:

I am interviewing for a management position where I would be overseeing the retail operations of an historic site, a fairly significant source of income for them. I used to work there as a volunteer, so I have a (positive) history with the organization and am familiar with a lot of their policies, etc. I know they are looking to make dramatic changes in how they run the retail aspects of the site and I want to demonstrate to the hiring manager that I have experience helping small businesses transition to new sales models and that I have relevant ideas about how they can make the most of this aspect of their organization (my resume and cover letter support this).

On my own, I’ve developed notes with talking points, stats, and relevant questions for my interviewer so that I can demonstrate all this during our conversation, but I’ve seen a LOT of things lately recommending management candidates bring 30/60/90 day plans in to interviews. Is this really something that would be beneficial to me or does it fall under the gimmick category? I’d emphasize that any plan I’d discuss would be very general and simply focus on how I see myself incorporating the ideas I plan on bringing up into the business in a concrete way.

I’d hate to sink my chance at a job I’m passionate about by coming off as arrogant or even too inflexible for their needs. At the same time, I’d hate to look like someone who’s simply coasting or not proactive enough to be successful during a transitionary period like this one. I’d appreciate any advice!

First, for people who don’t know what a 30/60/90 plan is: The idea is that the candidate creates a written plan outlining how they’d spend their first 30/60/90 days on the job and what they’d achieve in that time. It’s an idea pushed by some job-search advice-givers (which inherently makes it suspect, frankly), but a small number of employers have been known to ask for them too.

And the answer is: It depends on the company, your interviewer, and the role, and it depends on how well it’s done.

Frankly, most of the time that I’ve been handed unsolicited 30/60/90 day plans by candidates, it actually weakened them as candidates — because they just weren’t done well enough. And the reality is, for many jobs, it’s incredibly hard, if not impossible, to do these well. Often you just don’t have access to the type of information that you’d need to put together one that’s even approaching realistic and in touch with what your first 30/60/90 days should really look like. So often, that will depend heavily on the company itself and what they want your priorities to be, and often as an outside candidate, you don’t have enough access to that information to do this well. As a result, these can easily end up feeling unsophisticated, obvious (and thus not indicative of the rigor that you’re presumably hoping to convey), or unaligned.

Not always, but enough of the time that you need to really think through those issues and whether they apply to you.

(And certainly for some roles, especially more junior roles or roles that are essentially supporting others, it’s basically impossible, and trying to do it would come across as a little presumptuous and out of touch.)

On the other hand, there are companies and interviewers who love to see this kind of thing for some roles. There are also hiring managers who will consider this a sign of great initiative, and will care about that more than the actual substance of the plan.

So there’s not really one answer here; it’s really dependent on the factors above.

The one thing that’s an absolute, though, is that if you do it, it needs to be really strong. At least with reasonably rigorous hiring managers, it’s much better to not present one at all than to present one that focuses on stuff that isn’t in line with the manager’s priorities, or that just includes obvious on-boarding stuff (like meeting relevant clients and coworkers and getting to know the company — no doy), or that otherwise feels really out of sync with how they’re picturing your first three months. If you do it, it’s got be awesome (which unfortunately can be hard to judge for yourself).

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    2. Vicki*

      Tech companies:

      30 day plan – get a computer on my desk. Learn where the copy room is. Learn which co-workers know what. Go to meetings.

      60-day plan – Now I have a computer on my desk! Read the documentation. Learn which co-workers know what. Go to meetings.

      90-day plan – I’ve read the documentation. I know some of my co-workers. I’ve been to a lot of meetings. Start working on my project.

    3. Robin*

      This would be a terrible idea at the F500 company I work at. There is no way from the outside you would know what we need/expect on the inside, and making something up would appear silly and pompous. Ask questions about what the employer needs and wants- this 30/60/90 idea may be suited for some industries/positions but certainly not all. It’s backwards.

  2. _ism_*

    I’ve never heard of this kind of plan. I suppose it would make sense if you’re making a lateral or upward career move in an industry or role you are already very familiar with.

