Opening a new site or starting a big project? Here’s a practical 90-day plan for hiring the right people in the right order.

A new plant, a new contract or a big project win is good news, until you realize you need to hire a lot of people, fast. The companies that get through it well have one thing in common: they plan the hiring as carefully as they plan the project.

Here’s a practical 90-day approach.

Before day one: get clear on the plan

Start with a simple hiring plan:

• Every role you need, how many of each and when each needs to start.
• Must-haves for each role: licenses, certifications, clearances, experience.
• Pay ranges that match the local market, not just your other locations.
• Who approves hires, who interviews and how quickly they can give feedback.

If the project has contract hiring requirements, such as local hiring or diverse supplier goals, build those in now.

Days 1–30: hire your leaders first

Your first hires should be the people who will hire, train and lead everyone else: site or project managers, superintendents, supervisors and key technical leads. Strong leaders make every later hire easier. They know what good looks like, and good people want to work for them.

At the same time:

• Write clear, specific job postings for the larger groups of roles.
• Start building candidate pools early, especially for hard-to-find skills.
• Set up a simple interview process you can repeat for many hires.

Days 31–60: build the core team

With leaders in place, move to the technical and skilled roles: engineers, technicians, skilled trades and specialists. These usually take the longest to fill, so don’t wait.

• Use direct outreach for skills that won’t come from job postings alone.
• Keep interviews moving. Group interviews by role and give feedback within a few days.
• Track every role weekly so problems surface early.

Days 61–90: fill out the team and look ahead

Fill the remaining roles, then look at what’s working:

• Which sources produced your best hires? Put more effort there.
• Which roles are still open, and why? Pay, location, schedule or requirements may need adjusting.
• What will you need next? Turnover in the first months is common on new sites, so keep a short list of backup candidates.

Mistakes to avoid

• Starting too late. Hard-to-fill roles can take weeks or months. Start before you think you need to.
• Hiring everyone at once. Without leaders in place, new hires don’t get the training and support they need.
• Copying pay from other locations. Local markets vary. Check what similar roles pay nearby.
• Slow decisions. Good candidates have options. A two-week wait for feedback can cost you your best people.

When to get help

If your team is already busy running the business, a project hiring push can stall fast. That’s when an outside recruiting team can step in, handle the volume and keep hiring on schedule while your team stays focused on the project.