To ask about career paths in a job interview??

[Pomeranio9834]

More a WIBU because I already did it.

Had a job interview for a department admin position. Interview went okay I think. Came to the "do you have any questions" and I ask what a career path from this role would look like as I see this as being a career for me etc..

The interviewer looked horrified. Mumbled something about how people do get promoted but they are really just looking for someone to come in and do the job on a day to day basis and then I was ushered out quite swiftly.

Is it unreasonable to ask?! I do have previous experience in the role of about 2 years and this is actually a slight step down for more pay (much larger company).

Not at all unreasonable. The interviewer was unprofessional and should have anticipated this question

YWNBU, good on you for asking. Any decent firm will want people to progress/learn/develop etc and move forward/up within a firm.

Totally reasonable question to ask and would be seen as a positive by a good employer - if you are keen to progress you will want to do an excellent job to earn promotion to the next step.

You asked a good question. Could it be they already have someone in mind for the job and your question means they have to score you higher than they'd like?

I think this is totally reasonable to ask, however there are some jobs where realistically there isn’t much room for progression and they just need someone in to do the grunt work. Therefore they need someone who is happy with that and not champing at the bit. Sounds like it probably isn’t quite right for you if you’re looking for a career, so maybe you’ve dodged a bullet. In all honesty though you might get this reaction a lot for admin posts, so you may need to be tactful to get a foot in the door then put all your effort in to break the glass ceiling when you’re in .

Defo NU, it's a pretty standard question and usually one interviewers are pleased to hear, no?

Your interviewer sounds unprofessional, and to bat away a potential staff member's desire for progression/success in role is bizarre.

It is a risk to ask this question. Most jobs hire because there is an immediate need for someone to do it. The interviewer is not likely to be thinking beyond that. If you wish to get promoted, you could very well be aiming for your interviewer's job, which is not a good thing as the interviewer's prospects could similarly be limited.

The safe answer to the question "where do you see yourself in 5 years", is to say that you are applying to do the job that is advertised and want to do it well. You see advancement, not necessarily upwards in promotion but in terms of gaining more experience in depth and breadth of skills. That way, you don't threaten the middle manager that is interviewing you.

If advancement is important to you, you can subtly sound out by asking what the previous person in the role moved on to or what scope there is to learn about other parts of the organisation and gain wider experience in the role. This is testing the waters. A smart interviewer will know what the question is driving at and hopefully volunteer the answer. If the interviewer sounds a little wary, then you can decide whether to push further

Yeah they love that question.

It is a risk to ask this question.

Only if you're desperate to get the job, ie you're currently unemployed or underemployed.

Scandi girl does however talk sense.

I always thought this was a big no no to ask, since it implies you're already looking further than what the job being offered actually entails?

It really depends. If you are having a good job now and wants something more promising, this is a legitimate question. However if you need the job and will take it anyway, I would not ask such a question. This question may show you are looking for something more and the hirer may worry about flight risk. Plus, even if they tell you there will be a career path, would you really believe in that?! People will always be positive when they want to sell you a job ...

For me, the only reason I applied for the job was because there's more progression opportunity with it being such a huge company. I like my job where I am now but there's nowhere to go from here really. Just have to wait and see what they say I guess. I would never have thought it wasn't an appropriate question to ask

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that question shouldn't be asked. It used to show you were keen and committed to the company but now it's taken as they'll be looking around again soon.

I work in HR and I always flag this question to hiring managers when candidates say it in my interview.

They are interviewing for a role they do have open, not where you see yourself in 2/5/10 years.

I do quite a lot of recruitment and for the most part I like this question from interviewees. However, I have also been involved in recruiting for a role which is junior and quite repetitive where questions about career progression would have probably counted against the candidate. We have real trouble keeping people in this role because they want to progress to a more interesting position, which is admirable from a personal development point of view but we now actively look for people who seem capable but less ambitious for promotion in the hope they will stay in the job longer. Maybe your interviewer was in the same position?! Although I don’t think they handled it well.

Totally reasonable question and sounds like they want someone who will be happy to do the admin for years to come. There are plenty of people looking for a job like that so it isn't the right job for you.

Lots of city firms want their receptionists/ support staff to have relevant degrees as they train up the staff themselves and move them into the business while other companies are happy to have career receptionists/admin staff. Depends on the company.

Hmm, I think for an admin job this is a risky question to ask, or at least it would be at my workplace. We know that our admin staff don’t go into the role expecting to stay there forever, but someone asking about the next steps in the interview could possibly suggest that they aren’t going to be focussed on what needs to be done in the job itself.

I used to employ bright young things to be my assistant. I was brutally frank with them, that there was almost no chance of career progression, but the job would look good on their CV, we would give them as much L & D as they wanted and would help them to get out of the job what would help them for their next step in their career. I expected people to stay one year, maximum two, before moving on. They’ve all moved on to have fantastic careers - one has just qualified as a solicitor, another is in the civil service fast stream, one works for the UN, and yet another works in the City.