How to: Succeed in a new role

Top Tips for your first 90 days

Starting Strong - First 90 days in a new job

Starting a new role is so exciting but can sometimes feel like a whirlwind—there’s so much to take in, from getting across the brand to remembering names, systems, and multiple logins. It’s easy to feel like your first few weeks are all about onboarding, without any real wins under your belt. That’s why we’ve broken it down into a simple 30-60-90 day plan—to help you settle in, make an impact early, get aligned on your KPIs, and feel a sense of achievement from day one.

First 30 Days: Learn & Align

Your first month is about absorbing as much as you can —understanding the business, key stakeholders, processes —so you can confidently lay the groundwork for future success.

Understand the business – get comfortable with asking questions!
Dive into the company’s vision, values, and goals. Get familiar with key business processes, product offerings, and target audiences.

👉 Agency-side marketers: Immerse yourself in your client’s industry—understand the competitive landscape, how different brands in the sector are positioned. Knowing your clients’ business inside out will help you deliver more strategic, impactful work.
👉 In-house marketers: Focus on aligning with internal stakeholders and understanding long-term brand goals. Get clarity around marketings’ contribution to the wider business strategy & vision

Meet your stakeholders
Identify key internal and external stakeholders who are crucial to your role. Where appropriate, set up 1:1 meetings to get to know them, understand their priorities and how you can best collaborate. Remember to write things down, you never know what you might need to refer to later.

👉 Agency-side marketers: Prioritise building relationships with clients early -
understanding their goals, pain points, and expectations will help set you up for success.
👉 In-house marketers: Get to know cross-functional teams such as sales, product, operations to understand how marketing fits into the bigger picture.

Review existing work
Familiarise yourself with past and current campaigns or projects. What’s working well? What could be improved? What’s been successful? Understand how success is currently measured.

👉 Agency-side marketers: Review your agency’s recent client campaigns—what approaches worked well? What feedback has been received? Understanding this will help you hit the ground running.
👉 In-house marketers: Look at brand performance data, audience segments, channel mix, and competitor activity to get a full picture of the business landscape.

60 Days: Contribute & Strategise

Now, the next 60 days are all about growing your skills and capabilities whilst aligning on expectations. This phase is crucial in making an impact in your new job and aligning with

management on where your focus should be. With a solid understanding of the business, it’s time to add value and position yourself for long-term success.

Identify quick wins
Look for opportunities to make an immediate impact—whether that’s streamlining a process, optimising an approach, or strengthening a client relationship. Communicate with your manager to understand key priorities and ensure your focus areas align.

👉 Agency-side marketers: You might be focused on nailing execution of multiple campaigns whilst driving deeper relationships with a few key clients.
👉 In-house marketers: You could optimise an ongoing campaign, introduce a new content pillar, or refine reporting dashboards.

Build relationships
Continue to proactively engage with your team, clients, and leadership. Understanding how different departments work, communicate, collaborate – and potentially what their expectations are of your role, will help you integrate more effectively.
Seek feedback
Request feedback from your manager, peers, or clients to ensure you’re on the right track and adjusting where needed. Ask for time in your manager’s diary, letting them know you’d like to discuss whether they’re happy or if there’s anything you could be doing differently. This will help you course-correct early.

Deepen your knowledge
In the next 30 days it’s important to ensure you have all the basics down pat, so work with your manager to ensure you’re provided any additional training.

👉 Agency-side marketers: If there’s a key person on your account you haven’t worked with yet, make it a priority to gain exposure or reach out for a 1:1 if appropriate.
👉 In-house marketers: If you haven’t had exposure to certain products, teams, or systems, now’s the time to fill in those gaps.

90 Days: Lead & Optimise

By the end of 90 days, you should feel confident in your role and ready to drive results.

Own a project
Take full ownership of a campaign, client account, or key initiative. Ensure your contributions align with business objectives, your KPIs and demonstrate measurable success.

👉 Agency-side marketers: This could mean leading a client presentation or managing a project from start to finish.
👉 In-house marketers: It might involve owning a brand initiative, launching a new campaign to market, or driving strategic recommendations for future activity.

Evaluate & report back
Use data and insights to assess the impact of your work. Share key learnings with your team and suggest improvements to enhance efficiency and performance.

👉 Agency-side marketers: How have your client campaigns performed? What insights can you apply to future work?
👉 In-house marketers: How has your marketing strategy impacted business goals? What adjustments can be made for stronger results?

Plan for growth
Set professional development goals for the next quarter—whether that’s upskilling, mentoring a junior team member, or leading a new initiative.

Stay engaged
Continue to check in with your manager, team and recruiter if you worked with one. If challenges arise, lean on them for support and guidance.

Your Recruiter is Here to Help

Throughout your first 90 days, your recruiter is a valuable resource. Regular check-ins provide an opportunity to discuss any concerns, seek confidential advice, and navigate challenges effectively. If something isn’t working, be honest—it’s better to address issues early so we can help you find solutions.

Success in your first 90 days isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress. Listen, contribute and you’ll position yourself as a valued member of the team. Stay curious, proactive, and open to feedback, and you’ll set the foundation for long-term success in your new role.

