Job interviews can be nerve-wracking experiences, particularly if you have been searching for a new job for a long time. It might come as a surprise to you when a potential employer asks you how long you might plan on working for them. Thinking about how you would respond to this question before your interview will ensure that you are prepared with a strategic answer.


What the Interviewer Really Wants to Know

An interviewer may pose the question in one of several ways:

• How long do you expect to remain employed with this company?
• How long do you think you will be in this role?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?

Do not be caught off guard. Sometimes, candidates will blurt out that they are only looking for a short-term stint while looking to move across the country or go back to school. While up front, those responses are not likely to impress an interviewer and can swiftly get you removed from the candidate list.
Hiring and training new employees is an expensive process. By bringing you on, the company is investing significant time and money into you. They want to know that their investment will pay off, not that their money will be wasted if you plan to quit in six months.


How to Answer “How Long Do You Plan on Working Here?”

The interviewer can incorporate three questions within this question. First, the interviewer could ask, “How long do you expect to be employed with this company?” Don’t say the first thing that comes into your head. Before your interview, give this question some thought. If you want the job, don’t say that this is just a short-term gig for you.
Even if you do not plan to be with the company for the long-term, there is no need to lie or give the wrong impression.
Everyone knows plans can change and that the unexpected happens. Instead of misrepresenting your intentions, focus your response on saying something positive about the employer, your level of engagement, and your enthusiasm for the position.

Let the employer know why working for them is very attractive to you. Note specific aspects of the job which appeal to you and would encourage you to stay on for a long time.

If you know you are going to be relocating to another city in two years and you work, for example, in retail, you should say so (although you might also add that you hope, if you do excellent work for their store, that the retail chain might ultimately find a position for you in the city you are relocating to).

Plans change, but you want to make sure that you are honest about what can be expected of you. On the other hand, if you plan on it being a long-term position say so.

If you are asked, “How long do you think you will be in this role?” or “Where do you see yourself in five years?” you can mention that you would hope that there would be opportunities for advancement for you in the future.


 
Examples of the Best Answers
Try out these responses to the question, "How long do you expect to work at our company?" These answers are good responses to the question. They do not give a specific timeline but demonstrate your enthusiasm for the role and the company.


I'm excited about the research and innovations your company has delivered in the past few years. I've been looking for a position with a dynamic company engaged in the community and your organization certainly fits that description. I think this role is a great match for my skills and experience and offers me a chance to grow professionally. I expect to be here for as long as I can make contributions.

Why It Works: This answer works because the applicant ties a forward-looking organization’s research and development to the skill set the applicant possesses to let the interviewer know that they plan to remain with the company as long as it is a good fit. 


Because my spouse is in the military, we will likely be moving in two years, but I would like to work here steadily until then.

Why It Works: This answer works because you are being honest with the interviewer about your situation, but you are also expressing your desire to work.


I would prefer to stay long term, if possible. I like the flexible hours you offer, which would work well with my other commitments, like my studies (or children, family, etc.).

Why it Works: This is a good answer because it reflects the applicant’s good fit with the company culture.


I don't have any immediate plans to move on. I'd like a job where I can have continuity and be part of a team.

Why It Works: This expresses commitment to the company and the team that you’ll be working with. It also shows the interviewer that you plan to stay with the company.


Tips for Giving the Best Answer
Focus on the Positives. Say something positive about the company, that you are excited to interview for the position, and that you would be happy working there.
Talk about the aspects of the job that appeal to you and would encourage you to stay.

Mention Company Culture. Mention that the company culture seems to be a good fit for your skill set.

Discuss Recent Developments. Talk about a recent industry or company development and how that fits in with your goals.

Consider References. If you are applying for a retail or service position, be as honest as possible when you answer. You don't want to mislead a potential supervisor, as you may need to use him or her for a reference at some time in the future.


What Not to Say
Don’t Misrepresent Your Intentions. Above all, don’t lie. If you know you will only be at the company for two years, say so. Everyone knows that plans change, and things happen in our lives. We can’t say anything with certainty because anything can happen. All you can be is as honest as possible.
​
Don’t Volunteer Too Much Information. While being honest, make your answer short.

As someone who has interviewed probably thousands of job candidates in my career, I’ve long been surprised by how many people don’t ask good questions when their interviewer gives them the opportunity. A surprising number of candidates don’t have many questions at all, or simply use the time to try to further pitch themselves for the job. To me, this is crazy — after all, this is a job that you’re considering spending 40 or more hours at a week, a job that might have a huge impact on your career and your quality of life for years to come. You should have questions!
 
But people understandably worry about what to ask. They stress about seeming demanding or nitpicky, or that they’ll be negatively judged for things they want to know. They also worry that they don’t quite know how to draw out the information they really want about the job or the manager or the company.
So here are the ten best questions to ask in an interview when it’s your turn to ask the questions — to both impress your potential employer and help you get useful insights into whether or not this is the right job for you.
 
 
Questions about the Position

1. “How will you measure the success of the person in this position?”

