Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?

"Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?": The Trap of an Archaic Question in a Drifting Job Market

At LeveliU, we dismantle the corporate myths that no longer serve anyone. Today, we’re tackling the question that triggers the most blank stares in interview rooms: "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?"

To a recruiter, it’s a filtering tool. To a candidate arriving after months of unemployment, with unpaid bills and shattered self-esteem, the question feels like a form of unintentional cruelty. But the issue runs deeper than financial context; it’s about an identity crisis we call a lack of career hygiene.

Why the question is, in fact, a "delusion alignment" test?

Recruiters seek predictability. In an ideal world, they want to hear that your life plan perfectly overlays their organizational chart. The reality? People respond from a wide spectrum of needs and strategies:
* The "Standard Corporate" Response: "I want to advance into a management position within this department." (Safe, predictable, but often hollow).
* The "Masked Survivor" Response: "I see myself providing consistent value and being an expert the team can rely on." (Translation: "I hope I still have a job and I'm no longer stressed about money.")
* The "Technocrat Diplomat" Response: "I will have mastered technologies X and Y and contributed to scaling internal processes."
* The "Entrepreneurial" Response (Risky): "I will learn everything possible about this business to eventually manage my own projects."
* The "Radical Sincerity" Response: "In such a volatile world, I see myself wherever my skills are fairly compensated and where I can sleep soundly at night."
* The "Lateral Growth" Response: "I don't care about titles; I want to be in a position where the complexity of my problems matches my increased intellectual capacity."

Lack of Career Hygiene: When you become a passenger in your own life

The biggest problem isn't the question itself, but the lack of presence in one's own career. Many candidates suffer from poor "professional hygiene"- they’ve let inertia make their decisions for them.
When you are "completely present in the life of the company" but absent from your own, you expose yourself to a major risk. You give your all to an ecosystem that, despite the HR smiles, can replace you tomorrow with a single click in an Excel sheet. If your long-term projection is merely a carbon copy of the company's goals, you don't have a career; you just have a lease on your time.

Expert Note: Career hygiene means having your own "Backlog." The company uses you for its goals; what are you using the company for? If the only benefit is the paycheck, you are in a position of extreme vulnerability.

Is the question legitimate when you’re "at rock bottom"?

Asking for 5-year projections from someone who doesn't know how they'll pay next month's rent is a display of structural lack of empathy. Under these conditions, the legitimacy of the question collapses under the weight of material reality.
However, as an expert, I tell you: Do not let momentary desperation cancel your right to a future. Even with debts, you must have a vision that belongs to you, not the employer. If you answer only to please the recruiter, you are handing over the narrative of your life to them.

Career Responsibility: Who does it actually belong to?

There is a dangerous confusion: the idea that the firm is supposed to "build" a career for you.
* The Company is responsible for the work environment and fair pay.
* You are solely responsible for your relevance in the market.

If you rely on the company to develop you, you are at the mercy of their training budgets, which can be cut at any time. A healthy career requires you to be "present" in your decisions, understanding that you are a service provider, not a member of a "family" that can disown you at the first restructuring.

Next time you’re asked where you see yourself in 5 years, don’t feel obligated to invent a corporate fairy tale if you’re in a tough spot. But don’t abandon yourself entirely to the employer’s needs either.

Answer yourself first: What does the version of me 5 years from now look like- the one that no longer depends on the mercy of an interview? That is the only projection that matters.