The Flexible Five-Year Plan
One of my least favorite interview questions is “where do you see yourself in five years?” While I get that it’s important to have long-term goals (which I recommend everyone has), career journeys don’t have to be linear or stick to one field. Popular fields today may not have existed or been nearly as prevalent when you started your career.
At the beginning of this year, who would have thought entire industries would be devastated causing many to rethink their chosen careers? While pivoting and change can be uncomfortable, leaving room for flexibility makes it much easier to adapt.
When I got my first job as an IT auditor at a public accounting firm, my five-year plan was to climb the ranks to Manager and figure out my path to partner. Just two years after starting there, I was already on to my next role where I left IT audit behind (most likely for good). I’ve had several pivots since starting my career that I never could have planned for, and I’m glad I didn’t.
I was always the kid who didn’t know what they wanted to be when they grew up. Even now that I’m (allegedly) a grown-up, I still couldn’t tell you a specific job that I want for the rest of my life. Instead, I’ve learned to focus on what I really like and don’t like about different aspects of jobs I’ve had, company cultures, the types of people I’ve worked with. This allows me to consider future opportunities that aren’t traditionally on the career path of my current role.
Designing a Flexible Five-Year Plan
Some questions you can ask yourself to help figure out “who” and not “what” you want to be:
What are your values?
What do you love or like to do? Do you like what you do now?
What are you good at or what would you like to be good at? Can you realistically develop the skills you want to be good at?
What types of experiences do you want to have?
What kind of impact do you want to have?
Do you want your job to be your identity?
Are you okay with your job not being your identity but a means to allow you to help others financially?
You’re probably wondering, “if I adopt a flexible five year plan, how should I answer the 5 year question - both for myself and interviewers?” You can answer the question for yourself by answering the questions above. You can answer the question for potential employers by talking about the skills you hope to grow or gain and experiences you would like to have. Using Internal Audit as an example, this could be specific like “I want to be an Audit Director” or it could be more general like “I would like to be in a role that has direct reports, budget responsibility, and allows me opportunities to develop my speaking skills.”
By figuring out what you really want from your career and embracing flexibility, you can chart your own course and optimize your journey.