    I’ve been asked in interviews, “How do you see yourself spending the first week? First month? What do you hope to accomplish in this time?” I hate the question when the interview/jost posting hasn’t given me enough information to even have a clue what I’d need to spend my time on. The job I’m currently in greatly misrepresented what I’d be doing in my role, when we had our interview. I’m glad they didn’t ask me how I planned to spend my time if I got the job, because I would have been way off-base in what I came up with, and looked stupid.

  3. Nanc*

    Actually, a 30/60/90 plan makes a good talking point when they ask you if you have questions. Just phrase it asking them what they would anticipate the perfect manager would accomplish in that time. I did this once out of desperation because I had to questions for them but thought the interview had been too quick. They gave some general info and I was able to talk further about my experience in certain areas and offer examples. Full disclosure: I did not take that job when offered because when they outlined their 30/60/90 expectations, I knew it wouldn’t be a good fit for me–not in a whiskey tango foxtrot way, but the way the manager would be expected to manage would not be a good fit for my styl.

    2. TootsNYC*

      I do like it as a thing for the INTERVIEWEE to ask! And as a way to tease out more detail about the job.

      Normally, I’m all about “the job candidate should be most of the talking,” but interviews go both ways, and this would be a nice tactic to get people speaking about what the job is really like.

      But even they might have a hard time being accurate and thorough. A general sense of what you’d want to do, and maybe how fast you’d want to move (esp. for the OP, in her specific situation) is really what you’d want to ask about.

      1. Stephanie*

        Yeah, I always ask this interviews and it’s usually received well. I also get a good idea of how quickly a manager would expect me to get up to speed and how structured the training is.

    3. Mallory Janis Ian*

      I asked a version of this question at a recent job interview for an academic department: What would you like the person in this position to accomplish over the summer, before the beginning of the fall semester?

      I also asked Alison’s secret question from the interview guide: Thinking back on people who’ve held this position before, what has differentiated the ones who were good from the ones who were really great?” They really loved that question! And they said that the really good ones kept working, during slow periods, to keep on top of things that were far down the pike, whereas the not-so-great ones goofed off during slow periods and then had to scramble when, suddenly, a far-off deadline was upon them.

      1. Wakeen's Teapots Ltd.*

        I’ve had people ask me the question. It’s a good question. Good conversation ensues.

        1. zora*

          It’s such a helpful question. I have the opposite example: I asked it. They looked at each other, clearly freaking out, and said “We make it a policy not to ever talk about past employees. But we can tell you what the important characteristics we need in this position are.” And proceeded to repeat (almost word for word) the super general vague phrases like “detail-oriented” “positive attitude” that they had already listed in both this interview and the previous one.

          Practically smacked me in the face with the glaring red flag that there was clearly Some Crazy Drama about former people in this position, and that they had weird concepts about ‘policies’ and ‘confidential information.’ I knew right there I was never going to work there.

          It is a great question for so many reasons. I highly recommend asking it!

          1. Transformer*

            I love this question. I asked this question to a hiring manager who had managed a team of 8 people for the past 3 year. He told me he didn’t think anyone did the job particularly well or was up to the standards that he held. I realized then and there that I wouldn’t want a super critical manager like that and turned down the job when it was offered even though it would have been a promotion. I love that my manager is very happy with my work and continually helps me develop.

            1. Jaydee*

              Wow! If every direct report is not performing up to standards, that is a problem with the manager. Either their standards are unrealistic, or all their direct reports really are middling or terrible and the manager needs to manage that.

              1. Mallory Janis Ian*

                That’s exactly what I was thinking: if every single person on his team is sub-par, then something is the matter with *him*.

  4. katamia*

    Never hired anyone, but if I were ever in a position to hire someone, this would look really presumptuous to me (and definitely like a gimmick) because there’s a lot of stuff you probably don’t know about how the organization does things, even if you’re well informed about the field. Let your resume, cover letter, references, etc. speak for themselves, and use that awesome research you did to make yourself stand out in the interview without committing it formally to paper. What if you get to the interview and they give you some new bit of information that significantly changes how you’d do things, and then you’re stuck with the now-outdated plan?

