“What would you like to do for the company” “Where do you see yourself in 5 years” are very popular open-ended questions that interviewers often ask during the HR rounds.
In this blog, we discuss what ambitions are, why an interviewer may want to know about them and hacks for answering such questions with examples.
What are career ambitions?
Ambition is a strong desire to attain multiple milestones with immense hard work consistency and dedication. During an interview, your ambitions and goals must focus on and match the company’s principles, values and goals.
An example of someone who has the goal to become a leading Product Marketing Manager aims for more productivity, efficiency, and collaboration to generate more sales and revenue for the company.
Ambitions lay the foundation of your career and a well-laid-out roadmap launches you to the peak of it.
Why do interviewers want to know about your career goals?
Having well-defined career goals is indicative of how a professional is well grounded and has crystal clear clarity about the contributions he is going to make in the organization. Interviewers ask this question because it can highlight:
- how widely you could benefit the company
- how precisely your professional goals match with company’s vision
- what drives you to excel at your work
- how immensely are you willing to contribute in your role
Frequently asked career-related questions you may encounter in an interview
- How would you like to contribute in this role?
- Why do you think you are suited for this role?
- If we hire you for this job, what are your plans for the future?
- Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
- How can this company help you in attaining your career goals?
- What unique contributions would you like to make in this role?
- What are your short and long-term goals?
Below are a few example answers to these questions for different job roles:
Intern says
“As I am going to graduate in marketing next year I would love to start working as a marketing and sales professional in your company. Apart from assisting the sales team, I hope to improve my communication and speaking skills and contribute to my best possible potential.”
Fresher answers
“As I’ve just completed my MBA in marketing my immediate goal is to develop my marketing and communication skills to help your brand to evolve bigger. Additionally, I see myself contributing to the company’s success by using innovative marketing strategies and emerge as a leader in the industry.”
Manager shares a vision
“As an experienced marketer, one of my biggest goals was to become a marketing manager and I look forward to mentoring large teams and helping other reputed companies increase their marketing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). My key competencies lie in coaching, developing, and leading marketing teams. I am determined to scale the vision of the company to a greater height”
Senior Professional creates a roadmap
“With deep knowledge and expertise in the domain I’ve gained over two decades this job would provide me with an opportunity to achieve my motto of leading various projects and heading the Product domain to successfully create a roadmap for the company to envision it growing by leaps and bounds. If I succeed, I am sure to deliver as an extremely conscientious leader.”
Hacks to answer such questions:
Showcase how short-term goals can transition into a long-term engagement
It is best to share information about one dominating ambition as a short-term goal could be to engage productively in the work environment, and evolving and adding value to the job role could be a long-term goal.
Share a well thought out action plan
Listing your key professional plans and having a well-defined structured vision board career showcases proactive thinking. It also demonstrates your ability and detailing which any company envisions in their employees.
Align your professional ambitions with the bigger vision
Empathize and exhibit intelligence as to how you can navigate the company to the next level of expansion. Always remain humble while proposing new objectives.
