During your interviews, you will often be asked “where do you see yourself in 5 years?”.
The question you are probably asking yourself is: Why are recruiters asking this question? What do they want to know about you?
Two main things. First, they want to evaluate how decided you are about your career trajectory. They want to see if you’re the type of person who could probably stay in IB for 10 years, or the one who would most likely give it a try for 1 or 2 years before moving on to something else.
It’s perfectly fine to want to try IB for a short period, to decide if it’s for you or not. Just bear in mind that during the interview, recruiters prefer candidates that have a long-term view, and who know what they want to do in the long-term.
It’s a sign of motivation, and it also sub-communicates that you could be a more loyal employee, which is what recruiters are looking for, as one of their key objectives is to reduce employee turnover.
Second, they want to see if you can project yourself into the future and make realistic assumptions about your career progression.
Don’t say that you expect to become a MD in 5 years if you’re still at uni. You need to be realistic about what you may reasonably become in this time frame, and the best way to know that is to speak with experienced investment bankers who’ve been in the game for at least 5 years.
The right answer for you depends on your level of experience. In general, the less experienced you are, the more you can afford to convey uncertainty in your outlook.
After all, if you’re a university student who has never stepped foot into Investment Banking before, it’s obvious that you can’t know for sure if you plan to stay in this industry longer term until you gain a first IB experience.
On the other hand, if you have 2-3 years of experience, recruiters will usually expect you to show strong, long-term commitment to investment banking.
For more help on your investment banking interviews, check out our guide here.
Aurelian Tran is the founder of Alpha Lane and an ex-Goldman Sachs analyst who has spent 4+ years working in the investment banking industry.
He founded Alpha Lane to help students and young professionals achieve their highest professional ambitions, by securing offers at top-tier financial institutions.
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