Where do you see your security career taking you in the next five years?

Why the Interviewer Asks This Question
Focus Your Answer On
What to Avoid
Entry Level Example
Answer Example

Thinking about your plans as a Security Manager and beyond, decide where you want to see your career grow over the next five years. The interviewer wants to know about your career desires and how this position will help you reach these goals.

Perhaps you want to expand your education, or maybe you have a specific job title that you'd like to earn down the road. Regardless of your goals, be sure to express a desire to remain with this employer for the long term while enjoying career growth, big or small!

Companies pay a lot of money to advertise a job opening, interview candidates, and hire and train employees. The interviewer wants to hear that you see yourself with their organization in five years. Focus on assuring the interviewer that you have professional goals that include working for their company.

If you want to be offered a job, avoid telling the interviewer that you see yourself with another company or want to branch off on your own in the next five years. If the interviewer feels that you will be a short-term employee, they may pass you over for another candidate who plans on staying longer.

"It is important to me to have a long-term career plan in place. However, since I am new to my career, I believe that I must also remain flexible. I'm working towards becoming a Security Director in the years to come. To get there, I'm going to have to prove that I can handle more responsibility, and I will need to expand my education in the field of security. I see this Security Manager role as an opportunity to do that because your company has a history of offering continued training and promoting from within. For now, my goal is to excel in this position. From here, I will earn my way into a larger role over the years."

"I have set my sights on a Security Management position with an agency like yours that is well-established and manages larger contracts. Over the next five years, I would like to lead larger teams of security professionals. I have led 5-15 people in the past, and I understand that your groups are as large as 25 people. I desire to grow my leadership skills and take continuing education courses to benefit myself, my employer, and the security professionals I train. These courses of interest include Business Management and Emergency Planning. Once I learn more about building emergency response plans for various industries, I would like to become a specialist on this topic. I see that your agency has higher-level openings for emergency response specialists, and promotion into that type of role would be fascinating for me."