11/4/2014

Answering The Question: Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years? | James Caan | LinkedIn
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Answering The Question: Where Do You See

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September 23, 2014

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One of the more tricky questions candidates are asked at job interviews is about their 5 year
plan. I have interviewed many people who all of a sudden pause and struggle when asked
this, but it is actually a question that you should embrace. Here are a few things to keep in
mind when youre in that situation.

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Ambition
Those of you that regularly read my blogs will know that there are two things I always say in
relation to ambition. The first is that ambitious companies look for like-minded individuals; the
second is that if you're standing still you're going backwards. So when you're asked where
you see yourself in 5 years time, don't be afraid to aim high. If you see yourself in a
managerial role, say it. No manager worth their salt will think you are a threat or getting too big
for your boots. The key is to back it up - don't just tell them where you want to be, tell them
how you'll get there.
Relevance
Of course ambition has to be related to the job you are applying for. As I touch on in the video
below, when I'm interviewing someone for a mid-level recruitment role, I don't want them to
say their aim is to be a vet in 5 years! Whatever you say must relate to the job and company.
Even if you are on a career journey and see yourself doing something completely different do you really want to share this at an interview?

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Answering The Question: Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years? | James Caan | LinkedIn

Remember where you are

It is as important as anything that you remember your primary goal - to get this job. So when
you start your answer, emphasise how you want to completely master the role you are
currently going for and how you want to add value to this specific company. Also state which
areas of this job you especially like and what you want to take with you even as you move
upwards. For example you may be interviewing for a Marketing Executive role, and in 5 years
want to be a Marketing Director. Tell the interviewer which bit of the Executive role you most
enjoy and would like to still have a hand in even if you got promoted.
Never mention the money
It may seem obvious, but I have genuinely interviewed people before who said in 5 years they
wanted to be earning X amount. This is generally the wrong direction to take the interview in.
Of course money is the reason we all go to work, but by answering in this manner you make
yourself seem totally fixated on this. Admittedly there are some jobs - namely sales related
ones - where hiring managers are actively looking for hungry people that want to maximise
their earning potential. But even when I recruit for these positions I still want to see people
aiming for professional development rather than just financial.
The JC Twist: Once you've answered this question, why not ask it? Ask the interviewer
what the business goals are for the next 5 years. This shows you have a genuine interest in
the development of the company, and the vision managers have for it.

Image courtesy of Harvard Business Review

For more tips and advice to boost your career, check out my book Get The Job You
Really Want

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Answering The Question: Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years? | James Caan | LinkedIn

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Kay Lynn Gabaldon

Head Of Talent Acquisiton Consultant at Fluc, Inc.
With all due respect, I do not ask this question anymore.
Sometime after the 911 attacks in New York, I asked this question of a candidate. I'll never
forget this interview.
I was recruiting in Los Angeles at the time. I had two huge picture windows with a of the pacific
ocean behind my desk. After asking this particular question the candidate took pause, looked
me straight in the eyes and answered. "Honestly, I don't know, because there's a 747 headed
for the window behind you right now." He got up an left the room. Startled, I turned around to
look behind me only to see the view of the ocean.
I recieved an email from him later that day explaining that he lost a family member in the
attack. It was his cousin, a family member who happened to be interviewing for a job in the
Twin Towers on the morning of the attack. He wrote, I wonder if his recruiter was asking him
the same question when the plane struck?
From that point on, the question became empty and meaningless.

I remain in contact with this candidate to this day. He did land a great role and has progressed
in his career beautifully. For me, it was a life changing experience where a valuable life lesson
was gained. I learned to see life through the lens of someone on the other side of equation.
The rest is history.
Like (29)

Reply(1)

1 month ago

Antonella O'Brien
Marketing and Business Development
What a terrible question-it's a lose/lose question, really only asked anymore by people of a
certain age. If you say management and you're being interviewed by your future manager they
will be hesitant to hire you if they are the slightest bit intimidated. And most people are. If you
say in X role, that role may not be available at the company where you're interviewing. Plus,
people move around a good deal, whether it's to advance more quickly, or to increase their
salary...or a variety of other reasons. Also, people change roles and careers significantly more
frequently than they used to. Long gone are the days when a company would be loyal to an
employee and therefore employees are doing the same. Terrible, terrible question.
Like (10)