    1. Sara*

      I think that’s key — you’d have to REALLY know the job and the company. I’ve had several jobs over the years, all in the same PR/marketing role, but there’s no way I could have walked into any of the jobs I have had and said with certainty what I would do. You don’t know what’s been tried, what’s in the hopper, what the philosophy is, etc.

    2. INTP*

      I also thought it could come across as presumptuous. I’m sure many candidates are well-aware that they don’t have all of the information and are just throwing together the best plan they can because they’ve been told it’s a Good Thing To Do At An Interview. But I could also see it coming across like “I haven’t even spent a day in the office but I know how you should do things.”

      A good idea might be to prepare a formal plan the best you can, just in case you have a weirdo interviewer that asks for one, but unless you are asked about it, don’t reveal the full plan and just keep some of the points in mind as conversation points and bring them up in a far less detailed and prescriptive way than you would put in a plan. (“I would look into…” rather than “I would implement….”).

    3. Felicia*

      I am involved in hiring now and if one of our candidates did this, it would be presumptuous. Partially because it’s a fairly junior level position, and also because there is a certain way that the organization does things , there’s a unique cycle to it, and there are certain things we need in the first 30/60/90 days , and other things that are part of the job, but can really wait. I think it would be a great question for a candidate to ask, but not something for them to presume.

      When we hire someone they’re also given a detailed outline of what we want them to accomplis in the first 90 days, which I found extremely helpful.

  5. Joey*

    I’ve done them when I hire managers where I’m not expecting candidates to know a whole lot of inside info. And I always like the ones who’ve layed out a plan to get a good understanding of the job. For example, The ones I like always started with taking steps to understand philosophy, current initiatives/projects that impact their team, and needs/wants of management. Then, gaining an understanding of processes, key influencers, opportunities to improve process, challenges, etc. And finally gaining feedback from their reports on those things to position them to begin to get a better view of how to set longer term goals and how they should prioritize them.

    1. Ask a Manager* Post author

      Do you feel you get more out of it than you would from just asking in an interview about how they’d approach their first few months and what they’d want to achieve in that period?

      1. Joey*

        Yes. I think it’s takes some reflection and a little digging to think of how to do those things comprehensively. For example you might see a press release on the web or find info on our website that helps. Or you might research the cutting industry trends and try to incorporate them.

        It helps me understand how well you write, how interested, detailed, and thoughtful you are about approaching work problems.

        2. Mallory Janis Ian*

          Very interesting! I’d like to see an example of a good one; it could serve an inside peek into how people who approach this stuff more intentionally (versus more off-the-cuff) frame their intended approach up-front. I think I do everything mentioned in here organically as I learn to align myself with the philosophy and demands of a new job, but I don’t know if I’d be able to frame a plan, up-front, for how to do so. I guess that’s why they’re managers and I’m an individual contributor!

        3. Not So NewReader*

          How do most people do with these? Do they usually reach to far or over think it? Are there certain “pits” to avoid?

          1. Joey*

            Most people either just expect to be trained or jump straight into trying to manage based on their own personal preferences.

    2. saro*

      This is the only way I would accept these plans.

      I work in rule of law and international development overseas and I’ve had SO MANY people come in thinking they know how to fix things without getting to know the lay of the land, so to speak. It really makes the first few months hellish for the rest of the staff. These are people educated in either the law, international development or both. Most don’t have field experience yet or if they do, only in a very limited capacity. I get rage-y when I think about it now.

      It would be a complete deal-breaker for me if someone came to an interview with a plan on how to improve the project or organization without having actually worked in the field for a significant amount of time.

    3. Wakeen's Teapots Ltd.*

      I can see how that would be helpful.

      If I did that (and it would only be for a higher level management job), I’d be looking for someone who understood that no matter how much they knew about managing X, most of the first 90 days is going to be about learning our biz and our people.