This gets right to the crux of what you need to know about the job: What does it mean to do well, and what will you need to achieve in order for the manager to be happy with your performance?
Initially, you might think that the job description already laid this out, but it’s not uncommon for a job description to be the same one an employer has been using for the last ten years, despite the job having changed significantly during that time. Organizations often post job descriptions that primarily use boilerplate language from HR, while the actual manager has very different ideas about what’s most important in the role. Also, frankly, most employers just suck at writing job descriptions (which is why so many of them sound like they were written by robots rather than humans), so it’s useful to have a real conversation about what the role is really about. You might find out that while the job posting listed 12 different responsibilities, your success really just hinges on 2 of them, or that the posting dramatically understated the importance of 1 of them, or that the hiring manager is battling with her own boss about expectations for the role, or even that the manager has no idea what success would look like in the job (which would be a sign to proceed with extreme caution).


2. “What are some of the challenges you expect the person in this position to face?”

This can get at information you’d never get from the job description — like that you’ll have to deal with messy interdepartmental politics, or that the person you’ll be working with most closely is difficult to get along with, or that you’ll need to work within draconian budget restrictions on your program.
It can also create an opening for you to talk about how you’ve approached similar challenges in the past, which can be reassuring to your interviewer. I don’t recommend asking questions just so you can follow up with a sales pitch for yourself — that’s annoying and usually pretty transparent — but if asking about challenges leads to a real discussion of how you’d approach them, it can be genuinely useful for you both.


3. “Can you describe a typical day or week in the job?”

If the job description mentioned a combination of admin work and program work, it’s important to know whether 90 percent of your time will be spent on the admin work or if the split is more like 50/50. Or you might find out that the part of the job that you were most excited about actually only comes up every six months. But even barring major insights like that, the answer to this question can just help you better visualize what it will actually be like to be in the job day after day.
Tip: Some interviewers will respond to this question with, “Oh, every day is different.” If that happens, try asking, “Can you tell me what the last month looked like for the person in the job currently? What took up most of their time?”


4. “How long did the previous person in the role hold the position? What has turnover in the role generally been like?”

If no one has stayed in the job very long, that could be a red flag about a difficult manager, unrealistic expectations, lack of training, or some other land mine. If just one person left after a few months, that’s not necessarily a danger sign — after all, sometimes things just don’t work out. But if you hear there’s been a pattern of people leaving quickly, it’s worth asking, “Do you have a sense of what has led to the high turnover?”


Questions about Your Success in the Position

5. “What are you hoping this person will accomplish in their first six months and in their first year?”
This question can give you a sense of what kind of learning curve you’re expected to have and the pace of the team and organization. If you’re expected to have major achievements under your belt after only a few months, that tells you that they likely won’t give you a lot of ramp-up time. Which might be fine if you’re coming in with a lot of experience, but it might be worrisome otherwise. On the flip side, if you’re someone who likes to jump right in and start getting things done, you might not be thrilled to hear that most of your first six months will be spent in training.
This question can also draw out information about key projects that you wouldn’t otherwise have heard about.


6. “Thinking back to people you’ve seen do this work previously, what differentiated the ones who were good from the ones who were really great at it?”

​A job candidate asked me this question years ago, and it might be the strongest question I’ve ever been asked in an interview. The thing about this question is that it goes straight to the heart of what the hiring manager is looking for. Hiring managers aren’t interviewing candidates in the hopes of finding someone who will do an average job; they’re hoping to find someone who will excel at the job. And this question says that you care about the same thing. Sure, it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll do extraordinary work, but it makes you sound like someone who’s at least aiming for that — someone who’s conscientious and driven, and those are huge things in a hiring manager’s eyes.
Plus, the answer to this question can give you much more nuanced insight into what it’ll take to truly excel in the job — and whatever the answer is, you can think about whether or not it’s something you’re likely able to do.


Questions about the Company

​7. “How would you describe the culture here? What type of people tend to really thrive here, and what type don’t do as well?”

If the culture is very formal with lots of hierarchy and you’re happiest in a more relaxed environment, this might not be the right match for you.
Similarly, if it’s a really competitive environment and you’re more low-key, or if they describe themselves as entrepreneurial and you prefer structure, it might not be an ideal workplace for you. If you don’t have a lot of other options, you still might decide to take the job anyway — but you’ll usually be happier if you know what you’re signing up for, and aren’t unpleasantly surprised after you start.


8. “What do you like about working here?”

You can learn a lot by the way people respond to this question. People who genuinely enjoy their jobs and the company will usually have several things they can tell you that they like about working there and will usually sound sincere. But if you get a blank stare or a long silence before your interviewer answers, or the answer is something like “the paycheck,” consider that a red flag.


