‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?’

This question has often been used to try to understand someone’s ambition, preparedness, commitment to the company and understanding of the business.

In today’s fast paced world that is ever-changing with the use of AI, changes in workplace structures and employees seeking different types of working environments, 5 years’ time will look and feel very different from now.

I think that we need to look at our futures through a different lens. It is of course, great to have your sights set on a job type, position or opportunity, but what if that opportunity no longer exists in 5 years? what if your own circumstances change over the next 5 years which means you need to re-consider what your career is for you?

If we also take into account that you may not know how you want things to look in five years, how do we approach looking at our future career prospects to give us comfort in that we are aiming for something whilst not being de-railed if things change?

Instead of ‘Where do I see myself in 5 years?’ (Or ten!), why don’t we re-frame this and ask ourselves: ‘What do I see myself doing next?’

The next step is equally, if not more, important to your career as the vision of your career years into the future.

Here are 5 key things to consider when thinking about your future career:

1) Look at your season of life. You may have other pulls on your energy and time. It is absolutely ok to be working step by step in your current role if that is providing you with everything you need for now.

2) 5 years is a long time in today’s fast moving world. Look at the next year. Then break that down even further. Is there a meeting you want to attend next week?, is there a training course you want to attend next month? look at the immediate future to see what you can add / take away to make your working life work for you.

3) Forget about what you should be doing. What do you want to do next? what interests you about your job? where can those interests take you? what frustrates you? is that frustration born out of lack of knowledge or the environment you are in? what can you do NEXT to address these things?

4) Don’t be scared of perceived sideways moves. These can be great in giving you a fresh perspective and may give you some needed headspace to see what your next step might look like.

5) Take a look back at your career. What have you achieved? what worked for you to achieve those goals? The line is likely to be wiggly rather than smooth! Make a note of these and apply any lessons to the next steps.

When you reach your 5 year point, it is quite likely it will look very different from what you thought, but every small step you have taken has got you there!

If you are looking at your future and where you want to be going and want some help to explore this, please get in touch!

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