      We’re about to do a search for an outside management hire that I’m nervous about. I think I might try this to make final candidate choice…if we are down to a couple choices. This is hard hire and I might not have a couple choices.

      1. Joey*

        It’s really telling when someone wants to spend time doing and learning the job of the troops on the front lines. That really goes a long way in building trust. Or want to begin establishing a relationship with folks say in budget or marketing to understand how their challenges tie into their own.

        1. Elizabeth West*

          YES!
          I would so look for this not only if I were hiring, but now I’m thinking that some questions about this could work really well for candidates in interviews. Rather than just asking “What’s your management style?” or similar, you could some way ask about the relationships with employees and management across the board. I’m too soused in allergy symptoms to think of any good wording right now, however. But this really jumped out at me.

  6. Gene*

    For a previous position where I was going to be creating a program from scratch, I was provided with annual reports of the plant in advance and asked to bring a plan for creating the program, identifying the problems, and how to address them.

    Admittedly, this is different from how most business works, I’m in an environmental regulatory position. But without the annual reports, anything I would have created would not have been realistic except in the broadest terms: “I’m going to do a user survey, write a program manual, and write an ordinance.”

  7. OP*

    OP here. Typing on a phone so I apologize in advance for any autocorrect snafus…

    This was helpful advice because it validated a lot of my concerns about this kind of thing. I am a creative person and very motivated in my work but I am also very conservative about self-presentation lest I come off sounding gimmicky. I was truly surprised at the number of resources recommending a 30/60/90 plan, and it made me wonder if I was maybe being too conservative. No longer questioning that.

    Before this response I had typed up a sample just to see what it might look like for me and I hated it – the gaps in my knowledge about the specifics of the company (information only an actual employee could know) immediately became glaring and I KNEW the interview would inmediately shift to that and put me on the defensive. I would have been insane to turn that in!

    I ended up just reviewing my notes and drawing up a little cheat sheet for myself with any relevant numbers or metrics I might want go cite in the interview, so thaf if they came up I could give a strong response, and that worked great for me. I felt confident and I didn’t miss a beat answering questions about how I would integrate with the other management members. So that was helpful for me if nothing else.

    In any case, as an update: The interview was Monday and went well but I doubt they were a fit for me. I felt like I had walked in on the middle of an administrative politics war. The departmental interviewers were barely civil with one another, and I could only imagine being trapped in that for the next few years… Yikes!

    2. Mallory Janis Ian*

      Wow, that says a lot that they couldn’t be civil for even the duration of an interview. I’ve been on interview panels with certain coworkers who, after the interview was over, the rest of us were rolling our eyes hard enough to get a concussion, but during the meeting the candidate would never have guessed it.

  8. Jubilance*

    I previously worked for Fortune 10 company, and 30/60/90 day plans were huge for internal interviews. In that type of situation I think they can work. Unlike external candidates, you know about the business and have a better idea of what kinds of measurable change you can make in that time period. For external candidates, there’s just so much unknown and that first 90 days should be spent learning the company & processes, not trying to change things.

    1. Nobody*

      I was once asked in an interview what I would accomplish in the first 30/60/90 days, and as an external candidate, it was really hard to answer that in anything but very general terms. I later found out that an internal candidate got the position, and he not only had a great plan but actually accomplished it; it involved fixing a long-standing issue that had affected the department for years. I’m sure my answer sounded woefully inadequate compared to his. There was no way I (or any external candidate) could have known about this issue, let alone made a plan to fix it, unless and until I started working there.

    2. Kira*

      I like this point about internal hires/promotions. Reading these, I was thinking that this kind of a plan would be a great thing for me to bring up if I went for a newly open position higher up in my organization.

    3. Elizabeth West*

      I was thinking that too–an internal candidate would have the knowledge to create a really good plan. Plus, because they already know the company and don’t have to do any onboarding stuff, it would be a great way to plan how they’ll jump right into their new position.

