Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
By: Ashok Rout
Tags: Short Story, Storyteller, Storytelling, Writing, Stories

“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”

I stared at the screen. The interviewer appeared to be in his 40s sitting there in the comfort of his couch. The monotony in his tone clearly indicated his tiredness. The virtual placement interviews are kind of easy compared to the live ones. The nervousness is hugely reduced when you are answering questions, sitting in your home. But this question stumped me. I know for many it would be a piece of cake to just blabber out anything just to cater to the interviewee’s good list factors. But for me, it was a tough one to answer.

“Where do you want to see yourself in 10 years?” He rephrased but his voice were becoming feeble to my ears as I was lost in thought.

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“Stay Relevant to the Potential Job: The most important aspect of your answer to the question is how it relates to the job you are applying for. No matter what your plans are for the next 10 years- you must communicate whatever aspect relates to the job in order for your answer to be successful.” Nisha madam explained.

Nisha Mathur was the placement training teacher assigned to our batch. She had been training students on how to appear for interviews for 5 years now. I wondered how mundane it would have been for her to teach the same stuff for 5 years.

“I am giving you a sample, listen carefully.” she continued.

“Since the start of my career, I have had my ideal career path in mind, and this company definitely supports it. My ideal career is one where my ideas are heard and in which I am making a real impact. I can see myself further developing my skill set in this role and eventually have more leadership tasks here. I see myself being even more confident in this field, with more knowledge and experiences. I hope to grow with the company and lead others in reaching their own career goals.”

“What bullshit is this!” Raj whispered into my ears.

“What? why?”

“Wait, you think this shit is appropriate to say? I mean how can you plan out your lives like that. I don’t even know what I am going to do tomorrow.” he chuckled.

I kept quiet. Raj never really cared about studies anyway. I felt sorry for him that he didn’t have any plan in life. I mean how do you not have a plan? Everyone has to had one. I had one. I had my plan.

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“What is your plan after college, beta?” Saxena uncle asked while dipping the Parle g in the tea.

“What uncle?” I had heard him the first time, but needed to buy time for me to be able to answer the question.

“After college, what are you planning to do?” He rephrased.

“I haven’t thought that far yet” I tried to dodge it.

“He is just being shy Saxena ji, he is aiming to work for Amazon or Microsoft, the big league ones. He has already made many apps. Bete, show your apps to uncle.” My father butted in. Now I was standing awkwardly trapped in this awkward situation.

Truth was I had joined a app development course because my father asked me to because his colleague’s son was also enrolled into it. I had built one clone app of a calculator in which I basically copied code from internet.

Fighting through the embarrassment I showed the app. Saxena uncle was impressed. I looked at my father and saw him happy. I could see that the appreciation by Saxena uncle for me meant more to him than to me.

“This app is really good beta. You have started good, if you keep this up you will end up in Amazon in no time.”

“Thank you uncle.” I replied half heartedly. My head wasn’t there in the moment.

Do I even want to go to amazon? Why would I? But I looked at my parents and I got my answer. I had to.

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“Hello? Am I audible? Hello?”

“Ye…Yes, sir”

“You didn’t answer my question. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”

I stared at the screen again, my lips tightened. I looked behind my laptop to see my parents excitedly sitting and waiting for me. I took a deep breath. My eyes became wet, I looked back at screen and replied.

“Since the start of my career, I have had my ideal career path in…”