A better way to answer ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’
This is a snippet from the weekly CNBC Make It Work newsletter , written by Ashton Jackson.
When I was interviewing for jobs a few years ago, there was one question I dreaded being asked the most: “Where do you see yourself in five years?”
I disliked the question for two reasons.
1. I didn’t really know where I saw myself in one year, let alone five.?
2. I felt the pressure to try and relate whatever goals I had for myself to the future of the company I was interviewing with, making it difficult to be 100% authentic.
But according to Aneesh Raman, vice president and workforce expert at LinkedIn, this isn’t a question you should get worked up about. “Don’t worry about five years or 10 years from now,” he told my colleague Sophie Kiderlin. “The only constant for the coming decade will be change.”
Raman’s comments really hit home for me, a Gen Zer who graduated during the pandemic, moved more than 600 miles from home to kick-start her career and is now trying to prepare for the impending AI takeover. Change is pretty much my middle name.
That said, you’ll probably still get the question in a future job interview. So instead of thinking about what job title or role you want, Raman suggests focusing on what you want to do and what skills to develop — and using them in an impactful way.
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“The thing that matters most is skills,” Raman said. “Employers are interested in all the skills you’ll bring to the organization,” so talk about something you hope to learn in the future, or a skill you already have and want to hone if you get the role.
Now that I’ve been in the workforce for a while, I have a better understanding of my goals and the skills I want to cultivate in the future. With Raman’s advice in mind, I’ll be better equipped to answer this once-dreaded question, and maybe even look forward to it.
For more on Raman's advice, check out the full story .
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Communications @ LinkedIn
6 个月Aneesh Raman
Business Leader & Entrepreneur/Consultant/Business Strategy/Tactical Leader/Wealth Management Investor/People Leader & Mentor/Expert Collaborator
7 个月I believe this will vary based on the interview phases that applicants, if they are successful to get to the next level, should prepare for. For example, recruiting may ask certain questions with a focused goal in mind vs. the hiring manager trying to understand how his direct report thinks about their career or the role they are applying for. Doing your research is important to prepare for each phase. It's a very competitive job market and each employer is different. Learn about the company culture and the background of each interviewer. Regardless of the process or the outcome, be positive and ambitious.
Assoc. Prof. Emerita of English, Interdisciplinary Humanities, American Studies at Penn State University Harrisburg
7 个月I see myself--tell such unimaginative, convention-bound interviewers--that it will not be until I am offered the opportunity to work for your company for maybe 3-9 months and seamlessly put my current skills and education in critical thinking and adaptibility to the test in THIS environment will I have a evidenced base understanding where I CAN go in the next 3-5 years. See how they react. If they don't accept or like your interpretation and response, you don't want to work for this company. Remember: if the job market remains as fluid as it currently is (in many, if not all areas where education counts), it's your market. Be patient, polite . . . and savvy.
Social Worker | QA/QC specialist | Producer | Director | Writer | Showrunner | Actor | Comedian | V.O. Artist | Literary Engineer | Py Developer | UX/UI | Cybersecurity | Real Estate | Content Creator
7 个月I completely disagree with skills being the thing that matters most. Every recruiter and hr hiring manager that I've interviewed with narrowly focuses on Experience, based on the fact that "what Experience do you have for this role?" is the first question they always ask and are concerned about. Vouching for that Experience question is the fact that education doesn't matter anymore, because hr hiring managers gloss over, disregard, and don't ask questions about the candidate's education (though it may be on the top of the resume before Experience), unless the candidate has at least a bachelor's degree in the pop STEM fields.
President, Thakar Financial LLC, Registered Principal, Raymond James Financial Services
7 个月Look, I’m just trying to make it to Friday!!????