In this article
Before you start
This page belongs to the behavioral interview questions guide, which covers the other questions about you rather than about code.
Why interviewers ask this
The consequence of a bad answer is a mismatch the interviewer can see: your plan points somewhere the job cannot take you. Indeed's career guide says employers ask this kind of question "to gather insight into how well the job fits with your overall career goals" (updated June 2022).
For software engineers the question also checks whether you understand how an engineering career moves, from owning features to owning systems and beyond.
A weak answer is a title and a date, or a plan to leave. A strong answer shows growth that this role can supply. A Staff-level answer also shows you know the fork after senior.
Career goals from first principles
- Career ladder
- A career ladder is a company's ordered set of job levels, with the scope and expectations of each, that tells an engineer what the next step up looks like and how it differs from the current one.
- Dual-track ladder
- A dual-track ladder is a career ladder that splits above the senior level into a technical path of staff-level roles and a management path, so an engineer can advance without managing people.
In plain words
Think of a road trip. The interviewer is not asking for your final destination. They are asking whether the next town on your map is a town this road reaches. The analogy breaks in one place. On a road you cannot change the route. In a job you and your manager can adjust it as you learn what you enjoy.
In one precise sentence, the question asks which growth you want over the next few years, and whether this job and company can provide it.
Indeed calls this question an exception to the usual advice of answering as specifically as possible, and says it is reasonable to give general ideas instead of specific details.
Step 1: Pick a direction the role can offer
Choose a direction the role can supply. A direction is a kind of growth, such as owning a system end to end, designing larger features, or mentoring newer engineers. It is not a title.
Tech Interview Handbook says a typical ladder runs from Junior to Software Engineer, Senior, Staff, Senior Staff, Principal and Distinguished, and that names and boundaries vary by company. It lists senior influence as a team and staff influence as a large team or an area of neighboring teams. Senior work is leading complex technical projects and mentoring junior engineers; staff work is owning critical technical components and guiding the architectural direction of projects.
Choose the rung one step above where you are. Indeed warns that wanting a title the employer cannot offer may make them think you are overqualified or would become bored.
Text description of the diagram
- A typical ladder runs from Junior to Software Engineer, Senior, Staff, Senior Staff, Principal and Distinguished.
- Senior scope is a team while staff scope is an area.
Step 2: Anchor the goal in what you are doing now
The sentence that answers the follow-up is a present-tense action: "To build toward that, I am doing X this quarter." Anchoring means tying the goal to something you already do, so it sounds like a plan and not a wish.
Good anchors are specific and small: writing the design document for your next project, asking for reviews of your on-call changes, pairing with a newer engineer. They cost the employer nothing and show the direction is real. Without an anchor, a goal is only a statement of preference, and an interviewer can fairly ask what evidence you have.
This is also where you check your goal against the role. If the job description names mentoring, an anchor about mentoring shows you read it. If the team runs production systems, an anchor about operational ownership fits. Pick the anchor from the posting and from what you have honestly done, never from what sounds impressive. What you now know: the direction comes from the role, the proof comes from your week.
Step 3: Say it as present, development, contribution
The three-part shape is this page's own framework, not a published standard. Part one is the present: what you do well now. Part two is the development: the growth you want next. Part three is the contribution: what that growth gives this team.
Keep it short, because the question is not a request for a life plan. Present, development and contribution take about three or four sentences in total, and your anchor from Step 2 sits in the first or second.
Leave the fork open. Many companies' ladders split after senior into a technical path and a management path, and ladders vary widely between companies (Tech Interview Handbook). "I will decide with my manager between depth and leading people" is an honest sentence that closes nothing off.
Step-by-step description
- Choose growth the role can supply.
- Name something you do now toward it.
- Present, development, contribution.
- Pick a direction the role can offer.
- Anchor the goal in what you are doing now.
- Say it as present, development and contribution.
The three steps in order: pick a direction the role can offer, anchor the goal in what you are doing now, and state it as present, development and contribution.
Knowing it is half the job. Saying it is the other half.
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Start Free Trial →The Staff-level answer
What are your career goals?
