Interview Questions: Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?

Welshwoofs

The best (as in most stupid) questions I've ever had were:

1. "What do you think of the decor?" My answer "Beige"
2. "If you could be a famous person in history, who would you be and why?" My answer "Katherine the Great....but I'd pass on the horse." (Katherine the Great was purported to have had 1,000 lovers, including a horse)

CCFC_80

I find this a really annoying and stupid question to be asked at an interview. It can also be a bit insensitive. For example what if the candidate might be in the early stages of a terminal illness. Should they say "I will probably be dead in 5 years time".

Another thing they never make it clear is if they are asking the question on the assumption that they are going to offer you the role or they will not. Also nowadays what guarantee is there that anyone will be working for the same company in 5 years time due to an uncertain economic climate.

briona

andy46 wrote: »

I find this a really annoying and stupid question to be asked at an interview. It can also be a bit insensitive. For example what if the candidate might be in the early stages of a terminal illness. Should they say "I will probably be dead in 5 years time".

I very much doubt anybody with a terminal illness would be applying for jobs – after all, who wants to spend their last weeks or months working?! – but if they were, giving your suggested answer would be the quickest route to rejection!

Jobs interviews are bit like team-building events – sometimes you have to play along even if you think the game is a little bit silly. I try to have fun in interviews (I tend to be a little informal) and more often than not, it goes in my favour.

mountainofdebt

In repsonse to the OP's question I think I would have to say hopefully working for an organisation that I was proud to say I worked for, with a team that I enjoyed working with.......yes abit woolly but there you go!

How would I deal with a difficult person - in a polite, professional manner.

What person would I be from history and why - I would be mountainofdebt because whilst I may not make it into the history books of the future in my own little way I am creating history.

Weirest question I was ever asked was (when it was still legal) my stance on fox hunting for an office job !

Cornball

I generally ask that question toward the end of interviewing candidates. It's a good way to identify career ambitions and whether or not I can meet their career plan expectations. My favourite part of being a Manager is developing talent and I take that seriously.

Also I'm not just listening for the 'right' answers but how articulate they are, confidence levels, even their bullsh*t factor.

solodanceparty

I hate this one. Thing is... I don't even know if I'll be in this country! I may decide to move back home, although this is highly unlikely. How many people actually know where they will be in 5 years, I don't even know where I'll be 5 months from now.

Mudd14

I always answer saying I would still be working in the field and progressing my knowledge and helping to work towards the company objectives.

CCFC_80

solodanceparty wrote: »

I hate this one. Thing is... I don't even know if I'll be in this country! I may decide to move back home, although this is highly unlikely. How many people actually know where they will be in 5 years, I don't even know where I'll be 5 months from now.

Exactly, well said ! Another good example as to why this is a stupid question to ask at interviews !!. My initial point which I did not get across well is that you could unfortunately be dead in 1 years time let alone 5 years as no-one knows what is around the corner

PasturesNew

andy46 wrote: »

I find this a really annoying and stupid question to be asked at an interview. It can also be a bit insensitive. For example what if the candidate might be in the early stages of a terminal illness. Should they say "I will probably be dead in 5 years time".

Well, one of the other questions asked was "do you or anybody in your family have an illness that would affect your job"

It wasn't like an interview at all, it was like being read a standard list of odd questions that would have been more appropriate at the end of an interview.... I wasn't told what the job was (I only had the job title and brief job description from the agency who put me forward) and she hadn't explained anything about the job, the company, their clients, how the role is performed in their organisation (e.g. office based, get out a bit, expected to be away, go abroad). Nothing. Just this random list of HR odd questions.

PasturesNew

briona wrote: »

Jobs interviews are bit like team-building events – sometimes you have to play along even if you think the game is a little bit silly. I try to have fun in interviews (I tend to be a little informal) and more often than not, it goes in my favour.

How could you team build if you're asked to sit down, then have a long list of random questions fired at you, without any preamble. It was like I'd missed the whole interview and was sent to an end room where an HR person ticked some boxes for their files.... all just odd.

You can't have fun in an interview where there's no two-way communication ... and she was just an HR person, so not a specialist in the subject the company dealt with (which is a geeky thing).

She was very off-hand and dismissive too... it felt like being a naughty child being tested by the headmistress after doing a detention.