Undoubtedly, you can win an employment opportunity depending on how to handle your job interview. Above all, it involves building the best answers to your interviewer’s questions. Hence, you will find it helpful to understand how to answer a popular question: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
1. Why do you regularly see this question in interviews worldwide?
Getting to know you through a formal or informal interview is a part of every recruitment process worldwide. However, there are specific questions that all interviewers ask their candidates constantly. Unequivocally, one of these questions is: Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
In essence, you will not find a specific reason why your interviewer may ask you this question. For instance, several employers ask it because they need to see if your professional goals align with their business plans. This way, they can assess whether you are a risky investment or not.
On the other hand, ‘Where do you see yourself in the next five years?’ is a question that numerous companies handle as a safety mechanism. After all, it reveals if you want to be their computer operator in the long run instead of a short-term job.
In short, the probability that your interviewer asks you ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ is undoubtedly 100%. Hence, you should know how to answer it without damaging your interview outcome. Fortunately, you can find some tips for it in our following subject.
2. Five tips for answering ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’
Your answer to ‘Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?’ is unique and personal. Nevertheless, following some tips to answer it the best way possible is an excellent idea. Let us talk about these tips to help you get your dream job in mechanical engineering.
In this sense, we took the time to find five tips you can use to answer this question. Indeed, they go from giving it your personal touch to keeping it professional. Ergo, they are like the tips you can use to build an excellent CV.
On the other hand, remember that ‘Where do you see yourself 3 years from now?’ is a question everyone can answer differently. So, do not keep yourself from using additional tips to what we listed here. On the contrary, use everything you can to build a top-of-the-line answer.
Let us discuss these five tips for answering ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’:
2.1 Practice
Assuredly, one way you can use an excuse to leave work early is by practicing alone. In other words, you can say such an excuse to yourself and analyze its effectiveness. Similarly, you can use the same strategy with your ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ answer.
How can you do this? Well, it involves asking yourself questions such as ‘How do you see yourself?’ and answering them. For example, it may reveal that you see yourself as a part of a team only when they demonstrate their work. As a result, you can discover what to include in it.
Last, it is worth mentioning that practicing an answer to where you see yourself after 10 years can help you tremendously. Indeed, it can allow you to build the long-term part of your answer. Besides, you can use this strategy to answer how you would like to be managed.
2.2 Lead your answer to this job offer
Answering a question such as ‘Where did you see yourself in 5 years?’ could also impress your interviewer. However, it involves finding a way to lead your answer to this job offer. Namely, design one answer that makes you look like the best candidate for their part-time job position.
In essence, you can use one ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ sample answer that reveals that you have the skills that the job requires. This way, you can show excitement about getting this role in their organization or association.
Finally, remember that ‘Where do you see yourself in the next five years?’ is an adaptable question. Thus, you can mold the answer to give an excellent professional impression to your employer. Consequently, it will allow you to start a new employment relationship in no time.
2.3 Generally speaking
Some questions in your professional career may require a specific answer. For example, you need one when you professionally ask your manager for a pay rise at work. Nonetheless, it is not the case for a question such as ‘Where do you see yourself 3 years from now?’.
On the contrary, answering ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ involves keeping it general. In other words, it is essential that you avoid sharing excessive details regarding your timelines and job titles. Instead, you can talk about expanding your knowledge as a major in chemicals.
Last, consider that answering where you see yourself after 10 years could box you if you go on a specific path. Therefore, speak in general terms and with intentional direction while maintaining flexibility on the details. This way, your interviewer will know more about you with just one answer.
2.4 Your skills first
One thing you cannot avoid emphasizing when answering ‘Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?’ is your skills. After all, it is a way your interviewer can see your competencies. Hence, you need to make them as clear as your letter for an extension of leave.
In essence, you can build an answer to ‘Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?’ focusing on what you will gain knowledge-wise. This way, you can complement the skills that you added to the CV you built online. By all odds, your interviewer will not miss them.
