Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

[susan silva]

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? same job? same job more responsibility? moving on to other things?

[Cathy S]

Self-employed or Consultancy basis working from home.  Reduced working hours - enough to pay the bills.  Increased 'Life' time - doing the things I want to do.

I have been working towards this goal for 15 years so its quite an easy one for me to answer.

Cathy

[msmarieh]

I will be quite stunned if I am in the same job. LOL 

I'm definitely not even sure at this point that I will be at the same company.

[gee4]

Sorry Susan, but I always think this is a stupid question - haven't we had this before?

Five years ago I was in a job I really liked, socalised with people I thought were friends and my father and grandmother were still alive.

I've moved house twice, been made redundant twice and had several family bereavements.

I am thankful to be in full-time employment, enjoying what I do.  These days it's hard to pick anc choose.  I am also thankful I have my health and strength allowing me to work.

In 5 years time, I hope to be employed with the same company and I still hope to have my health and strength and be able to go on holiday.

[rose.winter1980]

I remember being asked this very question in interviews. 

As I'm about to start on a new career, in five years time I intend to be a qualified, bona fide, solicitor (sooner, actually, when my training contract is completed).  I want to be settled into a good company where I can do my very best for clients. 

I hope a couple of our children will be in university by then, and in general our family will be in good health and flourishing. 

My career path has been rather unusual, but I think we all need goals and aims.  The goals don't have to be work-related, though.  The most important things to me are my family, friendships, my interests and my garden.   Life, as Gee has so rightly pointed out, can throw all sorts of things at you, so the best thing is to have to those goals in view but to live in the moment. 

[susan silva]

From my search before I typed it, we have not had this question. It could be in admin 4 admins by someone, it is a common question. Personally I dont think it is ever wrong to stop and take a minute to really think about where you are going or want to go in the future.

[Jackie G]

I think it's still a pretty standard interview question, and no harm to air it here.

[rose.winter1980]

Yes it's Saturday; no I'm not short of things to do.  We are having our company AGM today, so I'm stepping in here to have a little respite before the fun begins later this morning!

When I started out in admin work, I received a lot of good advice from a manager. 

Among the advice was:

always keep your skills up-to-date
Invest in your own training: companies don't always allocate funds for admin training
Take advantage of every opportunity presented to you
Have a plan for career progression and for anything else you would like to do (a timeline is a good management tool to use here)
And last, but not least: what you do outside work is as important as what you do inside work

[Cathy S]

That's good advice Rose and certainly works for me.  Enjoy your AGM

Cathy

[peaches2160]

Good qiestion.  Hard to predict exactly what will happen in 5 years time. 

I too was given advice from a previous boss I highly respect, who taught me change is a constant and guarantee in life and career.  Manage change.  Keep your skillset up to date and take advantage of new roles you find yourself in to learn and expand your knowledge and skillset.  Fortunately, I have headed this advice and have a well rounded skillset that has served me well.  With changes on the forefront in the next few months, I do not know at this time where I will land.  However, I continue to bring value to the role I am assigned, and strive to have a positive impact wherever the road takes me.  He also told me you choose your your road.  You can sit back, complain and be miserable (making those around you miserable as well) or choose not to be sucked into the negative and turn them into positives by taking the high road and seeing new opportunities to learn and think out of the box.  I have always chosen the high road and tend to surround myself with positive people who in turn feed a positive environment.  We would all be rich if we had the ability to see into the future.  However, we don't.  So take advantage of the challenges and opportunities that are presented to us each day and make a positive impact since tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone.  Now, as I say to myself on a periodic, Take on the Day!  The glass is still half full, not half empty.

[gee4]

He also told me you choose your road.

No matter how many times we think we are in control and making the decisions, our life is already mapped out and destined.  Even if we veer off that path, something or someone brings us back.

You can plan and plan all you like but we will end up where we are supposed to.

I too have a well rounded skillset that has served me very well, however in difficult times jobs are not always easy to come by so you take offers where they are made and do what you can to keep it secure.

Every time someone asks me where I will be in 5 years time, it is never where I thought I would be.  How many times have each of us planned our day, only for our boss to come into the office and completely turn it upside down?

[jennika]

That is very true, we are rarely where we think we could be if you think back 5 years ago. But if I had not thought about where I wanted to be, I would not be where I am now even though it isn't where I thought I would be! :-) (that makes total sense to me, maybe not others  ) To try and make some sense of that, a couple of years ago I sat down and thought, what do I want to do in 5, 10, 20 year (20 years retirement!)?  I wanted to work in a c-level position within 5 years, so I made a plan on what I could do to help me get there. If  I didnt sit down and really think about it, I never would have taken the steps to improve myself.   BUT I was offered a really fun marketing/events job that I love.  So, no I am not where I wanted to be, but if I didn't think about it from time to time I wouldn't be where I am at now.

As for the next 5 years, I haven't thought about it.   I guess I should, even if it is within this company/department. It is easy not to think about the future when you are currently happy and content.

[Cathy S]

As for the next 5 years, I haven't thought about it.   I guess I should, even if it is within this company/department. It is easy not to think about the future when you are currently happy and content.

I actually find that is the best time to look ahead and set goals ... when I am happy and content I am positive in the goals I set and more likely to stick with them. 

If I am down my focus is missing ... I am concentrating on getting away from a negative situation rather than arriving at a positive one.

[msmarieh]

I think life is a combination of fate and control.

I can think of few things more depressing than the thought that my life is entirely mapped out and preordained and I am just floating along like flotsam and jetsam on the water's tide and no matter what I do I shall never have an impact on my future. This doesn't make sense to me because obviously there are steps we can take that change our lives. So I don't believe we have 0% control of our future.

On the other hand, there are certainly areas that are beyond our control and no matter what you do, you may not be able to change what happens (i.e. a massive brain hemorrage while out camping in the middle of nowhere, a toilet dropping out of a passing jet crashing through your roof and crushing you in bed as you sleep).  So I don't believe we will ever have full 100% control of our future either.

But I think we can most certainly guide our future by thinking about where we want to go and making consecutive choices along the way that follow that path. I am not going to magically become a doctor in five years as my destiny unless I make it my destiny by returning to school.

I prefer to retain hope that I can influence my own destiny.

That said, I still have no idea where I will be in five years.

[chikky]

In 5-years, I would like to be alive, healthy, and gainfully employed.  I agree with the "theme" of this thread, that you can not control the future, but  plan for it what ever it is that you want!