How to Answer “What Are Your Career Goals” in Interview?

In an interview, you’ll frequently hear, “What are your career goals?” And you need to be ready with a response since hiring managers ALWAYS favour candidates who can demonstrate that they are goal-oriented and have long-term professional aspirations. Discovering your career goals will be asked during an interview for another reason—it demonstrates your drive. You’ll probably have more considerable incentives to succeed if your aims align with those of the position and the business. You wouldn’t just be there for the money. Instead, the business will have a significant impact on both your personal and professional development. Here, we are going to learn what to answer on what are your career goals with examples.

What are Career Goals?

A career objective is a clear description of the ultimate position you hope to hold throughout your career. A defined career goal, as long as it’s attainable, enables you to create an action plan or personal development plan, that you may use to work towards realizing your professional aspirations.

Why It’s Important to Set Career Goals and Why Do Interviewers Care?

First, your career goal should benefit you personally, regardless of whether you land the job. A clear career objective can help you stay focused and prevent you from falling into a rut where every day is the same, and you lose sight of why you are working so hard in the first place. It provides you with a goal, instructions, and opportunities to advance.

Returning to the interviewer and the purpose of the question, Your response informs them of two things:

1. How long do you intend to work there? 
2. What drives you to work?

Every interviewer is looking for the right answer about why you want to work for them. Therefore they will ask you outright. But unlike the interview question “Why do you want to work for us?” this one reveals something to them. They can determine whether you will be a long-term or short-term employee based on your career ambition.  

Tips to Keep in Mind while Answering “What are Your Career Goals?”

If you face difficulty in answering “What are your career goals” then there is no need to worry. We are here to help you and provided you with tips to answer these questions easily. So let’s get started and take a deeper look at how one should work in the correct direction. 

1. Set Your Career Aspirations  

Think about the goals you have for your career over the next five years. Alternatively, where do you see yourself five years from now? With the help of this practice, you can create a strategy and a clear path that will help you achieve your goals within a set time frame.

2. Research the Business and the Job You are Applying For 

Your answer to this query should show how your long-term career objectives coincide with the expansion of your organization and the opportunities the position offers.

3. Set Short-Term Goals First, Followed by Long-Term Ones 

Before addressing your long-term objectives, consider briefly highlighting your short-term objectives, such as getting the job you’re now interviewing for. But now is the ideal time to set your job goals if you are still deciding.

4. Give Solutions that are Employer-Focused

Even though this question is about you, you want to clarify that you are driven to succeed and unlikely to leave the organization very soon. Focus on how achieving your goals will help the firm benefit from your accomplishments, abilities, and expertise.

5. Avoid Talking About Wage Expectations

Don’t mention compensation, bonuses, or other benefits while discussing your objectives; concentrate on the task you hope to complete. It’s acceptable to offer a pay range, but be careful not to restrict yourself at this stage of the hiring process. Additionally, avoid being overly detailed when discussing the pay range.

6. Demonstrate Your Cultural Fit 

Recruiters seek candidates that can fit into their culture with ease. Therefore, your career objective should show that you fit in with the team’s culture. The ideal strategy here is to demonstrate how well you’ll fit in with the workplace by highlighting your personality and working style.

What Are Your Career Goals – How to Respond?

Saying “I’m not sure” or “I haven’t thought about that” is not an intelligent choice because you always want to come across as goal-oriented. The hiring managers won’t be impressed by that. However, you must also ensure that the professional objectives you specify align with the position you have applied for.

Now that you know how to respond to interview questions on your career aspirations, let’s look at some word-for-word examples of responses. Here is an illustration of an entry-level candidate. Have a look at the given examples for a better understanding.

Example 1: Answer for Entry-Level Question

I recently received my bachelor’s degree in finance and am eager to start working in the field. My longer-term objectives are to gain knowledge in various financial topics and work towards determining which area of expertise I want to pursue. In the long term, I’d like to specialize in a certain area of finance, but the first step is to lay a strong foundation and pick up the fundamentals at an entry-level position. I noticed that this work provides exposure to various fields, which I found appealing.

#Notice: You’ll see that this sample response concludes with a sentence describing your interest in the person’s particular line of work. You can utilize this excellent strategy with several interview answers. After responding to their query, put the spotlight back on their position and your motivation for applying. Many job seekers don’t take this action. With this strategy, you’ll stand out and assure them that you’ll enjoy working for them.

Example 2: Mid-Level Response to Professionals

For many years, I wanted to work as a manager. That’s what I did last year. As I look towards the future of my profession, I want to grow and manage bigger teams and keep developing as a leader. Even more, than I enjoyed working as an individual contributor earlier in my career, I’ve discovered that I genuinely appreciate mentoring and leading a team. I knew I should apply when I noticed that your job description allows me to choose and manage a group of five.

#Notice: Thus, this is how this model responds to the question “What are your career goals?” and goes beyond merely providing a straightforward response. You begin by highlighting a prior accomplishment, responding to the inquiry, and finally, discussing what you observed in their job that excited you. You should use this formula when responding to this question as a mid-level or senior-level job candidate.

Example 03: Senior/Executive-Level Response

My current professional objective is to join a Fortune 500 organization using the leadership and management skills I’ve developed over the past 12 years. I believe that this would be a fresh challenge and, at the same time, highlight my strengths. I’ve performed best in positions requiring me to lead cross-functional teams across many divisions, and working for a Fortune 500 company will provide me more exposure to this. I saw that this is a component of your role in your job description. Can you elaborate on that for me?

#Notice: Make the interview more conversational by concluding your job interview response with a question posed back to the recruiting manager. Instead of simply responding to a question and then waiting for the next, try to do this at least a few times. This can significantly alter how your interview flows and how self-assured you are.  

Conclusion

It’s not difficult to come up with a brilliant response to the question, “What are your career goals?” but it does involve some introspection into your ideal working environment. The preparation should be simple for someone who has done this before. If not, you should think about where you want your career to go.

You’ll be able to ensure that your work life is going in the direction you desire while also making it simpler for you to respond to this interview question. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

1. What is your career goals best answer interview?

The best way to answer to “What are your career goals” should be to explain your vision honestly regarding the leadership, decision making ability, etc. For Example: I want to see myself at a position from where I could take or suggest valuable business decisions.

2. What are good career goals?

Below are some of the possible way to justify to good career goals:

• Improve Performace
• Get a suitable career
• Get relevant certifications
• Start saving money from early stage
• Get appraisals & earn good position
• Be an active listener
• Always be open for feedback
• Hunger for learning should never be stopped, etc.

3. How to answer “Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?”

The best way to answer this question ” Where do you see yourself in next 5 years?” can goes like this, “I see myself at a place from where I could take crucial business decisions. I also would like to get leadership quality from my seniors so that I can become a good leader within this organization.”