Reply(2)

1 month ago

LinkedIn MemberHere's how I answer that question, James Caan. "Where and when I move
depends on two things. One, how much personal gratification I get from the job I'm doing.
Number two, how much contribution I am making to the organization, i.e., am I making a
difference. If both of those things are favorable, then I see myself right here. If either one is not
working out so well, then I'll know it is time to move on someplace else."
Like (11)

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1 month ago

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Answering The Question: Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years? | James Caan | LinkedIn
Bob Korzeniowski, MBA, CPA, PMP
IT Wild Card, part of a winning hand
I see this question as one with no correct answer. It is like when a woman asks her man "Do I
look fat in this dress?"
If one is ambitious and talks about moving up, but the company is a dead-end job kind of
company, game over, rejected, no job, and the candidate continues starving.
If one is not ambitious and likes their role (i.e. a developer who loves to code and hates
management role) and the company wants ambitious people to join, game over, rejected, no
job, and the candidate continues starving.
"The first is that ambitious companies look for like-minded individuals"
And does this show up in the job description as people are applying?
Do the job ads say "We are looking for ambitious...." Not always.
If the company has not communicated what they're looking for, in terms of ambition, then the
candidate is taking a stab in the dark. There is no correct answer and they're at risk of losing
the job.
Like (8)

Reply

1 month ago

Laura Ellis
Founder and CEO at Trusted Advisory Board (TAB)
With all due respect for the author and most answers provided here, there are so many things I
disagree with Im not sure where to start. First off the primary goal of someone going to a job
interview is to deliver an accurate, articulate and compelling representation of their talents and
of how they will add value to the organization and to the role. It is NOT to get the job - focusing
on this as an objective implies that one needs to do what it takes: embellish the truth,
memorize canned yet meaningless answers to canned questions. The result as you all know it
is far too many people ending up in roles they are not a good fit for. This outcome is also the
responsibility of recruiters who learn canned questions without the clarity of what what exactly
they are looking for and how exactly the answer relates to success in the role. There is a
science that covers this area and years of academic and professional experience that entitles
someone to advise here. There isn't one good or one bad answer and there is no such thing as
an antiquated or a current question - the interviewer I described above could ask any question
and still extract the relevant information to make the final decision. As much as I hold back
from being another misguided advisor, I will on this occasion, make a suggestion: if you are
ever asked this question find out first what is the interviewer looking to assess then provide the
answer to that. Your interviewer might lack the scientific knowledge behind the likelihood of the
answer to predict success in the role so feel free to prompt: are you looking to assess how
ambitious I am, how organized and planful I am, whether I think strategically or am a visionary,
whether I am self-aware or have a sense of humour or am arrogant ( e.g. "On a beach in
Cancun). Because the question considered isere could elicit info on any of the above ( or more)
and unless you know exactly what the interviewer is after ( and unfortunately many
interviewers don't know either) following any advice on how to answer can cause you harm. So
please don't.
Like (8)

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1 month ago

LinkedIn Memberit's a blind question. Don't answer it.

Like (5)

Reply(1)

1 month ago

Audrey Seddon
Contributing Writer at My City Gossip
I have always believed this to be a trick question. Many interviewers work off a list of generic
questions, including this one, that force the prospective employee to figure out what the
interviewer wants to hear. The reality of today's market is that few people stay in one particular
position for longer than three to five years, making it impossible to predict where they will be.
Moreover, many small- to mid-sized companies have little in the way of advancement
opportunities, so in order to get something better people must leave entirely. If If I'm good at
what I do and if I enjoy it, I don't mind staying in the same position for five years or more. That
doesn't mean I lack ambition; that makes me reliable.
Like (7)

Reply(1)

1 month ago

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Answering The Question: Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years? | James Caan | LinkedIn

Brandon Eberhart
Writer at Guff.com
My Answer: "Halfway through my ten-year plan."
Like (7)

Reply(1)

1 month ago

Atheer Aljuboory
Manager at Deloitte
I liked the counter question "Ask the interviewer what the business goals are for the next 5
years." :)
Like (6)

Reply(1)

