“Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” is actually a valid interview question

I’ve noticed that a lot of candidates are bother by the question “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”. First and foremost, I was never asked on this one. The alternatives were:

• What is your career objective on the long term?
• What career path would you like to follow for the next years?
• What would you like to do on the next 5–10 years?

As you can see, the questions above have the same meaning as the one in title. And they are valid. Your employer needs to know what value could you bring to the table. Your interviewer needs to know what is your career objective, so it will be a win-win for both sides — the employer and the employee.

Yes, there’s a few common questions (some of them quite stupid from my point of view) but this one, despite of it’s high rate of usage is a good one. Again, the employer needs to know your career plan for the next years. The long term is referring to 5 years in this context.

Speaking of commonness, for this question you don’t need to rehearse anything. You already know your career plan … if you have one of course.

I’ve heard multiple times the answer “I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow”. I strongly believe that the interviewer is not referring to your physical/geographical position. She/he just wants to know what is your passion when it comes to work and how it could be leveraged for the business. If a role is available for you, then you, as a performer, will thrive and the company will grow.

Though is a more than common question, I am looking at it as a more than valid one.