  9. Allison*

    I wouldn’t recommend writing a formal 30/60/90 plan for the interview unless they ask for one. It doesn’t seem like an efficient use of your energy at this stage. That said, if you wanted to come up with some ideas as to how you would start things off, and how you might go about changing things in the first few months, that’s different. Chances are, the interviewer will want to know that and may ask for it, so it’ll be good to have that in mind. Even if you don’t know how things work yet, it could be things like “I would observe how X team does Y” or “I would want to get a sense of _____ and then I’d probably come up with ways to improve that” – these show your values as a manager.

    1. TootsNYC*

      Yeah, I like the idea of using the concept as a general spur to thinking about, and pre-articulating, how you’d handle the first part of the job.

      And maybe such thinking could be useful in pointing -you- toward information you want to gather.

    2. Jillociraptor*

      Yep, exactly. I have assigned a version of this as a hiring exercise in the past, and it’s helpful, but mostly helpful in how it tends to elevate the candidate’s thinking about their approach to the role. I mostly want to hear that they basically understand the role, have the appropriate balance between integrating into existing systems and changing things up, and have some level of vision for the specific impact they hope to make. This can definitely be answered as a typical interview question (something like, “Tell me about how you would approach your first 90 days in this position” or “If you were selected for this role, what would you hope to have accomplished after a year?”) but I think the quality and precision of thinking tends to be higher when the exercise has been assigned.

      All that said, that’s not necessarily a reason to actually do a full 30/60/90. Just that candidates should be thinking about that question.

  10. Mix*

    This is a SUPER common practice in sales interviews.
    Every high level sales job I’ve ever interviewed for has requested a 30/60/90 plan.

    1. Pennalynn Lott*

      Just coming here to say the same thing. Every sales position I ever interviewed for required one of these. And it’s expected that you don’t know anything about the inner workings of the company, and perhaps that you’re starting your territories cold, too (as in, not bringing existing clients/contacts with you) so they’re interested in seeing how you’re going “build your business” as rapidly as possible. Once you reach a certain level in sales, the process is repeatable with only very minor tweaking for product and industry. (Unless you’re selling to government or academia. That’s a whole ‘nother beast than B2B sales. :-) )

  11. Green*

    I would have looked like a fool if I’d done this for my current job (unsolicited) because it turns out they wanted me to spend the first 60 days going through (very, very extensive) training materials and observing because it is a sensitive job and I can’t muck it up.

  12. Bend & Snap*

    I had to do one and I didn’t get the job because it was “too tactical.” I didn’t have the context for credible high-level strategy so I focused on “needle moving” ideas and metrics to support business priorities.

    It took forever to do (5+ hours), the direction/expectations weren’t clear and the feedback was minimal after all that investment on my part. It was a colossal waste of time that torpedoed what otherwise looked like a promising opportunity and to this day I don’t know what I could have done differently.

    Companies should save this for onboarding. It’s a crappy thing to ask of a candidate.

    2. Joey*

      Do you think it was a complete waste of time because you didn’t get the job or because there was a less intensive way to get the same info?

      2. Bend & Snap*

        Both, actually.

        It was frustrating that they used only the plan to rule me out as a candidate (they told me this–I was the only finalist at the time and the plan booted me out of the running), when they didn’t provide enough information or guidance to do it well. And it was hugely disrespectful of my time. I had to do it while traveling for my existing job to meet their very short (less than 48 hour) deadline which was tough.

        And more thorough interviews + reference checks, and even a different type of project or test, could have gotten them the answers they were looking for about my work style, weaknesses and talent.

        It seemed lazy and short sighted.

        1. Stranger than fiction*

          Wow I would have politely given them some feedback after I cooled off.

        2. Joey*

          On this end it doesn’t feel much different than asking a prospective business partner to submit a business proposal whereas a resume and interview are the steps that kind of lead up to that.

          1. Bend & Snap*

            Having been both the business partner and the interviewee, they’re pretty different from my perspective, at least in this context. Proposals/responses to RFPs typically have clear criteria and guidelines.

            1. Joey*

              Depends on the complexity. I’ve put out plenty of rfps with the must haves outlined and left it up to the business to propose the details. the good ones ask questions if they feel they don’t have enough info.