1 month ago

Kimberly Duncan
Transaction Coordinator NMLS #1227482 at Veterans United Home Loans
I've always hated this question, both as an interviewer and an interviewee. It's too generic. I'd
rather an interviewer inquire about what kinds of things I aspire to accomplish in the position
and/or company in the future.. That way I know exactly what they're asking, which allows me
to gauge exactly what kind of response they're seeking. If you'd like to hear that the candidate
someday wants to be a manager, as you suggested, ASK THEM THAT. Don't ask such a
bland, generic question that may or may not infer you care about their personal goals, when all
you're really looking for is professional ambition.
Like (5)

Reply(2)

1 month ago

Laura Lingle
More learning. Less waste. (tm) Jaqueline of Many Trades (tm)
I'm remain unconvinced that this question has any relevance at all in a world where people are
employed "at will" and companies sell out to large corporation-eating machines.
Like (7)

Reply

1 month ago

Rob Vigil
Q: "where do you see yourself in five years"
A: Not here
Silly question asked by silly hiring managers that ran out of relevant questions
Like (5)

Reply(1)

1 month ago

Andrew Salik
Making very complicated concepts easy to understand
To answer the question in any way is simply pointless. Its a stupid question. It shows a shortsighted approach to the individual and what they could bring to the position. This question
makes it clear to me that a company is not looking for innovation or creative thinkers.
Like (6)

Reply

1 month ago

Cherita Washington, MBA

Area Manager - Quality Assurance/Systems (Logistics)
Asking what the company plans to accomplish in five years is an excellent response, after
answering the question. Another possible response would be "where do individuals who
assume this role end up five years later?" That would be a great way to gauge personal goals
with the position's reality of advancement.
Like (5)

Reply(1)

1 month ago

Brice Binz
Management specialist. Expert in "Getting it done". World traveler. Language wizard.
Oh, and I'm available, too.
This question, as others have commented, is antiquated and shows that the interviewer is
simply ticking boxes. MBA holders from one of the world's top business schools change

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Answering The Question: Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years? | James Caan | LinkedIn
careers 3 times in the 5 years following graduation. How do you expect the rest of the
workforce to know where they'll be in 5 years, especially in today's fast-paced world?
Thankfully, recruiters who know what they're doing have stopped asking this. But if they do,
the best answer is to be truthful something along the lines of "No idea. I could be here if I feel
I'm contributing to a great project, or I could be somewhere else." Their reaction should tell you
right away whether or not you want to work for that company.
Like (4)

Reply(1)

1 month ago

Bill Wright, MBA

Sr. Technical Recruiter with TalentFusion powered by MONSTER
Alive and vertical. That would be for starters. I quit asking this question years ago. Senseless
question. Most folks don't know what wine they are going to have that evening. And with the
lack of loyalty from employers to their employees and that same lack of loyalty reflected back
from the employees trying to definitively plan over the short and middle term is, at best a
guessing game and at worst a waste of time. I now spend the time on meaningful
questions...like finding out about how the person handles specific situation.
Then again, YMMV
Like (6)

Reply(1)

1 month ago

Laura Lingle
More learning. Less waste. (tm) Jaqueline of Many Trades (tm)
Justin... it makes me overwhelmingly sad that so many people have that attitude. The one
where you just shrug your shoulders and play along, even if you don't agree with the rules.
Sad.
Like (2)

Reply(2)

1 month ago

Ron Wright
Sales Consultant at JanWay Co.
I always saw this as a lame trick question. My answer has always been, "It depends on how
things naturally shake out. However, between now and then, I will do what I possibly can to
help keep this company moving forward. With in all legal boundaries of course." Any answer
beyond that is pretty much malarky in my opinion.
Like (5)

Reply

1 month ago

Russell Martin
Helping people weather the weather and acclimatize to the climate
I answered this honestly (basically, I don't know and experience verifies my poor ability to
guess) in a short essay on an application question for one of the graduate schools to which I
applied when I was switching fields (thus my previous poor guess). I was told that I seemed to
lack commitment to the field and I would be admitted provisionally if I wanted to pay my own
way. I got three outright acceptances and funding from other schools so I told that school No
thanks.
Like (5)

Reply

1 month ago

Winfield Wetherbee
"Research and development incarnate."
"Where do you see yourself in five years?"
"On my own book tour about ridding the world of cliches."
*drops the mic and walks out of the interview*
Like (5)

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