When you are interviewing you will be asked about your future and what your plans are. This is a tool that selecting officials use to see where you plan on “being” in a determined amount of time.
You will be asked: What are your long-term goals? What are your long-term career objectives? This is not an opportunity for you to “spill your guts” keep it professional and stay focused. Think about this question before you interview, you shouldn’t take more than 5 – 7 minutes. Talk about your professional goals and what educational aspirations you have. DON’T talk about your personal life or what personal projects you are working on.
Selecting officials want to know: How do you plan to achieve your career goals? They don’t want details, this is a rhetorical question that is meant for them to see if you know how to lay out goals and patterns on how to achieve goals. This is actually a tactic to see how you focus on objects and how you plan to achieve objects. Again, keep it professional not personal – stay focused.
The final future plan questions the selecting official will ask: What do you see yourself doing in five years from now? and What plans do you have for continuing your education? These questions help selecting officials to determine what kind of professional “drive” and motivation you actually have. It is my personal advice to answer all interview questions, keep in mind you can “respectfully” decline to answer any interview questions that you don’t feel comfortable asking. If you don’t plan on continuing your education or haven’t thought about what your goals are for the next five years, it’s okay – use your imagination and stay focused on the professional conversation.
Dr. Jaye