I'm interviewing for entry-level accounting roles and keep getting asked about my long-term career goals. Right now, I just want to land a solid job, gain experience, and figure things out from there. How can I answer this question professionally when I don't have a 5-year plan ready to go?

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I think it's less about where you see yourself in 5 years time (because that's an impossible thing to know before starting a career) and more a question of how you see yourself at that point in time. What do you want to get out of your early career that will help get you to Year 5. Do you want to be an expert at something? A great client service professional? A master networker? They want to assess what your long term goals are.

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And as part of that answer, you can comment on what you believe your strengths are and what skills you would love to hone in on.

I just went through this during the interview process and landed the role. I outright said I don’t have a five or ten year plan. I explained my goal is to consistently improve all areas of my life, including in my career and my level of professional expertise. Each year I spend time doing some self evaluation to ensure that I am continuing to improve and consider what the next year or so may offer.

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