Where Do You See Yourself in Ten Years?

Vince had reached well in time for his interview at this Financial Advisory firm. As he sat on the sofas by the reception desk, waiting to be ushered in, he reminded himself of all the good advice he had received regarding interviews, of all the things he had learnt one should and shouldn’t say at such interviews.

An hour later, he found himself dumbfounded when asked one simple question. Hell, he had prepared so hard, how could this be. It wasn’t even a hard a question. Maybe that’s why? It was too simple and straightforward, yet he couldn’t give a clear answer. The question was:‘Where do you see yourself in ten years?What Vince really wanted to say was ‘I don’t know, I don’t have a plan.’ Instead, obviously, he mumbled something about being at the top of the ranks in the world of Financial Consulting.

He later messaged me, telling me what happened in the interview, and asking me the same question that he was asked. He strongly felt that this was an answer that he needed to know for himself.

I tried to give him my answer to that question, but couldn’t, because like him, I too didn’t have one.

Well, I could tell you that I want to have a nice place to live, or that I want to be physically fit, financially stable, and have meaningful relationships. But these are things most people want and are very vague. The answer my friend was (is?) looking for is more specific to career paths.

So where do I see myself in ten years? I don’t know. I don’t have a concrete plan. And that’s okay. I could make a plan. But I know for a fact that I won’t stick to it. And I shouldn’t stick to it. Because the world is changing. Opportunities are changing. I am also changing.

The things my 16 year old self wanted to achieve by the time he was 21, are different from the things I have done and achieved by now- because along the way my priorities changed, my dreams changed. And they will over the next few years too.

I’m not necessarily saying that one shouldn’t have a long term plan- some people should, some need to, especially those looking to build careers in fields like scientific research or medicine. But for all the Vince(s) out there who are straight out of college looking for jobs:It is okay if you don’t have a plan for where you want to be in ten years. Martin Casado, the legendary computer scientist and entrepreneur, in his commencement address at North Arizona University, said:

“When I was standing where you are, I wanted to be the world’s best computational physicist,” Casado told the crowd. “And soon after, I wanted to be the world’s foremost cyber-policy expert. But instead, I went to grad school, and then I wanted to be the world’s best academic. And I certainly didn’t accomplish that.”

He went on to say..

“You’re unlikely to achieve your goals. The reason is that you probably don’t realize how many amazing opportunities are out there and how much you’ll enjoy them. You are unlikely to achieve your goals, because a better one is likely to smack you while you’re looking the other way, and you’d be an idiot not to follow it.

“So my guidance to you is as much as you work toward your goals, take some fraction of that effort and work on being open to change and to opportunity.”

If you liked reading this post, do comment below. This will encourage me to write more 🙂