Over the next few years I want to grow from owning features to owning a system end to end on this team, and to become someone newer engineers bring their design questions to. I am drawn to this role because the work gives me real systems to own. To build toward that now, I am writing the design document for my next project and asking for review of my on-call changes. Later I would decide with my manager whether depth or leading people fits me better, but the next step is deeper ownership here.
What makes it Staff-level: it names growth inside this role, proves it with a current action, and leaves the technical-or-management fork honestly open. Practice it out loud until it fits in about a minute, and swap in your own anchor.
Adjust the first sentence to your level. A new graduate can say, "Over the next few years I want to become a dependable owner of features on this team." A senior engineer can say, "I want to take on design work that spans several teams, and I will decide with my manager whether depth or leading people fits." For short-term versus long-term goals, give the next step in detail and the longer arc in one general sentence.
The rubric
This rubric is this page's own practice guide. It is not a company's scoring sheet.
| Dimension | Weak answer | Strong answer | Staff answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fit with the role | Goals unrelated to the job | Growth this role can supply | Growth tied to the team's actual systems |
| Specificity | A title and a date | A general direction | A direction plus one concrete area |
| Evidence | None | One current action | Action already visible in recent work |
| Ladder awareness | Assumes everyone wants management | Names the next level | Names the technical-or-management fork openly |
| Delivery | Rambling life plan | Three or four sentences | Three or four sentences, then a clean stop |
Three variants of this question
Where will you be in five years?
Answer with how you will have evolved in the role, as Indeed advises, for example "owning a system on this team and mentoring newer engineers." Do not name a title or a company.
Do you want to become a manager or stay technical?
Say you are drawn to one side if you honestly are, and that you would test it with your manager before committing. Both paths exist on many companies' ladders, so neither answer is wrong.
What do you want to learn in this role?
The question about what you want to learn is the same question narrowed to skills. Name one or two areas the job description supports, then give your anchor from Step 2.
Common mistakes
- "In five years I will be a director, and I plan to start my own company." (wrong) Entrepreneurship or personal milestones can, in career coach Madeline Mann's words, "give the impression that this person might be a flight risk" (Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC) Make It, November 2025). A flight risk is a candidate an employer expects to leave soon. (right) "I want to grow into larger ownership on this team."
- "I want to be a Staff Engineer by next year." (wrong) A named title and a date pushes past what the role can offer. (right) "I want to take on larger design work over the next few years."
- "Everyone should end up managing." (wrong) Ladders with two tracks make both paths valid. (right) "I will choose between depth and leading people once I have more of both."
- "I have no real goals, I just want to do good work." (wrong) It answers nothing about fit. (right) Give one direction and one anchor.
Follow-up questions
What are you doing now to reach that goal?
Name one small, true action from your current work, such as writing design documents or mentoring a newer teammate. A current action turns a goal into a plan. Rehearse this sentence before the interview.
What if you want to be a staff engineer?
Say you want to grow toward larger technical scope step by step. Tech Interview Handbook describes staff work as owning critical components and guiding architectural direction, so tie the goal to the next area of ownership, not the title.
What if this role does not offer that growth?
Ask before you answer. The questions to ask an interviewer include how engineers grow on this team, and the reply tells you which direction to name.
How is this different from tell me about yourself?
Tell me about yourself is about your past and present; the goals question is about the next few years and why this role. The present part of your goals answer can reuse one line of your introduction.
How do your goals connect to why you want this job?
Your goals and your reason for wanting the job should be the same story. Your direction is the reason this role fits, so the answer to why should we hire you and your goals reinforce each other. If you are leaving a job, keep that reasoning consistent with your reason for leaving.
For wider practice, see the common interview questions, the questions recruiters ask in human resources screens and a general method in how to answer interview questions.
- The question tests fit and trajectory: can this role supply the growth you want.
- Aim at growth inside this role, in general terms, one rung above where you are.
- Anchor the goal in something you are doing now, because that answers the follow-up.
- Say it as present, development and contribution in three or four sentences.
- Leave the technical-or-management fork open, and avoid exit plans or titles and dates.
Sources
- Engineering levels — Tech Interview Handbook, 7 Aug 2026
- Interview Question: Where Will You Be in 5 Years? — Indeed Career Guide, 27 Jun 2022
- How to answer Where do you see yourself in 5 years? — CNBC Make It, 19 Nov 2025
