sapiens

I have two thoughts with this post:

1. Where do you want to be in 3 years? and,

2. How does one answer this question in a work setting?


Personally, I want my wife, my kids, and I to be living in the same city with good jobs for the both of us. Right now, my wife and kids are living in another state.

Professionally, I want to run the research wing of a non-profit, perhaps the non-profit where I am currently working. I'm qualified. I just haven't had enough time working outside of academia.

My concern is: How do answer that question in an interview or when asked by a boss when the answer is: "I want your job or an equivalent job at another employer"?

Willravel

Working in a job that I don't just consider cool and fun now, but that I would think is cool and fun as a 12 year old. I'd also like to live with a wonderful lady and maybe even be talking kids again. I'd like to have finally fixed the garage, which is about one storm away from collapsing. Oh, and I'd like to have even more friends.
I'd omit about half of that, especially the garage part, and add on bullshit about how excited I was about working for the company. I've never met an interviewer that was looking for honesty, even for good jobs.

Salem

I pretty much want to be exactly where I am. In school, working towards my career, with my great girlfriend. The only things id want different is A) more knowledge, and B) A pet. Cat, or dog, or bunny, or guinea pig, Something more than my 2 goldfish.

Well, I don't have a job or career right now. I'm a student, working towards a career. So in 3 years I'd like to be IN the Social Work program, working towards my degree.

World's King

Where do I wanna be in 3 years? Balls deep in a stripper.

In an work setting? Balls deep in a stripper's ass.

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heavy is the head that wears the crown

IdeoFunk

1: In three years I'm striving either to be in professional school and in some sort of serious relationship thinking about kids, or touring the world with my band and gradually building up a harem of young beautiful women.

2: In three years my goal is to be working in a job that I find interesting, and that provides satisfactory opportunity for advancement and personal growth, etc. etc.

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...out here in the perimeter there are no stars...

Craven Morehead

In a much better place than I am now. Whatever that is.

laconic1

Three years from now I want to have a job I'm happy with, be with a woman I can be happy with, and either getting ready to buy a house or just having bought a house.

snowy

In three years, I want to be in a classroom, preferably at the front and not behind a desk or the lectern, but kneeling beside a student, helping them to learn about the beginnings of our nation. So basically, I want to be teaching humanities in an 8th grade classroom here in Oregon.

I also want to be happily married and saving up for a house while paying down my student loan debt.

How do I answer that question in a work setting? Well, that is easy enough for me. Most of the jobs I am applying for would love to hear that answer.

I met some friends of my parents this weekend, and heard an interesting story. Apparently, the lady of the couple interviewed for an intern position at her company many years ago, and told the division head that interviewed her that in 20 years, she saw herself in his job. She retired out of that job a couple months ago. Her husband tracked the man down as he had long since retired himself, and informed him that she had done just what she had said she would do. He sent her a card that said something to the effect of--well, that's why I hired her!

So sometimes, saying that you want your boss's job pays off.

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If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Xerxys

I want to be retired, living in the Caribbean.

wooÐs

If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans for the future.

SSJTWIZTA

....alive.

if im alive then all is well.

__________________
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for me And there was no one left to speak out for me.
-Pastor Martin Niemoller

Xerxys

Dear god, lottery tickets please. Tix or you don't exist.
Thnx.

spindles

Makes your restaurant sound a little less appealing.

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who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

Plan9

That's the rhetoric of a person content with mediocrity. We are what we do.

...

Me in 3 years? Heh, I'll be so gone my username will have a frickin' 'd on the end of it.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

spindles

In 3 years, I would like the house renovations finished, have reduced my debt significantly and lowered my golf handicap.

Work? I'm happy enough. I'm really not very mercenary about climbing corporate ladders, plus you can't beat the 4 step commute of working from home

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who hid my keyboard's PANIC button?

wooÐs

So you're claiming to me that you're right on track with your life's plans then.

Plan9

I am. Not everybody gets takes a bite of the shit sandwich of life and gags.

"Embrace the suck." "I like the way this sucks." "I wish it would suck more!"

Priorities, lady. Sometimes you have to step over bodies to get there.

Trim the fat from your life, stop making excuses, take that first big step.

...

Attitude is everything. We are what we do.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

wooÐs

I didn't realize you planned on that divorce, for starters.

None of my lifelong plans have worked out. That doesn't mean they worked out for the negative. They just haven't taken place. I was supposed to be married with a child by 23. I'm 34. I can't even take care of myself, let alone a child lol. Hell, the dog's even behind on his vaccinations.

Just saying, future plans for life are fun to make, but rarely do they work out as you'd hoped.

percy

In answering the questions,..breathing and breathing. I've had my share of health problems to the point that my thinking is second to second let alone day to day.

