what are your long-term career goals that's the question I'll be answering in this video
so you'll get a strong example answer and key point is to use in your own interview now your
interviewer might not ask this exact question they might ask you what are your professional
goals what are your long-term goals what are your career goals and aspirations what are your career
goals or what are your career aspirations it's also similar to where do you see yourself in
five years which I've answered in this video on the top 22 common interview questions and
answers but you can use the same answer for most of these questions so be prepared to answer in
any of those formats so you don't get caught out in your interview I'm Amri Celeste an interview
coach and HR recruitment specialist with over 11 years of hiring experience if you haven't like
subscribe and tap the notification Bell so this is an explorative interview question the interviewer
wants to find out about your career plans and how the role their interview viewing u4 fits into that
so bear that in mind I have heard candidates say in the past things like this is a good place to
start but long term I want to do something else or even once I heard I don't really want to work
I plan to move abroad but I'm just saving up in the meantime and the issue with these answers
should be obvious but just to be clear you have to imagine if you were hiring someone so option
one is someone excited committed to a long-term career invested in the team the company and you
or option two is someone who is just using the job as a stop Gap and could leave at any time
now you've probably guessed correctly but just for clarity after conducting thousands of interviews I
can confirm that hiring managers and interviewers almost exclusively go for option one there are a
few ways that you can structure your answer to this question to make it really impactful so
one way is by sharing your motivations and your interest in that line of work and you can share
your ideal goals at this point too then linking it to What attracted you to apply for the job
so you're then linking it back to the person the interviewer wants to attract and then you want to
end with where you see yourself in the future so it could be the next three to five years could be
the next five to ten but if you do it this way you're ensuring that you've answered the actual
question so you're sharing your career goals over the long term which is the question what
are your long-term career goals but then you're also kind of sneakily adding in ways to link your
natural motivations and how they align with what the interviewer requires in the job so a strong
example answer is my goal is to continue working in the automotive industry and ideally move up
to management position one day my father was a mechanic and I often helped him when I was growing
up I took to it very easily and I felt like it's always been a natural fit which is what prompted
me to begin an entry-level role in a dealership now one of the biggest mistakes when answering
any interview question about career goals career aspirations or professional goals is giving an
answer that is lackluster it's just you know one day I want to become qualified or I want to become
a manager with nothing really to make it memorable so the interviewer hears this tons of times a day
so make your answer engaging by including your personal interests a bit of the backstory and why
you're interested in the role so this first part of the answer here where it says I often help my
father includes a bit of a backstory not a long childhood story but it still adds context to the
goals you're about to share so you're sharing your natural character fit here by talking about how
you naturally took to this type of profession it can be any profession I'm just using Automotive as
an example and it shows that it was a catalyst for you choosing that career path in your own answer
you've got to add something when you talk about your career goals whether it's history passions
anything to add context because that first part of the answer builds a really solid foundation
and sharing that helps to build a connection with your interviewer in the earliest part of
your answer they get to understand more about you so here's the next part of the answer I've
now done that for five years and I would say in the next three to five years I'd like to work my
way up to management which is one of the things that attracted me to this role now this second
part includes moving up in your career but if your personal career goals don't include moving up or
getting promoted don't feel obligated to include that in fact I highly recommend you don't include
it because if the employer hires you they may expect you to develop leadership skills along
the way or get involved in projects that would position you for a leadership role and if it's
not what you want it would you know it would make the day job really unpleasant so you can share
your alternative goals like getting qualified in your career branching out to related areas in The
Wider department or business area developing specific specialist skill sets within your
profession like project management for example so for example in HR it's quite normal to Branch out
and develop skills in specialist sub-professions like employee relations or resource planning
another could be growing your Professional Network internally and externally by attending events and
building up contacts or it could be something as simple as just wanting a fulfilling and rewarding
career in a supportive team and a great company so what you're doing doing with this second part
here is you're answering the main question with a quick one sentence answer you're saying long term
in the next three to five years or so I want to move into management then you're bringing
it back to why you're fit for the role because you're saying there's something in the role that
has made me feel that this would be a match for that particular career goal I have so when you're
saying it's one of the things that attracted me to this role then you'll bring it back to why you're
a fit for the role because you're saying there's something in the role that has made me feel that
this would be a match for that particular career goal I have when you're saying it's one of the
things that attracted me to this role then it goes on to say I noticed in the job description you
were looking for someone with lots of new ideas who's ambitious and wants to grow in their career
this is another thing I highly highly recommend you include in your answer anything that starts
with I noticed on the job description will show that you have prepared for the interview and
you're paying attention to specific areas of the job which is a huge plus when you start to link
your examples and passions to what you noticed on the job description it's very difficult to
go wrong because there's no danger that you will share something irrelevant and lose the
interviewer's interest it's all related to what they want so here's the last part of the answer
last year I came up with some changes to boost profitability I introduced a no-huggle policy
renegotiated better prices with suppliers and implemented a new pricing strategy this increased
profitability by eight percent I would be really excited to come up with new ideas in a position
like this along with continually developing my career I would say those would be my career goals
over the long term so there's a really strong area you're in this last part of the answer here so
it's linking the example of boosting profitability with where it says on the job description that
you know they want someone with new ideas then it gives three specific examples being the no Huggle
policy negotiating better rates and new pricing strategy specific examples always boost your
answer and then it's rounded off here at the end linking it back to the question saying these would
be my long-term career goals now if you liked that answer then like and subscribe and pop a comment
below with any questions it's a huge help to the channel and you can also support the channel in
other ways which I will link in the description box below this video If you struggle with tough
interview questions and answers you can grab a copy of this free guide this guide is packed
with example answers and interview tips for your job interview to boost your interview skills so it
includes answers to difficult questions like why should we give you the job what's your greatest
weakness how do you handle pressure at work and lots more interview questions and answers I've
also included an answer to the question what are your long-term goals which is another alternative
of what are your long-term career goals I've also included an important bonus question and what you
should be asking your interviewer at the end of your interview it's free and you can get yours
by clicking the link in the description below this video now I hope you found this helpful
like subscribe and leave a comment below if you did and I will see you in the next video