9. Ask the question you really care about.

Sometimes people use their turn to ask questions in an interview solely as an additional chance to try to impress their interviewer — asking questions designed to reflect well on them (by making them look smart, thoughtful, or so forth) rather than questions designed to help them figure out if the job is even right for them in the first place. It’s understandable to want to impress your interviewer, but interviewing is a two-way street — you need to be assessing the job and the employer and the manager, and figuring out whether this is a job you want and would do well in. If you’re just focused on getting the job and not on whether it’s the right job for you, you’re in danger of ending up in a job where you’re struggling or miserable.

So before you interview, spend some time thinking about what you really want to know. When you imagine going to work at the job every day, what are the things that will most impact whether you’re happy with the work, with the culture, with the manager? Maybe it’s important to you to work in an informal culture with heavy collaboration. Maybe you care most about working somewhere with sane hours, where calls and texts on the weekend or in the evenings are rare. Maybe you’ve heard rumors about the stability of the funding for the position. Whatever’s important to you or that you’d want to have answered before you could know if you’d really want the job, think about asking it now.
Of course, you shouldn’t rely only on your interviewer’s answers about these things. You should also do due diligence by talking to people in your network who might have the inside scoop on the company’s culture or the manager you’d be working for, reading online reviews at places like Glassdoor, and talking to other people who work there.
​


Questions about Next Steps

10. “What’s your timeline for next steps?”

This is a basic logistics question, but it’s useful to ask because it gives you a benchmark for when you can expect to hear something back. Otherwise, if you’re like many people, in a few days you’re likely to start agonizing about whether you should have heard back about the job by now and what it means that you haven’t, and obsessively checking your phone to see if the employer has tried to make contact. It’s much better for your quality of life if you know that you’re not likely to hear anything for two weeks or four weeks or that the hiring manager is leaving the country for a month and nothing will happen until she’s back, or whatever the case might be.
Plus, asking this question makes it easy for you to check in with the employer if the timeline they give you comes and goes with no word. If they tell you that they plan to make a decision in two weeks and it’s been three weeks, you can reasonably email them and say something like, “I know you were hoping to make a decision around this time, so I wanted to check in and see if you have an updated timeline you can share. I’m really interested in the position and would love to talk more with you.”

By Kathryn Vasel, CNN Business

Job interviews are nerve-wracking. And sometimes, despite being prepared and getting a good night's sleep, they just don't go well.
 
Here's the good news: It probably didn't go as bad as you think. Interviewers know the process can make your palms sweat and cause you to lose your train of thought.
 
"We are all our own worst critics," said Kerry Hannon, author of "Love Your Job: The New Rules for Career Happiness." "Chances are the little voice in your head is a lot more critical than what the person observed on the other side of the table. Cut yourself a little slack."
 
But if you feel like you bombed an interview, and you're really interested in getting the job, there are still ways to recover.


You're in the hot seat and flailing 

​If you are sitting across from the hiring manager and find yourself rambling, tap the brakes.
The important thing to remember is not to panic. Take a deep breath (or three) and try to pivot the conversation away from you and back to the interviewer.
 
"You just need to stop the train of thought and pause. Shift the conversation back to letting them speak," said Hannon.
 
Ask a general question, such as: "What do you see as the biggest challenge for the person who takes this position?" Or "How would you describe the company's culture?"
 
It also helps to prepare statements about who you are as a worker, your skillsets and the unique contributions that you can offer — should you feel like you are going too far off track.
"Boil it down into a simple message and then just return to that if you notice you are talking in circles," said Anna Bray, an executive coach and career coach at Jody Michael Associates.


 
Put your thank you note to work 

Yes, you should still send a thank you note — even if you think you bombed the interview.
 
Not only does it show graciousness, it's also another opportunity to highlight your skills and experience or take another stab at answering a question that you missed during the interview.
 
Just don't apologize or admit to messing up during the interview, experts said.
 
"Approach it in a positive way," said Hannon.
 
Follow up and elaborate in the note on any questions that you don't feel like you answered adequately or details about your skills and experience that might not have been clear. Just be careful not to highlight something the interviewer might have overlooked.
 
"Follow up to elaborate, but don't admit you were a mess," said Hannon.


Put your references on guard 

If you feel like you didn't do an adequate job of highlighting certain skills or experiences, have your references help fill in gaps.
 
Let your reference know about the interview and alert them that (hopefully) they might get a call.
 
"Ask them to reiterate a point that maybe you feel like you didn't make well, or highlight something more that you and the interviewer discussed," suggested Bray.


Supplement your interview 

If you didn't put your best foot forward during the interview, follow up with additional support material that highlights your skills and experience.
 
Georgene Huang, CEO and co-founder of Fairygodboss, recalled a candidate who sent over a presentation that detailed what he envisioned accomplishing in the first 30, 60 and 90 days on the job.
 
"The candidate really went above and beyond, showing that he really wanted the job," she said.
 
 
Learn from your mistakes 

Not every interview is going to go perfectly, so it's important to learn from your mistakes. Sit down and review which parts went well and what areas need improvement.
 
For many people, taking a slower approach when answering will mitigate future problems.
 
"It's not a race," said Hannon. "Don't ramble, be confident and slow down and be calm."