Where do you see yourself in five years? This interview question is not designed to test your psychic powers. No interviewer expects candidates to be able to describe EXACTLY what they will be doing in 1,820 days. In fact, a truthful answer about what you HOPE to be doing can easily sabotage your odds of landing a job offer.

1. Where Do You See Yourself in Five
Years?

2. Prepared By
Kindly restrict the use of slides for personal purpose.
Please seek permission to reproduce the same in public forms and presentations.
Manu Melwin Joy
Assistant Professor
Ilahia School of Management Studies
Kerala, India.
Phone – 9744551114
Mail – manu_melwinjoy@yahoo.com

3. Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?
• Where do you see yourself
in five years? This interview
question is not designed to
test your psychic powers.
No interviewer expects
candidates to be able to
describe EXACTLY what they
will be doing in 1,820 days.
In fact, a truthful answer
about what you HOPE to be
doing can easily sabotage
your odds of landing a job
offer.

4. Why Interviewers Ask, “Where Do
You See Yourself in Five Years?”

5. Why Interviewers Ask, “Where Do You See
Yourself in Five Years?”
• The interviewer wants to
understand more about
your career goals and how
this position would fit into
your grand plan. They care
about your career goals
because they want to hire
someone who is motivated,
proactive, and likely to stick
around and work hard if
hired.

6. Why Interviewers Ask, “Where Do You See
Yourself in Five Years?”
• If succeeding in this role is
important to you as part of
your long-term career
strategy, you are much more
likely to perform well.

7. Why Interviewers Ask, “Where Do You See
Yourself in Five Years?”
• You may also hear one of
these similar/related
questions that are not quite
as cliched as the old “5
years” chestnut:
– What are your long-term
career goals?
– What is your ideal job at this
stage in your career?
– What are you looking for?
– How do you define success?
– What’s most important to
you in you career?

8. What the Employer Is Trying to Discover
• Do you have a solid grasp of the
position and what it entails?
• Do you have the right attitude?
• Are you going to be dependable?
• Are you a good cultural and social fit
for the organization?
• How are you going to use your
strengths to achieve success in this
job?

9. What the Employer Is Trying to Discover
• Qualifications and
experience being somewhat
equal among candidates,
the decision maker(s) wants
the candidate who is the
best fit culturally.

10. What the Employer Is Trying to Discover
• The candidate who takes
time to prepare a list of
personal goals in advance of
the interview will be able to
communicate his/her
strengths and potential fit
best.

11. What the Employer Is Trying to Discover
• They want to know that you've
put thought into your response.
• They want to know that you're
driven - but that you have
realistic goals.
• They want to hear that you are
willing to pay your dues before
expecting a promotion.

12. What the Employer Is Trying to Discover
• They want to know that you're loyal
and willing to make a commitment
to the company for at least five
years.
• They want to hear how the
company and role you're applying
for fits into your longer-term goals.
• They want to know you're excited
about the job.

13. How to Answer The Question

14. How to Answer The Question
• In today’s competitive job
market, interviewers are
looking for any red flag to
use as an excuse not to hire
someone. So you could be
unfairly eliminated from
contention if you answer
this question in a way that
even hints this is not the
one and only job of your
dreams.

15. Great career move
• Understandably, an
employer wants to hire
someone who is truly
excited about the job at
hand, someone who sees
it as a great career move
and will work tirelessly to
do a good job.

16. How to Answer The Question
• You may have already said
that you’re interested in
the job and why. But they
are testing you further by
asking, “Where do you see
yourself in five years?”

17. How to Answer The Question
• If your five-year goal is to
become an investment
banker, it’s going to be
hard for them to believe
that this position as an IT
marketing manager is your
dream job.

18. How to Answer The Question
• Hiring managers don’t generally enjoy
recruiting, hiring, and training new
people. It can be a time-consuming
and difficult process. Your interviewer
does not want to invest time and
effort in someone who is already
planning to leave for something better
as soon as it comes along (whether
that’s a job that’s a better fit, grad
school, or your own business).

19. How to Answer The Question
• After all, if she hires you
and you quit after a
month or two, she’s going
to look really bad to her
bosses

20. How to Answer The Question
• In reality, you are probably
considering a few different
potential career paths. It’s
smart for you to keep your
options open to a certain
extent. However, you don’t
have to advertise this fact in
your job interviews.

21. How to Answer The Question
• Let’s be clear: You should
never lie during a job
interview. However, that
doesn’t mean that you
have to be 100% candid
about all of the directions
that you are investigating.

