How to Answer the Question “Where Do You See Yourself in 10 Years?”
Interviewer care about your career goals because they want to hire someone who is motivated! Here some tips to answer in the right wayIt’s one of the most common interview questions, so you’d better be prepared for it. So why is this interview question so common, and how should you answer it? Read on for some pointer.
Why do interviewers ask this question?
This question is asked in interviews for jobs at all levels. Your answer is very revealing of your mindset and many other aspects of yourself. For example, your answer will reveal what sort of aspirations you have for yourself and your career. It will tell the interviewer who you are as a person. Your answer will reveal whether or not you can be relied on as a loyal member of a team, and how serious you are about the job.
So, how should you answer the question?
The thing is, any company wants to know that you will be a loyal, reliable employee who will stick around for some time to come.
They don’t want someone who is just going to use the position as a stepping stone to what they really want instead. Hiring someone is making an investment in that person. The company wants to know that their investment is a good one.
Make it specific to the company
Tell your interviewer how you would like to grow within the company. Of course, ten years is a very long time, but tell your interviewer that this is the timeline that you have set out for yourself. Then, break down your plan into portions, e.g. you’d like to spend x time learning about the company, y time to master specific skills, z time increasing your responsibilities until you move up to a higher position.
Talk about your contribution
Tell your interviewer how you are going to contribute to the organization over that time. You could say that you see yourself in a management role by year eight so that you can feed in new ideas and help to increase the client base and, ultimately, revenue.
Never
Obviously, never tell the interviewer that you actually see yourself leaving the job within a couple of years to move onto something better. If you don’t want to feel insincere about claiming to want to stay there for ten years, rather concentrate your discussions on what plans you have within the organization for the first few years. Be less specific about the later years. Also, never tell a potential boss or recruiter that you haven’t got a 10-year plan or that you never think about the future. They’ll think you’re a flake.
Give a realistic answer
Don’t give an overly ambitious answer to this question like: “I’ll be CEO.” This shows that you are inexperienced. If you are indeed interested in moving up to a particular position in the company, do some research before you answer the question. Find out how long it takes to reach that level within the profession and reflect this in your discussion. It will certainly show how serious you are about the job.