  13. hbc*

    I think this can only work if 1) you’re being brought in as an Agent of Change, 2) you know the job *and* the company really well, or 3) you make crystal clear that this is more about letting them see your process and approach. Cite the quote about no battle plan surviving contact with the enemy.

    Still not a great idea. In an interview, if you’ve made a wrong-but-reasonable assumption, you can change course. You just can’t do that on paper, and now all you’ve got is a list of things they don’t want you to do building on each other.

    1. Stranger than fiction*

      Great point, I was thinking along those lines too. Like what if you’re talking about process improvement but they’re not looking for someone to drive change? Bam, you’re out of the running.

  14. louise*

    I could see this making sense for a 2nd interview, where the first interview included a lot of discussion about the company’s needs and goals, and the candidate then ruminating on that and formulating a plan stemming from that discussion.

  15. tango*

    And secondly, why be tied to something that you realize isn’t workable/possible/or even beneficial after starting if they offer you the job? You might say the correct thing that the hiring manager wants to hear but you get in there and realize you way overshot or it’s not even possible (but looked like it was from the outside) and all of a sudden the manager is saying crap like “I thought you said you could get this done in 90 days”? And even worse, something is definately possible but after some time on the job you realize yours was not the best plan but something 180 degrees the other way would work great instead. And managers don’t want to hear it and pressure you to implement the other plan because you were the one who said you would/could and that’s why they hired you. Of course in a reasonable world, your plan after being hired would be forgotten and you’d never be tasked to actually follow it but after reading AAM for a while now, I’m realizing companies are full of bad, bad, managers who expect crazy things!

  16. Great timing!*

    I have an interview next week and had planned to spend the weekend trying to put one of these together because some industry contacts had told me it would be impressive to my interviewers, but I was a bit apprehensive about whether I could really put together something good based on the limited conversations I’ve had so far with the hiring manager. Now after reading this I’m convinced that I couldn’t, and therefore should just skip it. Thanks for the great timing!

    1. TootsNYC*

      If industry contacts think it’s a good idea, it might not smart to do some scaled-down version of it. If only to say, “I was thinking about what sort of 30/60/90 plan would be sensible,a nd I realized I have several questions about the role and your goals,” and then maybe more specific questions that came up as you were thinking about it.

      I say this only because it seems (from comments above) that there are industries in which it’s almost expected.

      1. zora*

        Sort of along these lines, if you think a 30/60/90 is inline with their process and you think they are process focused, would it make sense to kind of meta-discuss it in the interview?

        As in: I was thinking a 30/60/90 plan would be really helpful for me when first starting. I would want to sit down with these people, get these inputs, and then I would make a plan that looks something like this. Of course with any specifics adjusted to meet the needs of the position once I learn more. Here is why I like this process, and the couple of specific things I know about the organization that make me think this would be helpful at this step.

        And then you could follow it up with questions about what they would think of this process. Or,l if they are good interviewers, hopefully it would naturally lead to a substantive discussion of how they plot workplans and how your process and those of your supervisors would fit well together.

        Does that make sense for a way to bring this idea into an interview?

        1. Ask a Manager* Post author

          It feels like it might be overcomplicating the discussion. You’d presumably want the discussion to be about those first few months, not the process of thinking about those first few months.

          1. zora*

            yeah, I hear that. But honestly, one of my biggest problems with ExJob was that they really had no process for developing workplans. They would just kind of wing it all the time, which made it horrendous because they were constantly changing their expectations for me and I could never get a handle on my workplan for more than a few days. So part of me would want to have a process discussion about this, because I think it would make a huge difference in whether they are good at managing employees.

            But I am probably overthinking/overcomplicating. I do tend to do that.

            1. Ask a Manager* Post author

              I think there might be a better way to get at that than the 30/60/90 thing though. Ask about how decisions are made, how much change people in the role should expect to navigate, that kind of thing!

  17. Steve*

    I started a new job two months ago, and no matter what you think you know, you really just don’t know. The joke with my friends is to “learn where the bathroom is” before you try to act like you know someone’s business.