22. How to Prepare Your Answer
• Focus on what you are grateful for
regarding this position.
• Consider the personal feelings that
swell up inside you as you consider
working in this job and for this
employer. Will you have more of a
work-life balance? Will your commute
be easier? Does it seem like the kind of
environment where you can leverage
your strengths and be valued? Will you
have a greater opportunity to learn
new things? Will your value in the job
market increase?
• Take time to name your feelings and
strengths, and write out how an
employer could make you feel valued.

23. How to Prepare Your Answer
• Think about how you would like to
spend your day and the kind of
actions you will be performing.
• Don't focus on the specific job duties.
Instead think about how you will
interact with your co-workers,
customers, and anyone else who
crosses your path. How would you like
to feel at the end of your workday?
What new skills or information will you
learn? What do you see yourself doing
in this job that is different from your
current or previous jobs?
• Take a moment to write down those
thoughts and think about what it
would feel like to love your job and the
company where you work.

24. How to Prepare Your Answer
• Try setting some goals as you visualize
yourself in this new position.
• Even if you can't specifically determine
where you see yourself five years from
now, what possibilities seem to
develop for you by having this job?
What seems new? How are things
different for you?
• Take a moment to focus on your
personal and professional values, write
them down, and formulate a response
to a modified version of this question
such as "What is going to be important
to you in your career in five years?" or
"How would you like to see your
life/career differently in five years?"

25. How to Prepare Your Answer
• Plan a Career Path: Take the
time before the job
interview to find a career
path that would logically
continue from this particular
position and then outline
the steps for the next five
years. In some cases, you
will find a clear outline on
the company website. Also,
you will need to ask
professional associations,
friends, family or alumni for
an idea.

26. How to Prepare Your Answer
• Begin with Why This Job Interests
You: Before moving on, you should
clearly explain why you want to
succeed at and master the
particular job position. If you give
the impression that you want to
move on from the current job right
away, an employer may doubt your
dedication and motivation. Most
interviewers want to fill a position
for a minimum of one or two years.
To relieve any worries the
interviewer has, be sure to
mention how your skills and
interests will help you fill the job
description.

27. How to Prepare Your Answer
• If There Isn’t a Clear Career
Paths: You will notice that
not every job has an ultimate
career goal. If, for example,
you are looking to teach, plan
events or do counseling, you
will not be using the job as a
stepping stone. Instead, your
five year goal should be
related to the position. A
sales position, for example,
can aim for product
knowledge and close client
relationships.

28. How to Prepare Your Answer
• Goals Lead to Results: Another
way to respond is to mention
your goals as ways of identifying
results. Here is an example, a
teacher applying to work in a
district that wants to improve
standardized tests performance
can answer this question by
saying: I want to spare no effort
in the following 5 years to
increase the number of students
reading at grade level with
creative instruction.

29. How to Prepare Your Answer
• Advancing in Your Career: In
some cases, a job recruiter
will expect you to keep
moving for the next few
years. Some examples of
these are new college grads
as research assistants, and
jobs such as consulting,
banking or legal assistants.
These positions give you
more in your responses, but
still ensure you state how the
job makes sense for your
interests and skills.

30. How to Prepare Your Answer
• Other Interview Questions
About Your Future: There
may also be other related
questions concerning the
future like: What things are
important for you? What do
you want out of your next
job? What goals do you have
for the following five/ten
years? How will you achieve
those goals? Some general
questions concerning your
career goals also can be
asked in an interview.

31. What should you say?

32. Keep your answer fairly general
• Keep your answer fairly general,
especially if you don’t know a lot about
the typical career path at the company.
For most interview questions, I
recommend being SPECIFIC because
general answers tend to be bland and
easily forgettable. This is the exception.
Make your answer truthful, but broad
enough that it doesn’t raise doubts about
whether you would be a good fit for this
position at this organization.

33. Stress your interest in a long-term career
• Stress your interest in a long-term
career at the company (especially if
you have short job tenures on your
resume). Your interviewer wants to
know that you’re ready to settle in and
grow with the firm. The truth is that
anything can happen. The company
could go out of business, they could
lay you off, or you could be lured away
for a better opportunity.

34. Stress your interest in a long-term career
• However, remember that the
organization is going to be investing
considerable time, energy, and money
in hiring and training someone for this
job. You must at least show an honest
intention to stay long enough to be a
good investment. If you have some
“job hopping” on your resume, it’s
particularly important to make the
case that you’re now ready for a long-
term role.

