Toughest Job Interview Questions: #5 Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?

By John Heaney on November 12, 2009 at 8:00 am
Featured, Interviewing, The Search, Video

By the time you get to the 5th toughest interview question, you should have already addressed your professional qualifications and your desire to work for the company.  Now the interviewer will try to get a feel for your personal goals and aspirations with the question: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

The first thing you need to understand is what the interviewer is looking for. They want to know if you’re serous about their company. Do you intend to be there long-term or are they just a stepping stone to a job that you really want? Are you serious about your career? How does this job help you achieve your career objectives?

The bottom line is that this question provides you with an opportunity to show your commitment to the job and your knowledge of the company’s vision and your role in achieving that vision. So, you have to have done your homework about the organization, its structure and its strategy in order to provide a thoughtful response.

Whatever you do, don’t answer that you see yourself in the interviewer’s job. You might think it’s amusing, but you have no way of knowing how insecure the interviewer is and they may not hire someone who they fear would undermine them. Keep your answer serious and relevant.

There are very few careers that provide a clear path of advancement that everyone follows. Almost everyone I know advanced their career through a series of unforeseen opportunities and fortuitous breaks that they were able to exploit and channel into professional advancement.

The keys, though, were their abilities to identify these opportunities, apply their professional talents, learn new skills and propel their projects to success. They took charge, they showed initiative and they demonstrated their value.

These are the same qualities that your interviewer is going to look for, so your response could be something like:

In five years I would like to have progressed to the point where I have responsibility for all the marketing activities dealing with the company’s mobile software products and am actively engaged in determining product development and marketing strategies.  I’d like to be involved in the company’s efforts to expand their social media marketing efforts and create your industry’s first truly interactive marketing presence.

There. You’ve stated your desire to pursue greater responsibility and accountability without getting too specific about job titles, and you’ve demonstrated your commitment to engage in new pursuits that can add real value to the company. They may never happen, but your response demonstrates your thoughtfulness, your ambition and your commitment.

With luck, in 5 years, you’ll be seated behind the desk celebrating your career successes.