The most common, possibly out-of-date, interview question by an employer is… “Where do you see yourself in five years?”
And, so many talents are dismissed for the job if they don’t nail this (old-school) question that is riddled with confusion, potential entrapment, and more!
In a world that’s constantly changing industry by industry and developing and evolving from one position to the next, throw in work-life balance, and the best/safest answer is to relate it to your drive, passion, and commitment – not just the role. It’s a package deal for sure.
We think that these three answers from a recent LinkedIn poll will stand any future employee in good stead and instil a sense of confidence in both them and the employer.
”I can’t say for sure where I’ll be in five years with current industry trends, but I hope I’m excited about my job, challenged, motivated & constantly learning”.
”I would hope to be working with a forward-thinking, innovative company that invests in their people and has a supportive, open and inclusive culture”.
“Great question! I see myself adapting to change, learning, and thriving in my job”.
A Fast-Moving Irrelevant Question
Speaking at LinkedIn’s U.K. Talent Connect event earlier this year, Aneesh Raman, vice president and workforce expert at LinkedIn explained “It’s not a question people should really be worried about” due to the evolving nature of the market.
“Don’t worry about five years or 10 years from now,” he says, citing technological developments like artificial intelligence, so future planning can be tricky.
“Put simply, we just do not know which jobs will even exist in a few years,” Raman says. “The only constant for the coming decade will be change”.
Giving an Empowered & Inclusive Response
Another way to combat “Where do you see yourself in five years?” is to put the question back on the employer, because, like everything in life and work, we always desire the ideal union where both parties are aligned and passionate about growing together.
Interestingly Raman also notes that “Employers are interested in all the skills you’ll bring to the organisation, regardless of where you’ve learned them, so take stock of your top skills and get really good at telling a story around where you built them and, more importantly, where you applied them”.
Raman says this due to LinkedIn data showing that employers are placing an increasing amount of attention on skills, with recruiters being five times more likely to search for candidates based on skills than other accolades like college degrees!
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