Recruiters keep asking me 'where do you see yourself in 5 years' and I finally started answering honestly

Betty Hernandez · 2026-10-03T20:40:03.62349+00:00

I've been job hunting in Denver for about 4 months now and every single interview ends with the 5 year question. I used to give the safe answer about growing with the company, but last week at a warehouse job interview I just said I want to be doing this same work but faster and with better pay. The manager actually laughed and said nobody ever says that. Here's the thing, after 11 interviews I noticed the ones where I gave the polished answer never called back. The two jobs where I was blunt about wanting steady hours and a raise after a year both moved me to round two. I think people are so scared of sounding unambitious that they forget the hiring manager just wants to know if you'll stick around. Has anyone else noticed that being straight about money and hours works better than the rehearsed speech?

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Recruiters keep asking me 'where do you see yourself in 5 years' and I finally started answering honestly | Career Advice - Rigidtalk