Here's how you can artfully respond to questions about your career goals in an interview.

Reflecting deeply on your career goals before an interview can significantly enhance your responses and demonstrate a clear sense of direction. When preparing for an interview, I take time to introspect on my past experiences, achievements, and challenges. I think about what motivates me, the skills I enjoy using, and the areas where I want to grow. For example, before my last interview, I spent time considering why I was passionate about web development and how my previous roles had prepared me for the position. This reflection helped me articulate my career goals confidently. By aligning my goals with the company's vision and demonstrating self-awareness, I was able to make a strong impression.

Las reflexiones que haces previamente te ayudan a saber qué tipo de cargo, retos, empresa o sector es de tu preferencia para continuar en el proceso de selección. Por lo que, las entrevistas te sirven para validar esos no negociables, los valores, y los puntos que consideras esenciales para aceptar un nuevo desafío profesional. Por eso es importante conocerte a ti mismo/a: saber qué quieres, cómo imaginas tu día a día y cuáles son los aportes que quieres dar y recibir. Esta autocomprensión te permitirá preparar preguntas que te proporcionen las respuestas que buscas durante la entrevista.

When I help clients prep for interviews I use a "Past, Present, Future" worksheet to help to answer any "Career Goals" questions that may arise. "Past" -all job experience related to the position for which they are interviewing; "Present" -current job/education; "Future" -how they will use their existing skill set to grow professionally and add value to the company they wish to join. When an interviewer poses a question about career goals, the temptation may be to provide an answer focused entirely on what you want for yourself, but it is important to never forget that the main purpose of a job interview is not to talk about what you want, but to talk about what you can bring to to support the company's goals and success.

Antes de ir a la entrevista, investiga la empresa, su nivel de rotación, opinión de otros empleados o clientes. Mi recomendación es que hagas un listado de lo que debería cumplir para tu decidir si continuar o no en el proceso de selección.

This is excellent advice. If you do this you may find that your goals do not align with those of your prospective employer, in which case you will never be truly happy in your role.

For a web development role, I researched the company's emphasis on user experience and innovation. My goal of becoming a developer who creates seamless, intuitive interfaces perfectly matches their focus. In my interview, I highlighted my passion for crafting user-friendly websites and how my skills in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript could help them enhance their digital presence. By showing this alignment, I made it clear that my aspirations and their objectives are perfectly in sync.

Ser flexible es clave. Quizá no todas las empresas cumplan con tu lista de deseo, pero al menos si cumplen tus no negociables o están trabajando en ellos, puedes darle la oportunidad y mostrar igualmente interés.

While working at Tata Consultancy Services, I started as a front-end developer but soon adapted to full-stack roles to meet project demands. This transition involved learning back-end technologies like Spring Boot and MySQL, which significantly broadened my skill set. Later, when the need arose, I even ventured into DevOps, managing CI/CD pipelines with Jenkins. This adaptability not only helped me tackle diverse challenges but also opened up new opportunities for professional development.

Yes, and yes to this. There is sopme interesting research outlining gender differences at interviews. Men will generally be much more comfortable using 'I" and owning their successes. Women are much more likely to share the credit and use 'we'. It's useful to remember that for the purposes of the interview the organisation is not interviewing a team, but just you. Women, it's fine to take ownership. You can demonstrate your team credentials in other answers. Learn to blow your own trumpet.

Al momento de responder sobre tus objetivos profesionales en una entrevista, intenta siempre dar ejemplo de lo que significa ese objetivo para ti. No digas solamente "busco crecer profesionalmente", explica qué es para ti el crecimiento, y cómo relacionas esto con la vacante y con la empresa. Si esos ejemplos están aislados a lo que pueda ofrecer el rol que te proponen o lo que puede ofrecer/es la empresa, te van a descartar. No te descartaran por la parte técnica, pero sí por cultural fit.

Confidence is not about braggadocio. In fact, it is fairly well documented in psychology textbooks and journal articles that bragging about oneself reflects insecurity and/or low self esteem. To project confidence, I advise my clients to use specific details, and try to support the details with facts or empirical data. For example, rather than saying, "I am one of the hardest workers on my team and my current boss relies on me for important tasks", say, "I have participated in three optional continuing education workshops at my current job, and through this I was able to learn [a relevant skill such as Agile]. With this skill, my boss now relies on me to lead that portion of our weekly team meeting."

Al momento de la entrevista, aunque no expreses todos tus objetivos, porque hay algunos que solo te sirven para evaluar si es o no el proyecto que estás buscando, puedes mostrar siempre flexibilidad, adaptabilidad y ganas de contribuir con ese proyecto para lograr que alcance todos sus objetivos. El mundo es cambiante, nada es estático, y lo que probablemente hoy no te encaje al 100%, probablemente ma?ana con tus contribuciones, si lo haga.