{"id":13870,"date":"2023-02-08T15:47:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T15:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/?p=13870"},"modified":"2025-08-08T15:51:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T14:51:32","slug":"where-do-you-see-yourself-in-five-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/?p=13870","title":{"rendered":"How To Answer \u2018Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years\u2019 Time?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Career coach, writer and entrepreneur\u00a0Emile Wapnick<\/a>\u00a0opened her excellent TED talk\u00a0\u2018Why some of us don\u2019t have one true calling\u2019<\/a>\u00a0by posing the question: \u201cHow many of you have been asked \u2018what do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Putting aside for now whether or not we\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0have one (or more) true calling\/s, how to re-write your CV once you find yours and want to move into it, and what to do if you have no idea where to start \u2013 which I will address in future posts \u2013 let\u2019s take a look at how to respond to the \u2018grown up\u2019 version of this question that arises time and again in interviews: \u201cWhere do you see yourself in five years\u2019 time?\u201d<\/p>

As a job-seeker, you may roll your eyes inwardly each time you are asked this. As an interviewer, I internally cringe whenever I ask it. Clich\u00e9 or not, it is a question will continue to arise and is likely to have a major influence on whether you land the job of your dreams (or any job at all). \u00a0<\/p>

The key to a successful response is empathy.<\/p>

Consider \u201cWhy is my interviewer asking this question?\u201d Or, in other words, \u201cwhat do they want to hear?\u201d<\/p>

Imagine the following scenario:<\/p>

You are meeting your Tinder crush for the first time. Over a pint of your favourite bitter (or a crisp glass of ros\u00e9), the script of a B-grade movie strikes and you are suddenly gifted the ability to read your date\u2019s thoughts. Hoping for an ego boost, and a clue as to whether they might be \u2018the one,\u2019 you gently probe to find out why, out of all their other \u2018swipe rights,\u2019 they chose to spend a Tuesday evening with you.<\/p>

Now, which of these two outcomes would make you more likely to see that person again?<\/p>

One: You discover that after their initial attraction to your homepage your date has read your profile in detail, identified with your fondness for obscure anime and your passion for dancing poorly to eighties\u2019 ballads, and hopes that an introductory meeting may lead to establishing a mutually beneficial relationship.<\/p>

Two: Your date has not bothered to click beyond your picture. They were already sold on your convenient location and immediate availability, and frankly, they\u2019ll consider dating anyone who meets certain basic criteria. Winter is coming and they\u2019d quite like to not be single, at least from November to February.<\/p>

Job searching is much like dating. Like any ordinary human, your interviewer wants to know that you have chosen them, and that you specifically want what they are offering. They do not want to feel like you turned up simply because their office is on the Northern line and Google didn\u2019t call back.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

You may think that the \u2018where do you see yourself\u2019 question is the fodder of inexperienced interviewers or a death knell that signals the interviewer has made their mind up already and is just scratching to fill a lull in conversation, but in fact, the answer to this question gives valuable insight into an applicant\u2019s aspirations, level of commitment, likely level of engagement in the role, background research, and plain old common sense. If I had a pound for every person who applied for a job as an accountant and then told me they want to work in sales, I would have at least a quarter of a London flat deposit by now.\u00a0<\/p>

TL;DR: Save the fact that you still don\u2019t know what to do with your life \u2013 or that in five years\u2019 time you see yourself drinking a margarita on a beach in Hawaii \u2013 for TED talks and your friends in the pub. In your next interview, impress your potential future employer with your in-depth knowledge of their company, product, values and culture, and tell them that the job they have on offer is a perfect, and logical next stepping stone in your planned career path. Help them to believe that this is your dream job, and consequently, hiring you is in their organisation\u2019s best interests.<\/p>

However, remember that even the best metaphors have their limits \u2013 don\u2019t tell your next internet date that in five years\u2019 time you see yourself settled down with them, and possibly in a Management position, or you may find yourself facing an very early retirement. \u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Career coach, writer and entrepreneur\u00a0Emile Wapnick\u00a0opened her excellent TED talk\u00a0\u2018Why some of us don\u2019t have one true calling\u2019\u00a0by posing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers-advice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13870"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13875,"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13870\/revisions\/13875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectglobal.tdwdev.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}