How to Answer “Where Do You See Yourself In 5 Years?” in an Interview

If you’ve ever been interviewed for a job, there’s a fairly good chance you’ve been asked the “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” question.

Why I don’t think this question should be commonly asked in interviews.

Answering this question can be tricky, especially if you do have a detailed 5-year plan (which we talk about more later on). Interviewers are looking for smart, motivated people to join the team, but they also want their employees to stick around. Therefore, you have to be careful when you answer the question so as to not raise any red flags.

That angle aside, how in the world are you gonna know where you want to be in five years? I barely know where I want to be in the next few weeks. If you had asked me five years ago where I saw myself at this point in my life, I would have missed the mark completely.

If I made a five-year plan for myself and stuck with it, I’d very likely have to turn down other, possibly better opportunities that would open up for me along the way. Or, I’d end up forcing myself to stick to a plan which no longer excites or motivates me. When looking for my first “real job,” I was determined to move back down south to avoid freezing my butt off every winter. Instead, I got an offer from a company in Minnesota, and through a chain of events that wouldn’t have happened if I’d truly stuck with my plans, I eventually ended up with what is pretty much my dream job.

How to answer this question if you don’t have a 5-year plan.

1. When you get this question, smile (visibly, not just to yourself). This indicates interest in the question and excitement at getting to answer it. And you should be excited to answer it!
2. It’s really important to not insinuate any negative feelings towards the interviewer. People want to work with positive people, not a Debbie Downer. Therefore, it’s incredibly important that if you do need to imply something somewhat negative to be careful not to direct it at the person you’re speaking with. I like to do this with something along the lines of:
   1. You know, I try not to plan my life out that far ahead in too much detail.
   2. I’m never quite sure how to answer this question because…
3. Politely and logically explain why you don’t have a set-in-stone idea of where you want to be in 5 years.
   1. I don’t like to plan out my life too much because I don’t want to close myself off to opportunity if it doesn’t happen to align with what I think I want.
   2. People change so much, and what I think I want now might change even as little as a few months down the line.
4. If you have examples of a time you had a life plan of some kind but then something else came along, definitely bring those up. This both illustrates your point and gives you a chance to talk about an opportunity you were able to take advantage of.

I personally prefer this method because it allows me to still appear motivated and ambitious, but I also avoid an answer that might cause them to disqualify me as a candidate in case they are looking for someone to fill this role very long term.

How to answer this question if you don’t have a 5-year plan, but you do have a vague idea of where you want to be.

Even if you don’t have a step-by-step plan on how you want to get there, you may have a vague idea of what you would like to have accomplished, what you want to have learned, or what you would like to be doing. Or, you may simply want to give a more solid answer than the option above without firmly committing to a plan.

Here are some vague answers you can give which don’t box you in and still make you appear motivated. Naturally, you don’t want to give any dishonest answers, so only use one of these if it’s actually something you want to do or have thought about.

• I would like to have started my own business (they will likely ask you follow-up questions about the type of business, how you will get there, etc.)
• I would like to have learned and become an expert in XYZ. (You could also mention plans to freelance this or turn it into a source of passive income.)
• I would love to be in X kind of role/position at a company. (Be careful that you don’t sound as though you’re gunning for someone’s job.)

You may be asked to specify. This likely means the interviewer is intrigued and would like to get to get further inside your mind. If you opted for the vague answer, it probably means you don’t have details. It’s totally okay to explain that you are still exploring and figuring out exactly what you want to do, and you can throw in the above “I don’t want to close myself off to opportunity” answer.

How to answer this question if you do have a 5-year plan.

If you do have a detailed 5-year plan, then lay it out as concisely as possible. Do not ramble. Keep your interviewer listening. Make sure to explain how the job you’re interviewing for, or a job just like it, is important to this plan.

If your 5-year plan includes anything that could imply you might not be a great fit. For example, if you just need this job to save up money and you plan on quitting in 6 months, don’t mention that. If you want to use this job to get to another department within the company, you’ll want to avoid that as well.

When an employer is looking to hire for a position, they don’t want to have to hire for it again in the near future. They want someone who will give their all and do their best in the role they’re being hired for. No matter what your answer consists of, never indicate a strong desire to leave the role you’re currently interviewing for.

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Life is a road. There are bumps in it, detours, different routes to the same destination. Maybe you’ll see signs for Duluth when you originally wanted to go to Saint Paul, but you decide to see what you can find in Duluth.

When you get this question in an interview, one of the three options above will help you nail it.

Comment down below your favorite one, what happens if you get the chance to use one of these, and how you’ve answered this question in the past.