35. Demonstrate your enthusiasm
• Demonstrate your
enthusiasm for the job as
an exciting next step for
you. Most importantly,
make it clear that you are
motivated to take on this
opportunity right now.

36. Demonstrate your enthusiasm
• Demonstrate your
enthusiasm for the job as
an exciting next step for
you. Most importantly,
make it clear that you are
motivated to take on this
opportunity right now.

37. Example Responses

38. Example 1
• My goal right now is to find a position at a
company where I can grow and take on new
challenges over time. Ultimately, I’d like to
assume more management responsibilities
and get involved in product strategy. But
most importantly, I want to work for an
organization where I can build a career.”

39. Example 1
• Why We Like It:
This answer offers some insight into the
candidate’s goals and interests (becoming a
manager, being involved in product strategy)
so it’s not too generic. This response also
strongly expresses a desire for a long-term
career with the company.

40. Example 2
• “I am driven to be the best at what I do and I
want to work somewhere where I’ll have
opportunities to develop my skills, take on
interesting projects, and work with people I can
really learn from. Some of the most innovative
thinkers in the industry work here and that’s a
big reason why I would love to build a career
here.”

41. Example 2
• Why We Like It:
With this answer, the candidate is emphasizing her
focus on learning, performance, and achievement.
She is also complimenting the company and its
reputation for hiring quality people (including the
interviewer, perhaps?). The reference to “building a
career here” indicates an interest in sticking around
and contributing.

42. Special Scenarios: Make Your
Narrative Believable

43. Make Your Narrative Believable
• In some situations, your answer to this
question will be particularly important.
If you’re making a career change or
this position doesn’t seem like an
obvious next step based on your
resume, your interviewer may be
suspicious about whether you REALLY
are committed to this field or just
need to make a few bucks until
something better comes along.

44. Make Your Narrative Believable
• Nobody wants to hire an
applicant who is halfhearted
about the job. It’s like dating
someone who is using you
for free dinners until
someone she’s REALLY
attracted to comes along.

45. Make Your Narrative Believable
• Your response to “Where
do you see yourself in five
years?” is your
opportunity to sell the
interview on your
commitment to the career
path and the position.

46. Make Your Narrative Believable
• For example, let’s say you were recently
laid off after working in academia for five
years and are now interviewing for a job in
biotechnology management. To be
seriously considered, you need to be able
to describe why you are excited about
making the switch and building a career in
biotech. You don’t want to leave the
impression that this would only be a
temporary diversion until something
opens up for you in your “real” field of
interest.

47. Make Your Narrative Believable
• This is also relevant for new
grads. If your major and
internships are in a totally
different area, be prepared to
talk convincingly about why
you want to invest the next five
years in this new field
represented by the open
position.

48. How Not to Answer “Where Do
You See Yourself in Five Years?”

49. Make Your Narrative Believable
• Don’t overthink it: “Well, that’s
a very hard question. I don’t
know what I’ll be doing in 5
years….hmmmm….that’s
tough.”
• In my work with individual
clients, I’ve seen this mistake a
million times. It’s great that you
take the question seriously, but
you are not being evaluated
based on accuracy of answer.
Use your answer to reassure
the interviewer that you’re
invested in this career path.

50. Make Your Narrative Believable
• Don’t be too specific: “I plan to
be a VP at a major firm with at
least 7 direct reports, a
company car, and a salary of
150K (plus options of course).”
• Ambition is good. Goals are
good. However, if you are too
specific, you run the risk of
stating goals that are not
realistically achievable in the
job available. From the
interviewer’s perspective, that
means you’re not a good fit.

51. Make Your Narrative Believable
• Don’t be flaky: “I’d love to be CEO in
five years. Then again, I’d also love to
be touring with my band if that takes
off.”
• You can come across as flaky if you
seem to have a million different ideas
about what you want to do — or if you
have zero clear ideas about your
future. In reality, many good
candidates are exploring different
options or are still trying to figure it
out. However, a job interview is not a
session with your career coach. You
want to give the impression that
you’re focused and have a plan (even if
it’s not the only plan you’re
considering).

52. Make Your Narrative Believable
• Don’t raise red flags: “Well, I’m
not sure. I’m thinking about law
school or business school or
clown college.”
• Many job seekers have long-
term visions of going back to
school or starting their own
business. These are admirable
goals, but there’s no need to
share them with your
interviewer, especially if you’re
still weighing your possibilities.