Finally, you can also make a great impression by adding some language from the job description into your answer. For instance, you may include legal terms if the job offer is from a law firm. Ergo, make your answer say that the job is yours without question.
2.5 Building a connection between short-term goals and long-term ambitions
Imagine you are in a job interview, and the interview question ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ appears. Above all, you answer it by saying that you want to be in a managing or supervising position in ten years, and you will get there by gaining experience daily.
What you did do to give a ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ answer is building a connection between your short-term goals and your long-term ambitions. In summary, it reveals your professional plans to your interviewer and how you hope to get there one day.
That is it! You now know these excellent tips for answering ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?’ adequately. However, you can find it helpful to have a model to build such an essential answer. Luckily, you can find a terrific one in our following topic.
3. How to answer ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ successfully
The content of your ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ answer can be different from everyone else’s. Nevertheless, it does not keep you away from using a model for it. Let us reveal how it can be as easy.
In essence, you can answer ‘Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?’ in one of the following ways:
“I want to fulfill an ambition that I have not achieved yet: Developing into a leader in the manufacturing industry. In this sense, I hope to learn more about management and technology to get there”
“I would like to maintain my favorite part of my job in the Dubai Labour Court while challenging myself to grow in new ways”
“I find the marketing industry tremendously attractive today. Therefore, I plan to acquire new skills during these five years to become a successful expert in the business”
At this point, you have everything you need to include some 5 years goals examples in your answer. But you should also know what not to include in it. In this sense, our following subject will reveal how not to answer ‘Where do you see yourself 3 years from now?’
4. What should you not include in your answer to this question?
Unfortunately, not every answer to ‘Where did you see yourself in 5 years?’ can help you in your interview. On the contrary, you may commit mistakes that could harm your job search in Saudi Arabia as an ex-pat. Let us discuss them to keep you away from such an occurrence.
Most importantly, keep in mind that these recommendations will not interfere with some of the things you want to say. Instead, they will give you a glance at answers that could make your interviewer uncomfortable. So, let us discuss what not to include in such an essential answer:
4.1 Not knowing
When you are in your home after submitting your leave application for mother illness, it is reasonable that you answer “I do not know” to your spouse or doctor. However, it is not a ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ answer we recommend you use.
Above all, answering “I do not know” to your interviewer indicates that you did not think about a proper answer. Furthermore, most employers see this answer from experienced professionals as a red flag. Therefore, you should avoid it at all costs.
4.2 Gaining a promotion
We know there are days when you wonder if it is time for a promotion in your company. Nonetheless, we believe that your job interview is not one of those days.
Hence, you should not answer ‘How long would you expect to work for us if hired?’ by saying “five years after a quick promotion”.
On the contrary, you can talk about why one of your 5 years goals examples is to get a promotion after gaining proper knowledge and experience. This way, you will not like you do not want to work in their organization for a short time.
4.3 In your position
One ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’ sample answer or more could show confidence in a candidate. But your interviewer would not like to see that you have an excess of it.
Thus, you can consider answering that you would like to be in his position in 5 years as a bad idea.
5. Where to find more information about answering ‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years?’
Job interviews are the foundation of every recruitment process worldwide. After all, they are the best way recruiters and employers can assess you as a candidate. Therefore, you should learn how to impress them by answering one question: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Nevertheless, you cannot get to the point of attending a job interview without applying for job offers successfully. Fortunately, you can find several experts that could help you with this matter tremendously. Above all, trust us when we say that the best of such experts is The Talent Point.
Let us lead you to job interviews to show how you see yourself after 10 years. Go to thetalentpoint.com and click on our job offers section to evaluate all of them. Our team is ready at [email protected] if you have inquiries about how to boost your professional career.
Kate WilliamsKate is the Global Strategy Director at Connect Group. She is specialized in company formation, international business expansion and employee relocation. She studied in Southampton (United Kingdom) and moved to the UAE in 2014.
