How to answer career plan question?
I am a consultant who is interviewing for corporate strategy role at tech.
When I was asked about career planning, I said I want to be at corporate in tech for the long term as I like the content (I have interned at corporate strategy at tech and did one product strategy project for tech firm at tech.)
The interviewer didn't seem like happy.
How to answer this question?
Hello!
I think this is less about the actual answer you give, and more about how you justify that answer. Generally speaking ,the interviewers are looking to assess the following factors:
1) Do you fit the role and does the role fit you, in light of your overall career plan? They are not looking to hire people who will leave within a year or who just look at the role as a stepping stone to some other position. But they also want to make sure that the role is right for you, in light of the skills you want to develop and the general direction you are headed in. You mentioned you want to be involved in tech in the long term, but tech is a pretty broad field, so it is hard to discuss how this applies in your case without getting more details about your personal aspirations and about the job.
2) Do you have a realistic understanding of what the role involves, and what skills you will be able to develop? In other words, are you someone who has a good understanding of the role and what you can bring to it? Again, you mentioned you have some experience interning and doing a project in corporate tech, so it seems like you have some useful background here, but again it is hard to assess your specific case without more detail.
3) Do you show passion and excitement about some particular mission or vision in the role? Companies want to hire people who are passionate and excited about what they are doing. What is it in particular you like about working in tech - are you excited to bring new products into the world? Innovate and disrupt some particular subfield? Are you passionate about subfield X because of some personal experience you've had? This tends to get reflected in the career plan, and is a great opportunity to let the company get to know you better as a person.
So I would definitely agree that the “right” answer is personal and unique to you - there is no cookie-cutter answer they are looking for, and you should just be honest. But the devil is in the details - how are you going to use this question to show them that you know what you're signing up for, that you're a great fit for the job and the job is a great fit for you, and that you are excited and passionate about things that the job can help you work on.
Feel free to message me to discuss your case in more detail if helpful, or book a consultation to workshop a great answer!
Dig a little deeper to answer this for yourself. I dont think anyone can plan long-term these days, so its okay to have clarity for the next 2-3 yrs and be a bit vague/flexible for 5 yrs+ in terms of career plan.
There can be following options:
Make sure when you answer this you can provide evidence (education, work experience, projects, networking etc) as to what you want to do i.e. the dots must connect and your career plan doesnt seem like a random wish.
Have a look at this article as well for some ideas you can borrow: https://www.preplounge.com/en/how-do-i-know-which-career-is-right-for-me
Honestly.
You should answer this question honestly!
Of course, this comes with the caveat that it should be relevant and that the current role fits into that plan.
In terms of your answer, I think it's fine, but you need to dig a bit deeper! What does “corporate in tech for the long term” really mean? What will your role be? What will you be doing?
Essentially…what excites you about the future!
Hi, the best answer does not exist and it's personal. I think your point is more than valid, all the quality of the response depends on how you support it in comparison with your experiences and your goals, both in terms of content and emotions
Best,
Antonello
What is an "MBA professor for consulting interviews"? It's not a level of professorship I have ever heard of...
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