Most people plan their vacations ahead of time. The same thing they do with planning their career development (i.e. promotions, end goals, etc.). But for some reason, very few people actually have a job search plan. For some reason, they believe that finding a job isn't worth so much of their efforts. Maybe it is true for some kind of jobs but if you are not okay with getting any kind of job and are aiming for a position in a reputable company, creating a job search plan sounds like the right option. Besides, it is not something too difficult to do as many job seekers assume. Developing a job search plan obviously requires some time and efforts but everybody can create one without undergoing any training on how to do it. And just to clarify, a job search plan we are talking about isn't about applying to job openings and attending interviews. It is more about securing a job when you are hired. The first 90 days on a new job determine whether or not you will remain with the company so this time is ever more important than passing a job interview so that is something we decided to help you with.
30-60-90 Day Plan
Now before you even sit to develop a plan like this, you have to know that create a generic one defeats the entire purpose of this initiative. Any job search plan has to be customized and targeted to a specific company and job in order to be effective. It is somewhat similar to resume writing: the more customized and specific your resume is for a particular job, the more chances you will have to succeed. Doing it once for all will unlikely bring you to success. In order to prepare a plan that will help you achieve your career goals, and particularly get a job, you would need to conduct research to understand the top strategic initiatives of the company. This should help you identify the priorities of the company - the information you will need to remind yourself every day in order to succeed. You can usually find this information at the company's website, social network accounts, latest press releases, etc. Having this kind of data, here is what we recommend doing during your first 90 days at a new job.
30-Day Mark. During this period of time at a new job, you should spend most of your time meeting your team members as well as learning of the company's systems/services/products. Attending internal training is a must for new employees so it seems logical to invest your time and efforts into such activity too. Also, we recommend learning all procedures for different situations and most common cases that you may come across in your job. Familiarizing yourself with client accounts seems like a good idea for the first 30 days at a new job.
60-Day Mark. This is the time for identifying potential mentors and getting some feedback about your first 30 days. At this point, you should spend a lot of time studying best practices not just in your company but in the industry matching them against internal processes and procedures. Consider visiting other departments of the organizations and learning how they cooperate within the company. Also, we recommend setting specific goals for the upcoming 30 days.
90-Day Mark. Evaluate the goals you have set 30 days ago. Try to talk with your supervisor about your performance as well as on new processes in the company. This is the time where you can check how you contribute to the overall success of the main strategic initiatives (in other words how you fit in the team).
Conclusion
This plan will eventually help you sound more convincing during a job interview if you take the time to prepare it earlier than one night before the meeting. You will see that a lot of questions asked by hiring authorities will be related to what you will include in your plan which will make your answers sound much more convincing. This job search plan serves a great conversation tool to help you present specific things you have to offer to your potential employers. It is also a good guide to have, especially when there are so many things to learn of at a new job so one can easily be distracted by small things. Keep in mind, this plan will be of almost no value if you don't take time to place it in the context of specific company and job. All of the aforementioned tips regarding 90-Day Job Search Plan make sense only if one takes time to write specific relevant to the applying job.