In this instalment of the interview question series.
Lets look at some great ways to answer – What Are Your Career Goals?
You will receive 4 tips that you can use and 3 things to avoid doing.
Let’s deep dive into answering this question the best way for you. Please stick around
until the end where you’ll find 3 sample answers that you can use and adapt.
Welcome back to… HOW TO INTERVIEW. I’m Dan, Career Coach and author
of Aspire, Act & Acquire It’s my mission to HELP PEOPLE
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this with someone who is thinking about new employment or has a job interview lined up.
As always, take notes and feel free to take a screen shot of the responses that I provide.
Let’s jump in… What Are Your Career Goals?
An employer will ask this question to gauge your career objectives
and to see how you will go about achieving them.
They love people who are career focused, have a plan,
and are on their way to getting what they want. I want you to step into the shoes of a hiring
manager for a moment….Imagine if you were hiring someone for your company. Who would you pick?
A person who has a plan and is working to get there…. Or a person who is unsure and
has no real aims. I know who I would pick! Have a think to yourself for a moment about
where you want to take your career. This can be in the short-term,
medium-term or the long-term. List a few things for each time period.
When in an interview, it’s a good practice to have a mixture of short, medium and long-term goals.
Also, the level of your experience and the job you are applying for will be important factors.
This question is not to be confused with - Where do you see yourself in 5 years.
I’ve left a link for that up here. Here are 4 Tips you can use.
Brainstorm your careers goals. Make a list of everything you want to achieve while working. Next
divide them up into short, medium and long-term. Adjust your career goals to the position you are
applying for. Your goals should fit the advertised position to a good degree. Make sure to read the
job description and the companies values. These can be found on the companies website.
Remember to remove any goals that don’t apply at all to the advertised role.
Determine your level of experience. Typically, if you are just starting a new career,
your focus will be more scattered with getting up to speed with everything. Whereas a more
experienced person will use their expertise and have a particular target locked on.
Include past achievements. Showing that you’re a proven goal setter can be a big selling point
and a great way to start off your statement. It’s more useful if your past achievement is related
to the job that you are interviewing for. Now we can get into answering the question.
Coming up shortly are 3 examples that display various levels of experience. Find one you can
relate to and adapt your response. Example 1. “I have recently finished
my qualification in Engineering, and I’m really motivated to start my first role
in the industry. My short-term goals are to get up to speed in my new position and apply my newly
learned skills. I know by doing this, I’ll be able to form a solid foundation that I can build on.
My longer-term goal is to expand my knowledge in other areas of
the business and build a strong career.” Example 2. “A goal of mine was always to become a
team leader and I was fortunate enough to achieve this two years ago. I love the responsibility of
leading a team. My medium-term goal is to have more responsibilities in the same department.
I feel challenging myself more and having more authority would be the next step in my career.
Upon learning the challenges and responsibilities of this role, I knew had to apply.”
Example 3. “A few of years ago it was my goal to become a training manager. After a lot of
hard work, I achieved my target and found myself adapting to the new responsibilities very well.
As a medium to long-term goal, I intend on working on my management and communication skills. This is
the reason I applied for this position. Potentially in the distant future,
I’d like to manage a larger department and mentor more colleagues.”
Have you ever been asked this? What did you say? Let me know in the comments...
It’s always great to hear how you dealt with this type of question. What else would you add?
Here’s a recap of my tips to answer - What Are Your Career Goals”
Brainstorm your careers goals
Adjust your career goals to the position you are applying for
Determine your level of experience Include past achievements
Here are 3 things to avoid doing: - Avoid saying ‘you don’t have any career goals.’
One definite way to put an employer off is to not have goals for yourself.
Having goals says a lot about a person: whether its bringing positive momentum with you,
showing passion for your work or looking forward to the future. Goals are an important part of
professional and personal life. Don’t mention a timeframe.
Be somewhat general in your response. Remember the position you are applying for
is the main goal. Saying that you expect to be in another role before you’ve got this role won’t
look great. Say something like ‘in the distant future I expect to be in a higher position’.
Don’t be too keen on a specific title. Again, be general with your response. Mention how you
would like the opportunity of higher position, should it become available in the future.
So, there you have it, I’ve provided you with 3 samples answers that you can use.
The tips in this video will help you on your path to interview success.
It’s now up to you to build your own response and get that job that you love.
Head over to ‘how-to-interview.co.uk’ and pick up a free question/answer help sheet.
You’ll find it in the resources section. By using the help sheet, you can formulate
your perfect, tailored response. I’m now doing coaching calls. So
if you need help with your interview, find me via the website or Facebook.
Stay tuned for more interview questions and related content.
Tap on the next video coming up soon and I will see you there.