Where Do You See Yourself In 5 Years?

Everyone loathes this question in an interview.  We all know it's coming.  The answer is always piles of bullshit.  The interviewee might as well just ask, "where do YOU see me in 5 years? cuz that's my answer".

People hate that question because it never really makes sense to be honest...even if you lie, it's gonna be 5 years before anyone notices. :-P  But I think people also hate that question because they don't even have a good answer for themselves.

It's easy to let time slip by and suddenly find you've been spinning your wheels for years.  It's wise not to set incredibly precise goals like, "I'm going to be the district manager of my corporate division".  Goals should provide direction and focus without hampering opportunity.

I think once you begin the thought experiment, you'll find it fascinating...perhaps shocking.

For myself, I think a good start might be:  Wherever I am geographically, I won't have spent the whole 5 years there.  I'll have traveled a lot, if not moved.  I'll have not-worked-for-others and tried making money or living off my own means for at least 3 months, if not successfully and indefinitely.  I will have coded something from scratch to finish that I'm far more proud of than anything I've coded thus far.  I will def. still be writing code for a living, but it will be whatever the newest and hottest thing is...it won't be anything similar to what I'm doing now.  It will be something new that once-more stretches my abilities and challenges me.