When I was a child, it was called "Baby Steps", indicating the series of stages required to achieve a life's ambition. "If I do this to acquire that, I can then move on to this, doing the other, which will eventually get me to this point, where upon then, I will reach euphoria." Perhaps, I am being too cynical, but the whole lot seems a little too presumptuous. As in, how do I know (now) I'd be happy doing that for the rest of my life? I'm just a dumb kid, after all.
I've never been one for goal-setting, and given my lot in life, the assumption has probably been proven false a dozen times over, but realistically, I've never put much weight in wishful thinking. The same goes for vision boards. A sorry excuse to cut and glue pictures of other people's shit onto particle board, with crossed fingers that we'll one day own them. Absolute silliness, in my opinion.
For some reason, though, the Five Year Plan seems to be a serious mainstay in our culture, a factor that I balk at and shudder over, every time it is mentioned in a serious conversation. It's such a preposterous premise that I've never seriously considered concocting a response, believable enough, to blow smoke up the ass of a potential employer. How the Hell am I supposed to know where I'm going to want to maneuver myself within your company, if I've not been associated with your company? Wanting to sound ambitious without being overzealous to the point of being offensive. "Well, I'd like to be your boss..."
I was posed this question, on Friday, in an over-the-phone interview. Thankfully, my potential employer was unable to see me flinch at the stupid question and I was able to respond quickly. "Being unfamiliar with your organization, I couldn't make an honest and organized guess as to where I would like to be in five years. If you decide that I'm a good fit for _____, I'd prefer to look at the opportunities available in order to decide where I'd like to go. If I'm content in the position that I'm hired for, I don't see why I'd need to move beyond that. As long as I'm happy, I don't see why change is necessarily a good thing."
I've never been one for goal-setting, and given my lot in life, the assumption has probably been proven false a dozen times over, but realistically, I've never put much weight in wishful thinking. The same goes for vision boards. A sorry excuse to cut and glue pictures of other people's shit onto particle board, with crossed fingers that we'll one day own them. Absolute silliness, in my opinion.
For some reason, though, the Five Year Plan seems to be a serious mainstay in our culture, a factor that I balk at and shudder over, every time it is mentioned in a serious conversation. It's such a preposterous premise that I've never seriously considered concocting a response, believable enough, to blow smoke up the ass of a potential employer. How the Hell am I supposed to know where I'm going to want to maneuver myself within your company, if I've not been associated with your company? Wanting to sound ambitious without being overzealous to the point of being offensive. "Well, I'd like to be your boss..."
I was posed this question, on Friday, in an over-the-phone interview. Thankfully, my potential employer was unable to see me flinch at the stupid question and I was able to respond quickly. "Being unfamiliar with your organization, I couldn't make an honest and organized guess as to where I would like to be in five years. If you decide that I'm a good fit for _____, I'd prefer to look at the opportunities available in order to decide where I'd like to go. If I'm content in the position that I'm hired for, I don't see why I'd need to move beyond that. As long as I'm happy, I don't see why change is necessarily a good thing."
I must have provided an adequate amount of smoke to be blown up her ass, as I was commended on such a good and honest answer, comparing it to a stream of water poured from a glass: You never know what the resulting path will be, but it always makes it to the end.
Honestly. If the truth be revealed, I've always had one goal for a Five Year Plan. It seems foolish, comparative more to a pipe dream or fantasy than anything based in reality, but it's no more far-fetched than constructing a vision board. Where would I like to be in five years, you ask? The same place as I'd like to find myself come this Tuesday. Posing in front of a camera, with a giant check in my hand, and a congratulations on being the newest lottery winner in Saskatchewan.
Honestly. If the truth be revealed, I've always had one goal for a Five Year Plan. It seems foolish, comparative more to a pipe dream or fantasy than anything based in reality, but it's no more far-fetched than constructing a vision board. Where would I like to be in five years, you ask? The same place as I'd like to find myself come this Tuesday. Posing in front of a camera, with a giant check in my hand, and a congratulations on being the newest lottery winner in Saskatchewan.
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