I won’t even begin to talk about where I think I’ll be in 5 years, other than to say, I have no idea. If you had asked me 5 years ago, where I thought I would be, I would have said that I would most likely still be working for the same company (I had a fabulous job) albeit in a different role.
5 years ago I was handling layoffs for a major pharmaceutical company. I worked 20 hours a week in a job share arrangement with a fabulous job share partner. The company was in the midst of an outsourcing, which was going to include a large portion our responsibilities, although we would definitely be retained. (My job share partner and I were geniuses, I tell you. Okay, we were very good at what we did and we had all sorts of mad skillz which made no one want to lose us. How do I know that? By the very fact that we were in a job share situation in the first place. Plus, part of our job was to review all HR increases and performance ratings. I knew where we stood.)
I was also blogging. Very regularly, it turns out. I started looking through my history and boy did I amuse myself back then. I was posting anonymously and I think it gave me a bit more confidence to say what I really thought. (Some of you are thinking, as if you don’t say it now? Well, I do, but now I use bullet points, which somehow softens the effect.)
Well, that outsourcing didn’t occur. We transferred (as a pair!) to the Labor and Employment Law department (best move, ever), and then we both had babies. Not at the same time. We wisely timed our pregnancies so the other one could cover during maternity leaves. (I told you, we were awesome employees.)
My perceived 5 year plan was humming along smoothly.
Then my husband got a job offer in Switzerland. In the same week a bigger pharma company swooped in and bought the company I worked for. (Trust me, it was a swoop and it was a huge shock for everyone except for the CEO and a couple of his buddies.) We took this as a further sign that now was the time for me to leave and move to Switzerland.
They have chocolate in Switzerland, you know. Also cheese. And this:
That’s a parade, not some sort of mob scene. Also they have this:
Which is also a parade, but doesn’t involve fire. Just candy and confetti. Lots of confetti. When you get home from this parade you are likely to have confetti in your underwear.
They also have this:
And this:
So, how could I say no? (You wouldn’t either. Trust me.) And off we went, and there went my 5 year plan out the window.
And so that’s why, if you ask me what I’ll be doing in 5 years, I’ll respond, “I don’t even know what continent I’ll be living on in 5 years!”
Which probably wouldn’t go over well in a job interview.
Aw, this post made me remember discovering your blog 5-ish years ago and devouring all your posts in the space of days. I love your CBS News stuff, but I admit that I miss your posts over here too!
There is a distinct difference between what I say over here vs what I say over there. I don’t mean to be, but I tend to be more formal.
I’m so glad you found me because then I found you. I refer all job seekers to your blog.
Love your final comment – it describes my life ! 5 years ago I was in Europe and now I’m in the Middle East…. The world is becoming smaller every day 🙂
I was commenting as ReceptionistChick, but decided to come out of my nest. 🙂
The “where do you see yourself in five years?” question is a tough one to answer in today’s economy. You can have a five-year plan and have it scuttled within a year of starting at a new company. Or, during a long-term job search, your priorities may totally change. As your post clearly illustrates, there is no way of knowing what will happen.
So what does a job seeker say when asked this question, especially now? I have little confidence in making any sort of plans anymore. :\
5 years ago I was a teacher’s aide at my children’s Catholic grade school. It kept me busy and in a little mad money (very little). 3 years I was hired part time to data entry in a pest control company (an industry I never saw myself working in) and 2.5 years ago I moved into an executive assistant/HR role. Today I am overworked, overwhelmed, reading your blog & Ask a Manager religiously, and loving every minute of it. Never could have predicted all this
5 years ago I was in my last semester at U of Miami, concurrently working nearly full-time at the local Alliance Française. Today, I live and work in France. In five years? I have a couple of ideas, related to psychometrics and/or actuarial science, but I’ll keep those under wraps. 🙂
Ha! Loved this post. My 5-year plan for years was to move across the lake to Chicago and do something awesome, hopefully involving music, animals, or something yet unforeseen.
Moved to Chicago . . . . couldn’t find work, came home, fell off my bicycle and knocked out a bunch of teeth, 3 years later am still dodging medical bills (teeth are EXPENSIVE!), the company I previously worked for for nearly 4 years was swallowed up in a corporate take-over, and I’m back to making minimum wage, drawing unemployment, and am taking the Greyhound bus to Maine in June to start a southbound thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.
So much for planning! But I’m trying to enjoy the ride. : )
I enjoyed this post too. How can any of us know what we will be doing in five years? I stopped trying to make a five year plan after living through 9/11. I would say only recently can I even make a one year plan. In some ways, I like not knowing what exactly is going to happen. I think embracing flexibility and learning to adapt are very important life skills.