30-60-90 day plan for recruitment consultants

A 30-60-90 day plan for a new recruitment consultant should spend the first month learning the desk's clients, candidates and terms of business and booking business development meetings; the second month taking jobs, sending shortlists that get interviews and getting the compliance steps right on every candidate; and the third month making a first placement or getting a first contractor working, with a pipeline that forecasts next quarter's fees. "Recruitment consultant" is the UK, Irish and Australian title for an agency recruiter, usually on a 360 desk that both wins clients and delivers candidates. As of November 2026 in Great Britain, agencies may not charge candidates for finding them work, must confirm a candidate's identity, qualifications and willingness before introducing them, and must check the right to work of anyone they employ before work starts, with a civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker.

This plan is for an agency director or team leader hiring a consultant to a permanent, temporary or contract desk in Great Britain, and for the new consultant writing their own plan. The US version of the agency recruiter ramp, with req loads and submittals, is the 30-60-90 day plan for recruiters; the team leader's plan is the 30-60-90 day plan for recruiting managers.

What makes a recruitment consultant's first 90 days different?

A 360 consultant is two jobs at once. On the client side they find companies that are hiring, win the job and agree terms; on the candidate side they find, screen and prepare the people they put forward. A new consultant who only sources has nothing to fill, and one who only sells has jobs they cannot deliver, so the plan sets weekly targets for both sides from the first month.

Fees lag. A permanent placement often bills weeks after the offer, when the candidate starts, and the first quarter's billings usually come from jobs the consultant took in their second month. That is why the first two checkpoints measure the pipeline and the quality of shortlists, not money billed.

What does a 360 desk own that a 180 consultant does not?

Which rules does a recruitment consultant work under in Great Britain?

Read on legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK as of November 2026; the Conduct Regulations extend to England, Wales and Scotland. Our guide to the Conduct Regulations covers them in depth. This is not legal advice; check the agency's own compliance process first.

Candidate data falls under the UK GDPR: a lawful basis, privacy information when you collect it and a retention period you can defend. Recording interviews under UK GDPR and the GDPR checklist for recruiters cover the detail.

What does the 30-60-90 day plan look like?

30-60-90 day plan — [Name], Recruitment Consultant, [desk / sector]
Reports to: [team leader / director]   Start date: [date]
Desk: [permanent / temporary / contract / mixed]   Patch: [sector, region]
Inherited: [N] dormant clients, [N] live jobs, database of [N] candidates
Systems: [CRM / ATS], [job boards], [LinkedIn seat], [compliance tool]

DAYS 1-30 — Learn the desk and fill the diary
Goals:
- Read the agency's terms of business, its candidate checks and its
  right to work process for temps; complete compliance training
- Map the market: the [50] companies most likely to hire in the
  patch, their hiring managers and the job titles they use
- Call every client the desk has billed in the last two years
- Weekly: [example: 10] business development conversations and
  [example: 2] client meetings booked
- Build a talent pool of [example: 30] screened candidates for the
  desk's core roles; record identity, qualifications and willingness
- Shadow two job intakes, an interview debrief and an offer call
Deliverables by day 30:
- Market map and a target client list with a reason for each
- A first job taken on agreed terms, or a dated plan to get one
Check-in: day 30

DAYS 31-60 — Take jobs and send shortlists that get interviews
Goals:
- Take [example: 4] jobs with full briefs: must-haves, salary or day
  rate, interview steps, start date, fee agreed in writing
- Shortlist of [example: 3] candidates per job within [5] days, each
  screened against the brief with their own examples
- Before every introduction: hirer information on file; candidate
  checks done; the candidate has agreed to be put forward
- Temps: Key Information Document and terms before work-finding;
  right to work check before the first shift
- Track CV-to-interview ratio per job, not CVs sent
Deliverables by day 60:
- [N] interviews from your own jobs
- Pipeline with each job's stage, likely fee and start date
Check-in: day 60

DAYS 61-90 — First placement and next quarter's pipeline
Goals:
- First offer accepted, or first contractor working
- Every offer call followed by a written summary to both sides
- Forecast next quarter's fees deal by deal
- Ask each new client for the next role and a referral
Deliverables by day 90:
- Fees billed or contractor hours, against the target agreed
- Forecast within an agreed range
Check-in: day 90 — full review

Which numbers should a new recruitment consultant baseline?

The standards are examples only; desks differ by sector, seniority and permanent against contract. Use the agency's own history and set targets at day 30.

The guide to improving submittal-to-interview ratio applies to CVs sent in the same way.

How should the hiring manager use the plan in the final interview?

Give finalists the desk's sector, its dormant clients and one live job, and ask for a short plan. Score it with how to evaluate a 30-60-90 day plan in an interview. A strong plan balances client and candidate work every week, puts compliance checks before the first introduction, and measures interviews before fees. Scenario questions:

• "Your patch has 40 dormant clients and no live jobs. What do you do in week one?"
• "A client asks for five CVs by tomorrow, and you have not spoken to the candidates. What do you say?"
• "A client wants to take your temp on permanently after six weeks. What does the contract allow, and what do you offer?"
• "A contractor tells you their role is outside the off-payroll rules. Who decides, and what do you need from the client?"

What should each check-in cover?

A filled example

What does the director owe the new consultant?

• A real patch: clients and a database that nobody else is working, written down.
• The agency's terms and compliance process in week one, with someone who signs off the first introductions.
• A team leader who listens to calls and reviews shortlists weekly; see how to coach recruiters with call reviews.
• Targets that match the lag: activity and interviews first, fees from the third month.

Common mistakes

• All candidate work, no client work. A strong talent pool with no jobs earns nothing on a 360 desk.
• Sending CVs speculatively without checks. Regulation 19 asks for confirmation before introduction, including that the candidate is willing.
• Taking jobs without agreed terms. A fee nobody agreed in writing is the hardest invoice to collect.
• Judging month one on fees. Billings come from jobs taken in month two.
• Treating the 12-week mark as someone else's problem. From week 13 a temp's pay may have to rise to match the hirer's own staff, and the client's bill with it.

How do you adapt the plan?

• Temporary desk: weight the first month toward the Key Information Document, right to work checks and timesheets, and track each temp's weeks with the same hirer for the 12-week rule.
• Contract desk: add status determination statements and day rates to every job record, and agree with the client who is the deemed employer before the contractor starts.
• Moving from a 180 role: the candidate side is familiar; put most of month one into business development and job intake.
• Australia: labor hire providers in Victoria must be licensed under the Labour Hire Licensing Act 2018 (Vic), and hosts must only work with licensed providers, according to the Labour Hire Authority; check each state where you supply workers.
• US agency desks: use the recruiter plan, or the staffing manager plan for a temp desk.