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Rising Star: Aoife Lehane B&T 30 Under 30 finalist

By Riza Karis • March 26, 2025

I recently had the pleasure of attending the B&T 30 Under 30 awards and had the chance to meet some incredibly talented rising stars in the industry. One standout was Aoife Lehane, a candidate we’ve had the privilege of working with, who was nominated and shortlisted in the Account Management category. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised at all—anyone who meets Aoife can immediately see how ambitious, creatively driven, and sharp she is. Here’s a look at her B&T 30 Under 30 experience and a glimpse into her impressive career: From starting your career in Dublin, to moving to Sydney and landing a fantastic role through iknowho at one of Australia’s top agencies, you’ve had an amazing career to date. Can you tell us a little more about your background? I have learned from some extremely talented people throughout my career to date and count myself very lucky to have had been afforded some amazing opportunities. I started my career at a boutique indie agency in Ireland where I got invaluable hands-on experience running my own accounts and pitching for new business quite early on. From here, I made the move to Droga5 in Dublin working on some of the agency’s largest clients. Whilst at Droga5, I went through a career crossroads moment where I was debating becoming a planner and actually spent 6 months working in the strategy department which I absolutely loved. This stint in strategy taught me invaluable skills that I use in my role everyday. Ultimately, I decided to stay in account management (if you hadn’t guessed!) as I couldn’t shake the curiosity of seeing the whole process come to life and the ability to really influence the work in all phases, beyond just what I touched in strat. It sounds cliché but I’m also a real people person and I thrive off building relationships. In my opinion, account management are the real beating heart of an agency, and I thrive in that role and the exposure it gives you to all areas of the business. When I decided that I was moving to Sydney I reached out to Riza at iknowho whilst still in Ireland. Not knowing the Australian market was extremely daunting but her knowledge and experience put me completely at ease. She really understood me, my ambitions and the type of agency I wanted to work in for the next chapter in my career and I couldn’t be happier with how it worked out. The calibre of talent in the mix was extremely high this year. How did it feel to be a finalist at this years’ B&T 30 under 30? And what inspired you to participate? I feel so incredibly grateful to have been up there with some amazing individuals who have achieved so much in their careers already. Personally, it was such a lovely moment to be recognised amongst such a talented group of people who have come from different backgrounds and corners of the globe. Having diversity in career paths and experience is so important for our industry to bring fresh perspectives and thinking – it only benefits the work, the people who make it and the people who see it. It was actually this time last year, seeing the finalists and the stories from past winners that inspired me to enter - I turn 30 this year so I figured if not now, when! What did you learn throughout the process of applying and what advice would you give to others looking to participate next year? Also, how did your agency help to support you in the process? I really enjoyed the process of applying and the moment of reflection it gave me on my career to date. So often I’m looking ahead to the next thing and don’t take the time to reflect on what I have achieved already. As someone who can be very hard on themselves, it was a really eye-opening and rewarding process to take part in. The 3 pieces of advice I would give to others looking to participate next year would be: 1: Think about the narrative you want to land from the start and how you weave that narrative through your response to the questions and constantly re-enforcing your point. 2: For me, it helped to get everything down on paper and then treat it as a bit of a creative review to condense and tighten (my first draft was 9 minutes long!) 3: Lean on those around you for their advice and point of view, you can get stuck in your own head when it comes to the submission, so it’s good to have those around you to offer that fresh perspective. I work with some very talented people who were extremely generous with their time not only offering me their advice and feedback but also their videography and editing skills to give my submission that final polish – it takes a village! There is no doubt that being a finalist helps elevate your profile, what other benefits do you see from being shortlisted and are there any other awards in your sights for the future? Not being from here it can be a little bit harder to “break into the industry” and make a name for yourself, as an expat I have found it hugely beneficial in that respect. Even this opportunity from the team at iknowho to do this profile piece has been really valuable and a great privilege that I don’t take for granted. In terms of personal awards, there’s nothing specific that I have my sights set on in the immediate, but I am open to whatever opportunities come my way. Forbes 30U30 would be a good one but I would want to get busy! What’s next for you, where do you see yourself in five years? Anyone who knows me has heard me say I want to be on that stage in Cannes.. so hopefully that will have happened. With the world we’re living in right now and the constant conversation around the value of creativity (which I believe is not only monetary, but also the value it provides to society) I’m driven by the opportunity to create something that people really connect with and makes a lasting impression in the world.. whether that’s as simple as just making people smile or changing societal behaviour for good - the pursuit of that is what drives me. I’m energised by working with likeminded people who share my ambition but not always a similar point of view. I love the process of sharing those different points of views and different ways of thinking and what brings to fruition. That to me is what makes the industry we work in so interesting and one I love being a part of. Ultimately, I would love to be in a leadership role in an agency where I have the ability to make a real impact and influence the direction for the future of the industry. -- Thank you so much, Aoife, for sharing your journey, insights, and advice. Your passion and drive are truly inspiring, and we have no doubt you’ll continue to make waves in the industry. We can’t wait to see what’s next for you! If you're looking for your next role within the junior-mid levels across agency or the perfect candidate to add to your team get in touch with Riza today!

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