3 years,..that's an eternity. For me anyways, life is now.

Plan9

I didn't let it slow me down. My priority at the time (and still) is to get my degree and secure my next career. If I lost the less-than-a-year wife and my still-being-built house in the mix... no loss. It was integrity testing and that part of my life failed to meet the standards. Better that it went earlier than later, right? You just keep rolling. I can bitch and moan and cry my eyes out in my TFP blog, but I don't let it slow me down in real life. No time.

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Charlatan

In three years? I want to be doing this same job but for a bigger company with more pay. Onwards and upwards.

As for what you should say in an interview. Don't lie. When I am interviewing prospective employees I like to see that they have ambition. That said, if you are qualified enough to be doing your boss's job, you probably shouldn't be applying for the lesser job. I wouldn't hire you if you were overqualified as it is usually an indication that you will not be around for very long (i.e. you will jump at the first opportunity to take a better job). That said, if you don't yet have the qualifications for the higher level job but are qualified for the one that you are applying... great! Tell me you want to be moving up in three to five years.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

uncle phil

alive...

__________________
"We were wrong, terribly wrong. (We) should not have tried to fight a guerrilla war with conventional military tactics against a foe willing to absorb enormous casualties...in a country lacking the fundamental political stability necessary to conduct effective military and pacification operations. It could not be done and it was not done."
- Robert S. McNamara
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"We will take our napalm and flame throwers out of the land that scarcely knows the use of matches...
We will leave you your small joys and smaller troubles."
- Eugene McCarthy in "Vietnam Message"
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never wrestle with a pig.
you both get dirty;
the pig likes it.

GreyWolf

Retired, living a life of ease, with the kids then old enough that I can actually travel a bit, or split my time between town and the lake.

If I'm still working (an option, but becoming less attractive every day), I'll be running a division or function for a SMB (no desire to be CEO... CFO is enough of a headache and I won't do that again).

__________________
The secret to great marksmanship is deciding what the target was AFTER you've shot.

Iliftrocks

Amen dude. Keep moving

__________________
bill hicks - "I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out."

snowy

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

I know full well that life rarely turns out as planned, but I do know that sometimes, the unplanned stuff will really get you after all. If everything in my life had gone as planned (when I was 18 and silly), I would have graduated on time from university, and never met my sweetie.

My current where I want to be is more a set of realistic goals that I am working towards. Yes, I am getting married--this summer. So it isn't ridiculous to say that, nor is it ridiculous to say that I will be a teacher. I have all of the dates lined up on my calendar for all of the tests I have to take next fall. I am planning to make these things happen.

What is ridiculous is when someone is 18 and says, "I want to be married by 23" where there is no boyfriend or fiance in the picture. And yes, I talked like that once upon a time, and I overhear girls in my major talk like that all the time (WHY did I have to pick the one major with girls looking to get their Mrs.?!).

It's not a bad thing to have goals, else you are just floating aimlessly through life, with no particular direction. I'll pass, thanks.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

roachboy

for me, in three years i hope to have continued moving ahead in all the areas that interest me, making new things, figuring out how to be more efficient at getting them out into the world.
i have a couple of Plans, but i'm not sure how long it'll take to come to fruitition, or if it will, but it's a kinda fun plan so i don't mind moving through the processes that it leans on.


at the level of grander schemes, things work or they don't.
you can build toward stuff, have plans, but things either will or won't happen and sometimes it's in your control and sometimes it's not.
either way, where you are at any given point is within processes so it's better that you find more of them rather than fewer of them interesting and/or engaging.

__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear

it make you sick.

-kamau brathwaite

girldetective

In three years I hope to be living in Paris, with a balcony.
Im just waiting for my boss to retire.

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As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons...be cheerful; strive for happiness - Desiderata

BadNick

My perspective on this question is different than most of you since I'm further along the road of life.

As I'm getting closer to retirement from my work/profession I hope that in 3 years I'll still be on as good of a path as I am now. That way my transition from normal daily work to post retirement will be happy and smooth. I won't have a problem finding things to do once I'm not in "work" most days like I am now but I hope to have the time, resources, and good health to actually do them.

So far so good.

wooÐs

I have no idea how old you are, but this is how girls of my era thought way back when. The kicker is most of them succeeded at marriage and a baby at a young age. And I didn't. BUT, they are on their 2nd divorce by now, at least lol. Bitter much? You bet your ass (except for the divorces lol.)

I've made lots of healthy plans in my lifetime thus far. Followed by poor choices, which I accept full responsibility for. I'm in therapy for this and my habits / addictions. I get through my days by the skin of my teeth. I think it's cute how younger folks make big plans for their futures, like they're going to live happily every after. I want to pinch their cheeks and wish them luck.

