What Are Your Long Term Career Goals - Job Interview Question

This open-ended question, and others like; "Where do you see yourself in five years?" throw most candidates off balance. The object of the question is to check for your self-awareness and communication skills.

Dan Harrison is the staffing manager for Wesco Corporation and is about to interview three candidates for a project manager position. He is looking for someone with planning and long-range vision skills.

Phil Holmes describes his goal - "To be a Marketing Manager within five years, and have a hand picked team reporting to him."

This is a very specific and narrow goal, which may not be an option at this company. The "hand picked" team demonstrates a lack of flexibility. Best to stay away from too specific a goal.

Shawna Green answers - "I have been so busy with my responsibilities and achieving company goals, that I have not focused on personal long-term goals.

While a strong work ethic is certainly desirable, this answer does not demonstrate vision or planning.

Marsha Severson states- "I plan to return to school to earn my MBA, and have my own consulting business one day.

While it pays to be honest, this answer could turn the interview in the wrong direction very quickly. The employer is looking for someone to stick around for the long run, not to stop over on the way to a new career.

Focus - Exercise

If you are the type of person who prefers an organized way of life, you may find this question a "piece of cake". But, if you are among the majority of persons who let life happen as it comes along, you will probably not have a smooth answer without some forethought.

* What are your goals? - The best answers will come from you thinking about what you want. Most successful business people will tell you that a key success factor is the ability to set and achieve goals.

Begin by setting short-term goals. Right now your goal may be "to get a job". But, what kind of job? And, where do you go from there?

* Be employer-centered - The employer is looking for someone to come in and solve problems. Since planning is a key factor in this job, think of examples where your planning has made a difference in results.

Scripting

After giving some thought to where you want to go and how you can help the employer achieve results, try scripting your answer to focus.

I have learned that long-term goals are best achieved when I break them into shorter goals. My short-term goal is to find a position that will place me in a forward-moving company with solid performance and future projections. As part of a team, I want to add value and continue to grow the company. My long-term goal will depend on where the company goes. My plan is to move into a position of responsibility where I can lead a team.

No one can tell you exactly how to answer this question - it will come from what is important to you. However, the more and focused and employer centered you can be about your goal, the better your chances will be of steering the interview in the right direction.

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Questions To Ask In A Job Interview - 5 Simple Questions To Make Yourself Shine

There's more to job interviews than answering questions about yourself-a good interviewer will pay just as much attention to the questions you ask them. If you have an idea of the right questions to ask in a job interview you can impress the interviewer with how much you have researched the role and show them that you are the right person for the job! Check out these ideas for some great questions to ask in a job interview.

Avoid "housekeeping" questions like "when do I get paid?" and how many day's vacation do I get?" You can quite easily find these out by calling the company before the interview and requesting a copy of the company handbook before the interview. If you do this, be sure be sure to mention it during the interview, EG "Well I called up before and requested a copy of the handbook, that's answered most of my questions but I do have a few more about my role specifically..." This will show the interviewer how well you have prepared, and ensure that you have only the most well thought out questions to ask them in the actual job interview.

Ask them to describe the average day in the position. This is a great question to ask as it will not only show that you are serious about taking the role but it should give you some genuine insight. Have you ever shown up on the first day of a new job and thought "This is NOTHING like they described!"? If so you'll know what a truly horrible feeling that is, but if you have worked out some useful questions to ask in the job interview you can get a real idea of what goes on before the job starts.

"Is there room for advancement in the company?" This may seem like a standard boring, question, but you can show that you know your stuff by delving a little deeper-for example, ask them if there is a clear cut path for progression or is it more of a case that you can advance when someone leaves and creates a vacancy? Most people won't go to such detail, so it's a good thing to ask. Also useful to know, because do you really want to work somewhere where you have to wait for a superior to leave before you can move forward? Knowing the right questions to ask in a job interview can fix problems like this.

"How do you like working here?" This is another great question as it can often take an interviewer by surprise, leading them to give you a far greater insight than they would if they had a few standard lines ready prepared.

"Has this position just been created?" If they say that it was an existing role, ask some questions about what the previous person has gone on to do. This will show excellent attention to detail for yourself, and may also give you some indication of what you can expect if you land the job.

Being smart about the questions you ask in a job interview can not only impress the interviewer but it can also help you gain as much useful knowledge as possible when you decide whether or not you want to take the job, so it's very important to know the right questions to ask at a job interview!

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