    1. the gold digger*

      Yeah, I alienated my entire office of 15 people because I tried to implement bagel Fridays after I had been there only a few months. I keep my head down and my mouth shut (well – I try to) when I start a new job now.

      1. Not So NewReader*

        They did not like bagels? I am having a hard time figuring out why people would rain down on something as benign as bagels. There must have been other major issues going on.

      2. LucyVP*

        Bagels! I would love to have bagel Fridays in the office! What is wrong with those people?

    2. K.*

      Ha – my mom says a version of this, that you spend the first six months in a new job learning where the bathrooms are.

  18. Becky B*

    I’ll chime in as someone for whom bringing this plan to an interview seemed to work (I’ve been in this job for 4 years now).

    I too had created one based on advice–and then brought it along just in case the interview went that way. The job had enough basics I was experienced in that I was able to make those look really good and at the same time tailored to what I knew of the company and its needs, with an open caveat of “pending training on X” or “dependent on conversations with Person In Y Position.”

    I also threw in a few aspirations too, because I figured, it’ll make me look even better and at the same time, it’s easy to say later that “Based on Z, my direction changed to accommodate these aspects and the result is this awesome thing” –if the plan were even ever referred to again.

    It wasn’t until the 2nd round of interviews when the person asked, in a rather route way, what my 30-60-90 day plan was.

    “Here!” I said brightly, whipping it out of my portfolio.
    Her eyebrows climbed up her forehead. “Oh. You have one.”

    It was never heard of again, but as with most jobs I’ve been in, it’s not like the job description followed everything it laid out, either. :)

  19. I live to serve*

    After my on-site interview, I was sent 5 essay questions. One was what do you hope to accomplish your first six months. After I wrote out my ambitious plans, my husband looked over the 3 pages and said, no. Tell them you will observe the work of the department and produce a report that will document the work flow and productivity.

  20. Miss Enthusiasm*

    I did a 30/60/90 day plan for an internal interview I had at my company. The people I interviewed with were impressed and said it helped me knock the interview out of the park. But I agree with Allison that it depends on different factors on if it will work well.

  21. Jill*

    I wouldn’t pull it out unless they’ve asked you to prepare one.

    But I do think that simply creating on would be a great way to prepare for the interview process. It would be a great way to envision yourself in the role, anticipate what they might need/want, and come up both with ideas about how you’d achieve the presumed goals and the experience/training you have that would qualify/help you. It’s a great mental exercise, if you ask me, even if you never present it formally.

  22. Ash_81*

    I know I can always find answers at AAM – so posting this one to all of you — My issue is very similar to 30/60/90 – on demand!. I was asked by an organisation’s dept. head to meet – a discussion not labelled as interview -and was told that x, y and z were all underway and I can define a job role for me which can get created. I defined a JD and shared across based on our discussions…2.5 weeks now and no response. I was told that it might take time, but am very zapped that a senior resource could spend more than an hour in a discussion asking for the potential hire to prepare their own JD but then not respond to it! Will be grateful if allison or anyone can interpret this for me.

  23. ABPL*

    I am actually in the process of doing this now for an upcoming interview, but with a slightly modified approach. I have tried it twice before, and it both times led to a job offer.

    I’d like to know what Ask A Manager thinks of my approach:

    The thing I think is key, at least for low-level positions, is that you do NOT present it as a list of “This is what I am going to do because I know exactly what needs to be done” and more as a “This is what I think might be a good path to lead to your success at your company, and I hope you can provide some input in improving this plan so it best serves your needs”. Call it a 30-60-90 Plan Proposal, perhaps.

    It would be a mixture of things in the description (how you would learn and implement them), and things not in the description that you know you would be able to contribute, but might not yet be sure if they need. That way they see you are interested in doing more than what is asked of you, and they know what sort of extra things interest you. Also it comes off less as “I know it all”, and more as “I want to know it all, here’s where I am starting from”.

    My upcoming interview is

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