Interview Questions : Part3

 

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 Years?

 

Where do you see yourself?  It really is… Interviewer: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Me: Well, I am going to tell you that I see myself at your company at a role where I contribute to the organization’s success… and you will not believe that I am genuine but then I will say that anyway because this is the only answer I know you are looking for… If you are wondering how to answer this question properly, and increase your chances to win that job then stay tuned until the end.

At The Career Mastery, a blog that DenizSasal help change some of the notions when it comes to interviews and hiring. Whatever you hear from represent my view as a hiring manager.

I am not HR, never been, nor have any intentions to become one at any point in my career. In an ideal world, if you are interviewing with a highly professional company and highly professional hiring managers, they won’t ask you this question.

Because, they know that you are just going to lie. I hope they really won’t. It’s meaningless and encourages the candidate to lie. It serves no purpose. But here is the thing… We are not living in an ideal world, and the chances they will ask you this question is very high.

I will share with you a beautiful answer. But First things first, here are what not to dos; - Don’t, don’t, don’t try to be funny for - god’s sake. I remember at least 4 candidates who said they saw themselves in Sr Manager in 5 years.

The funny thing was I didn’t even ask where they saw themselves in 5 years. I didn’t even ask that. Really.  I just asked about their future plans and whether they’d like to stay in Dubai over the foreseeable future.   After all, this is an expatriate oriented city you know.

And we have a very high expat-turnover. Plus, this is probably the oldest joke in the book. Where are they learning this from? Seriously! Please don’t do that. It’s not funny and also not even logical. If I am interviewing you for a junior consultant role, it will take you a lot more than 5 years to become a manager like me... Just don’t shoot yourself in the foot you know.  

Another no-no; you don’t really need to talk about your ambitions for future. Start from today. After all, we are interviewing you to fill current role. Not necessarily a role to fill 5 years in the future. We are not going to hire you to train you for “that” role for 5 years. Right? I hope it’s making sense to you.

Alright, now let’s move on to construct the perfect answer. I will give you 2 approaches to this question. First, I will share with you the conventional safe approach. And once it’s out of the way, I will share with you my way. The first approach is the safest one.

It’s what everybody uses and it is what call “ ” answer. Your   answer may tick the box and prevent you from taking any risks. But at the end of the day it’s. To craft your perfect   answer, you need to hit certain triggers. 

 

The way I see, they are like this;- You need to show them you are committed and not a 2 year jumper- Another one, The reason you are here is not to find a quick solution to your unemployment.

But rather, you are thinking of us as your last destination in your corporate career. Simply, you are not here to wait for the next best offer. Then, off you go. From hiring manager’s perspective, thesis a big challenge. Finding the right candidate consumes so much valuable resources from the company.

 Time being the most important one. - Final one, Ambitious and assertive characters are in high-demand for certain roles, especially in sales related positions. Please keep this in mind. So, feel free to clearly state that you are looking to grow with the company, learn from the best, and ultimately, when you are ready, take on more responsibilities.

Having said that,  I see myself 5 years down the road growing into a managerial role and demonstrating my leadership capabilities.  

Or another one,

 I am really looking forward to spending the next five years in an organization where I feel I share all of its values, especially when it comes to [some values].

 I would love to have the opportunity to demonstrate my leadership capabilities when the time is right, hopefully within 5 years and contribute to its growing success.

 Alright, as you see from these responses, they are safe answers but not necessarily something I would say. This is especially true if I am interviewing with a hiring manager. The hiring manager will most probably be your direct line supervisor. Do you really want to start that relationship based on lies and BSs? I don’t.

 And I didn’t… When I was asked this question 5 years ago,my answer was something like below; So, he asks me   where do you see yourself in 5 years.

Me:   Hmm. Let me gather my thoughts for a second… [Yes, I literally took my time to think. You should try it too…] Judging by the fact that where I saw myself in the past and where I ended up, it’s really hard to say where I will be.

The only way I can see the future is by looking at my past, right? and if you asked this question to me almost 10 years ago when I was working at SMP; Poor’s as a financial analyst, I’d tell you I wanted to be an investment banker, then 5 years later I was a project management consultant, then sustainability consultant, and now here I am interviewing for a management consulting role which I can confidently do very well.

So, as you see, where I wanted to be almost never happened and it’s really hard to say now where I will be in 5 years. But I guarantee you one thing. I will do my best in this role and try my best to have a wonderful career at NMC with your team and with your leadership. And when the times come, I will assume more leadership roles hopefully easing some of your intense work load.

When I gave this answer, something incredible happened. Partner was definitely shocked hearing my answer and I could tell he wasn’t expecting this.  But… He was incredibly impressed… I could see it in his eyes.

And after that, he started to pat me in the back, telling me “son it’s ok. It’s very normal going through things like this at your 20s; we don’t always get to have the career we want. But don’t worry things will be a lot more clear for you moving forward with us.”

The remaining of the interview he was completely engaged, conversing with me, giving details about the way they work, and telling me that he’d love to have a talent like me in the team. Then, he asked how soon I can join… I couldn’t ask for a better interview for sure. 

 

And imagine this person was a Senior Partner at NMC Consulting, a role that’s almost as high as it gets. It just worked. What worked was the honesty! Look at it from his perspective, after having a 30 year career; I was probably one of the few people who took the path less travelled.

I was someone who had the courage to give a less than perfect answer instead of lying and ting. With my answer, he realized that I am someone who will never give excuses or lies no matter how stressful the situation may be.

So, think about it. Next time you find yourself in a situation like this, maybe honesty is what you need.

Interview Questions : Part1 Part2

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 Reference : Denizsasal Career Mastery and YT Influencer.

www.youtube.com/c/denizsasal

 Image Credits : Pixabay

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