We seek to hire individuals who have ambitions of growing their career. Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?

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As an organization with over 400,000 employees in varying realms of the health insurance and healthcare technology spectrum, UnitedHealth Group prides itself on growing its workforce from within. Every hiring manager within the organization would like to know that their investment of time and training will pay off. First, you want to assure the interviewer that you see this position as a long-term fit with your skills and career goals. But, you don't want to sell yourself short, so be sure to find that balance of showing you have the ambition to grow yourself into a long-term career with UnitedHealth Group by talking about your realistic career goals.

"This is a great question and I appreciate you asking! Joining UnitedHealth Group in a field role is certainly an exciting opportunity for me to continue growing my career as an RN. In the coming years upon joining your team, I would hope to step in and become competent in developing individualized care plans and care management for the members I will be working with. After I've proven myself here, you can see that I've helped clinical preceptor roles and training duties, and would love to continue to help grow and develop UHG's field care team in the future. Are you able to talk more about these types of opportunities with your team?"

Anonymous Answer

"I always believe in giving back to my community and organizations. I see myself in a senior position in the firm mentoring new hires in the early days of their career and educating them about best practices. I think it is very important to show new professionals the right direction early in the careers."

Rachelle's Feedback

It's so nice that you want to focus your career on mentoring and directing others. Your answer shows great dedication to your industry and craft!

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Anonymous Answer

"The one thing I love about UnitedHealth Group is that it cares about and promotes the growth of its employees. In 3-5 years I would like to learn this role completely while contributing ideas to improve efficiencies. I would like to be grounded in this company and utilize my passion for the healthcare industry to show others what a great company UnitedHealth Group is to work for."

Cindy's Feedback

Very good! This will appeal to an employer who wants to see good employees stay with the company long-term and grow. More detail would be helpful. What is your career path and how can UnitedHealth Group satisfy it? This will be important in assessing fit.

Anonymous Answer

"Successfully perform new positions/promotions offered to me by UnitedHealth Group based on my performance with the preceding position."

Kevin's Feedback

Expressing a desire to keep progressing your career at UnitedHealth Group with intentions towards loyalty is a good start. However, go deeper by detailing a focussed career goal(s) that fall within specific positions you’re aspiring towards within their company. This serves to communicate ambition, a big-picture focus, and how you working with them could be mutually beneficial.

"“Ideally, I would like to learn everything I could to complement our existing teams and innovate improvements on our current systems and processes. I’d like to evolve in my contributions with the company, mentor new additions to our teams, and eventually accrue more responsibilities over time which would hopefully result in my gaining a supervisory or leadership role where I can further enhance and foster a collaborative work culture. From there I would hope to identify any future career advancements within the company that fall in life with my five-year career goals.”"

Anonymous Answer

"First, I want to handle the customer service aspect of the job I am applying for. But in 3-5 years, I see myself growing with this company as an RN as I am currently enrolled in a nursing program. One thing that I love about this company is that you genuinely care about the growth of your employees, which makes me even more motivated to learn. I see this as a long-term career if I am given the opportunity to utilize my passion for healthcare to show others what a great company UHG is to work for!"

Kevin's Feedback

Terrific start! Strengthen your answer further by telling the interviewer about the skills you want to hone in the role you're applying to. Then, share when you anticipate completing your RN program before moving on to talk about a specific position/job title you see yourself growing into over the next 3-5 years and why that particular position appeals to you. Clarify whether this is a growth opportunity within the company.

"I am currently enrolled in a nursing program. As I’ve mapped out in my 5 year career plan, I am aiming to graduate from this program and be an RN within the next 3-5 years. Since I have a lot of customer service experience, I wanted to apply those skills towards furthering my career in my field, by gaining any and all the behind-the-scenes skills I can accumulate towards my career goals. What attracted me to applying for this position is that United Healthcare, is that the company really seems to care about the growth of their employees. To me, this exhibits integrity and a willingness to invest in their employees, creating opportunities to grow together. I’d have no intentions of leaving this position over the next 3 to 5 years, but was looking forward to asking in this interview if there are growth opportunities from within. Would it be possible to further my career as an RN in a long-term career with UHG? Are there such positions available in the company, and how hard is it to move from this position to that one?"

Anonymous Answer

"In 3-5 years I see myself in a leadership position mentoring others to help reach their career goals."

Marcie's Feedback

Nice! Why is this your goal? Have you had any leadership experiences to date that you really enjoyed? Have you discovered that you like to mentor others? If so, talk about these instances so the interviewer understands why this is your career ambition. Good job!

Anonymous Answer

"I'm extremely motivated to fulfill both my own and the company's objectives, and I believe that this stability will enable me to do so as I progress in this position. I picture myself as a supervisor or manager in five years, when I'll be able to use my abilities to help and influence others."

Amanda's Feedback

Employers often ask this question to gain a clearer insight into your future goals and how those goals match up with the position you're applying for. You may not know exactly where you see yourself in 5 years; however, you don't have to name a particular role you want to be in. It could be as simple as naming skills you want to gain, the path you see yourself taking to becoming a respected manager (Is there another role you need to advance to first?), or naming a particular committee or project you'd like to work on, or talking about any additional training or certifications you'd like to earn that would help further your career. Where possible, draw connections between your career goals and the skills or traits required by the job description for the role you're applying to.

Anonymous Answer

"In 3-5 years, I would like to see myself progress and charter a path to a leadership role after having fully grounded myself in the organization. I am highly motivated on paving a long-term career with UnitedHealth Group, and can definitely see myself learning and growing into a manager-level role here. I also believe in giving back to the community and organization, I would like to see myself in a senior role to mentor new hires, especially female professionals, educate them about best practices, build up confidence, and find a voice. I believe it is very important to show new professionals the right direction early in their careers."

Marcie's Feedback

Excellent! Your answer is strong. It shows that you are ambitious, motivated, and caring. The interviewer will undoubtedly be happy to hear that you're looking for a long-term position and that you want to one day manage and lead others, in addition to giving back to others. Great job!

Anonymous Answer

"In three to five years I see myself having grown in responsibility and ownership as I have learned more about the company and industry. I am excited about the opportunities that are available at such a large company that is also clearly committed to the development of its employees."

Marcie's Feedback

Great! Is there a particular role you aspire to reach in a few years? If so, don't hesitate to provide specifics, which will impress the interviewer. Also, what kinds of responsibilities do you hope to gain? Managing others? The more details you can provide, the better!