Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line? What is the reason for this question in any HR interview?

if you are interviewing for a Team Lead position today, say “I would be handling higher responsibilities for the company say at a senior managerial level”.

The reason why HR asks this question in most interviews is to check the candidate’s positive / negative outlook for the future, ambition levels, is it realistic, is the candidate growth-oriented, etc.

The candidate must always sound positive about future, personal career growth and tie it up with the growth of the organization he is going to work for and be realistic and relevant about what he/she says where they want to be in 5 years time.

Don’t go off topic or overboard with personal fancies like “in 5 years I want to be the next Steve Jobs / Primer Minister” type response as they would do no good to you in the interview table.

For example, if you are interviewing for a Team Lead position today, say “I would be handling higher responsibilities for the company say at a senior managerial level”. Avoid saying stuff like I would replace my boss, I’d be the VP in my department or sound negative “I don’t know, may be I’d be in the same position as today”.

The intent of the question is to gauge the candidate’s drive, ambition levels and optimism. Seemingly innocuous questions as these are not really dumb as they appear to be…it’s quite loaded and a lot can be gleaned by the HR from the candidate’s answer.