It’s the big day! You got up early, made your coffee, prepped all week, and the day is finally here. Everything is going amazing until they ask you the dreaded question…
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Don't worry! We're here to help. Here are some tips on how to answer:
1. It's okay to be yourself and be a little bit vulnerable.
2. If you genuinely don’t know where you want to be in five years, it is okay to say that. There is an old school mentality that you have to be prepared about where you want to be in five years or else it's a bad thing, but it is totally okay and normal to still figure out what you want to do with your career. Let the employer know that you want to use this internship to find what you do and don’t like.
3. If you DO know what you want to do, make sure you don’t sound overly confident that you make the employer feel like the internship would be pointless for you! Ex. If you say you want to be the President of the Unites States and you will get there in X amount of years by doing X, X, and X, it is awesome, but how does the internship you are applying for play into the plan for you and what are you going to get out if this experience to take with you to your dream career.
4. Most importantly, be honest! Chances are the hiring manager cares more about HOW you answer the question (are you calm, collected, thoughtful) versus where you actually want to be in 5 years. Now go get that dream job or internship!
Watch a full video on this topic and more on our YouTube channel and be sure to subscribe for new videos every other Wednesday!
