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HI- How do you answer a question about where you see yourself in 10 years?
Overview of answers
In my experience of giving these interviews myself, and coaching applicants, I believe honesty has worked well. A lot of us don't know 10 years where we see ourselves 10 years down the line - so what i have seen work is that you tell the interviewer that you see your career has 5 year stints. And more importantly, you focus on skills vs actual job titles.
- The first 5 years - you would like to establish your foundation skills. Example - problem solving, working in a team, stakeholder management. Consulting gives you the perfect platform to acquire these.
- The next 5 years - you would like to go deep into your areas of interest and develop expertise. This is where your consulting stint really helps you by exposing you to diverse industries.
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Hi there,
Honestly, for this question you can be pretty honest!
Now, of course you should shy away from things that have nothing at all to do with strategy consulting (i.e. "I want to be hanging out on the beach" or "staying at home with my family" or "Back in university doing my PhD"). That being said, as long as it's ambitious and going into strategy consutling is a clear/logical pathway to this, that's a perfectly acceptable answer (for example, it could be CEO of a fortune 500 company, or leading an NGO in x etc. etc.)
Hi,
You should answer honestly. I guess there are two options:
- I would like to grow to the Partner specializing in industry X / Function Y
- For the next 5 years, I would like to stay in consulting growing my capabilities at indsutry X / function Y and expanding my network. Later, if I manage to build good relationships with the client - I might join the internal strategic / ops / abc roles
Best
Thanks Vlad - would you refer to being a partner in the company you are interviewing with ?
To be honest this question has become irrelevant in current times. Who knows whats going to happen in one year let alone 10! haha...but if it comes up in interviews, structure as follows:
- Short-term (2 years): be very open & adaptable, settle in role, learn about industry and business as much as possible quickly
- Mid-Term (3-5 years): take on more resonsibilities , become poeple manager, start building expertise in a function or industry, pursue more education & training (Masters/MBA) if needed
- Long-term (5 yrs+): established expert, ready to adapt, take some risks as a mid-senior/senior professional. Depending on career track and situations, venture into innovation, entrerprenurship or running a business area in a firm etc
The answer must be personal to you and come from a place of honesty and above strructure can help you personalise.
Thanks Adi- I agree it's irrelevant but useful to have a response in case you get asked
It's a little but tricky question. But you have to be honest while still telling them what they really want to know.
This question is designed to test you for the following:
- Do you have realistic expectations for your career?
- Are you ambitious?
- And does this particular position align with your growth and goals overall?
Does it make sense to you?
GB
Thanks Gaurav - makes complete sense. Would the response need to be consultancy related?
Hi,
Personally I always answer these type of questions with "I do not know" as I review my life year on year. However, I told them that in the end of my career I would want to be able to achieve XXX (e.g. Top executive in a fortune 500, etc). Everything I do in between will be toward that goal.
Bottom line is honesty with some logic will works well.
Best,
Iman
Thank you for the very helpful response