Where do you see yourself?
What a stupid question to ask…
It really is…
Interviewer: Where you 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.
I am Deniz Sasal.
I am a manager with PwC Consulting and for the past 10 years I have been interviewing
thousands of candidates as a hiring manager.
At The Career Mastery, a blog that I own I 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.
In fact, unfortunately, I was asked this question when I interviewed for PwC Consulting 4 years
ago.
Worst of all, this question came directly from the partner himself.
And no not partner in charge of HR.
But partner in strategy consulting…
Alright, 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 my position 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 a 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 I call “Bullshit” answer.
Your bullshit answer may tick the box and prevent you from taking any risks.
But at the end of the day it’s bullshit.
To craft your perfect bullshit 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, this is 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.
So, a safe bullshit answer may look something like this; I will also put this in the description
I’d like to deliver to the best of my abilities while learning from the best.
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 Deniz 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 Standard
& 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 PwC with
your team and with your leadership.
And when the times comes, 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 PwC 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 bullshitting.
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.
That’s it for now.
Before, I go, can you please give me thumbs up if you beenefited from this video.
And also please subscribe to my channel if you’d like to see more videos like this.
Oh finally, I have one more awesomeness for you.
I spent about 6 months developing a free 3-day video training where I teach you step by step
how to achieve a career
with multinational companies.
Trust me, it’s an awesome training.
And again it’s free.
Alright, until next time.