My motto - expect the worst, but always hope for the best. It's been working for me since 2001.

SecretMethod70

I can't find a link, but there was a study showing that college graduates who had plans and goals were substantially more successful than those who didn't. That, of course, is just one example of the value of plans. When people set goals and make plans, it's not because they expect everything to go perfectly, but those goals help them get back on track more quickly when things do go unexpectedly. The only time planning is a negative is if you're one of those people who is so rigid and uptight that they have a nervous breakdown when things don't go perfectly. That has less to do with the plan, though, and more to do with the person.

Back to the OP, I'd like to be in some sort of graduate program in 3 years... actually, maybe almost finished with one, depending on when I get started. Another option is to be working at the DNC, where I have a few contacts, or the UN, where I need to get some contacts.

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

Punk.of.Ages

3 Year Goals

Personal Life:

I will have a 3 1/2 year long relationship still going strong.
I will have, at least, a two bedroom house.
I will have a driver's license, a VW bug (old off-road style) for leisure driving, and have a Honda Element for business/band driving.
I will have a band that, at least, gigs regularly, and has, at least, 30 quality songs and two EP's under its belt.
I will have a recording studio in the second room of my house.
I will not be an alcoholic.

Professional Life:

I will be a team leader.
I will make, at least, $150,000/year.

Disclaimer: These goals are subject to change, due to circumstantial adaptation, at any point over the next three years.
__________

This is where I feel I can and will be right now. In a year my mind may have changed, or circumstances beyond my control may make these impossible. At least I have a detailed set of goals to help keep me on track, though. Without them, what control do I have over my own life?

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"The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion..." - Henry Steel Commager

"Punk rock music is great music played by really bad, drunk musicians." -Fat Mike

Xerxys

@smeth, stop this nonsense and run for mayor goddamnit!

Stare At The Sun

In a word, happy.

That's all I really want.

wooÐs

I just wrote a novel, but deleted it.

I'll just say I hope to be happy in 3 years. That's what 'successful' means to me.

Plan9

You people that put "happy" as your goal for yourself in three years are really aimin' for the stars, aren't ya?

While this entry is primarily an exercise in Dr. Phil Feelgood Fu, it's also a useful thermometer for gauging ambition.

Have you nothing to say other than you want to feel a fleeting emotion that could be associated with oral sex or new shoes?

__________________
Whatever you can carry.

"You should not drink... and bake."

Baraka_Guru

It's weird. From what I've read (and I've read a lot), one can achieve happiness when one achieves success, but one only achieves success by reaching a worthy ideal.

And once that happens, you have to strive for another ideal. Success isn't something you get; it's a state, and as with any state, you have to work at it to maintain it.

You reap what you sow. You can't be happy unless you're successful, and you can't get there until you put the work into it. It's like when people say, "I'll be successful when I'm rich." Well, no...you'll be rich when you're successful, and when you're successful, you can live by your own definition of rich.

Now if only I could put that into practice. Oh, hey, that's where I want to be in 3 years.

I want to have clear goals and to be working toward them. I want to be in a state of mind where putting in the work is something I do even if I don't feel like it. I want to control my impulses toward immediate gratification by keeping my eye on the prize of lasting change and success.

I want to bear in mind that goals need not be rigid and cast in stone; they simply need to be. Solid goals are S.M.A.R.T.: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-specific.

If you don't write down your goals and review them regularly, they aren't goals...they're merely dreams.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

wooÐs

Emotions running high atm!

Post deleted.

SecretMethod70

Sometimes it seems we have a fair bit in common Baraka. Note, my "goals" above are still somewhat nebulous. I recognize the value of goals, but I do have a difficult time setting them and persistently working toward them.

I really like that S.M.A.R.T. acronym. I'm gonna write that down.

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Le temps détruit tout

"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

Baraka_Guru

Yeah, each of these points is important. If you are weak on any one of them, or if it's nonexistent, it becomes that much more difficult to achieve something. For your benefit, and for the benefit of the thread, here is an example of a S.M.A.R.T. goal:

To increase my annual income to $50,000 by the end of 2011 by taking an extra 2 or 3 hours each week to attend courses/workshops/seminars, read books/magazines/journals, and otherwise increase my level of skills and knowledge related to my industry.

Here is the same thing translated into a dream:

I want to make $50,000 a year.

Or worse:

I want to make more money.

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

Vigilante

You are the fucking man.

Where would I like to be in 3 years? On a secluded tropical beach, getting laid. Job-wise? Living off my lottery ticket.

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We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.
-Winston Churchill