Careful with this one…it is a trap and I have seen many job seekers stumble on this one and then never get called back for a second interview. Here is the danger…you are interviewing for a role of today, so the employer wants you to have focus on the ‘job of today’, yet now they are asking you about the future, so you may get ahead of yourself and start sharing with them your dreams, goals and aspirations. Well, many times you end up revealing way too much information and many times it scares the employer away. What if they can’t deliver? What if you are disappointed? What if what you mentioned had nothing to do with the job of today? They may think that this is just a stepping stone for you (and it may very well be), but that is something they do NOT need to know. These types of questions have to be answered in a very generic manner, with focus always going back to the “job of today” – the job for which you are currently interviewing.

Your answer can state something like this, “Five or ten years from today is a long time, but at the same time I know that it can go by quickly. The most important requirement that I have is that I join a firm that I can still be within five or ten years, which is why I am here today. I hope to continue to grow, develop within the department and team, and move forward within my responsibilities, taking on more escalated issues and projects as time progresses. I am not concerned about job titles; I am more interested in being with the same company, just in a more advanced role.”

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