Saket Vora

The following has been expanded upon and developed from an IM conversation.

Back in late August, as I was preparing for the formal interviews at Apple, I chatted with my friend Melih, who also been thinking some big thoughts recently, as he is profoundly apt to do. He gave me an interview practice question:

“Where do you want to be in 5 years?”

We’ve all heard it before, and I started to take a step back to let the question roll around in my head. After all, this was a confusing time. Freshly minted graduate degree from one of the finest institutions in the world in my hand, an inner understanding that there is so much more to learn about, and torn between career paths and opportunities. So I parried.

“With the way that question is phrased, there is almost an implicit assumption of ‘progress’.”

What does ‘where’ refer to? A position on an org chart? Geographically in the world? Where along in a relationship? Where along in starting a family?  Perhaps its natural for us to figuratively map these factors onto the common progressions of the general order of life, and judge, like horses along a race track.

“It’s interesting — a form of that question is semantically intended to mean one thing, but the question is unintentionally tinted depending on what specific word is used. There’s the common “what do you want to be in 5 years?”, but consider the question “how do you want to be in 5 years?” How might one’s answer change? Or more intriguingly: “why do you want to be in 5 years?”

So I took a shot.

Where do you want to be in 5 years?

• Career — an influential person in a small-ish company, ideally in the greentech sector or similar.
• Location — not sure. Bay Area still? Too early to tell.
• Relationship — Ideally, married. Or at least engaged.
• Family — couple years away? Too early to tell.

What do you want to be in 5 years?

• An entrepreneur or professional engaged in the greentech/cleantech field, ideally.
• A person who gives back — to family, to friends, to the community, to society.

I don’t put words like ‘successful’ or ‘respected’ or ‘rich’ here, because if I stay true to my core values, then these will come — and they’ll come from the people that matter to me.

How do you want to be in 5 years?

• Happy during the week, happy on the weekends. Excited at work, excited at home.
• Curious. Without curiosity, the world becomes a boring place.
• Motivated (or is ‘determined’ a better word?). As years go by, one can lose energy or start settling for compromises. Retaining the motivation and determination to continue to improve (at work, at home, at relationships, in society, in the world) is important. I don’t want to lose sight of that.

Why do you want to be in 5 years?

• So I can help the people I care about — hospitality, advice, career, a shoulder to lean on. If I’m gone, I can’t do that.
• To help move the ball forward in solving the problems the world is facing today. Whether it’s technological, political, or social problems; whether it’s in my backyard or halfway around the world. I believe I’m capable of playing a role in these endeavors, and I want to an opportunity to contribute.
• Because if I want to honor everything my family and friends have done for me, I’m going to need a lot more than 5 years!

So there’s my response. Let’s see how these change over the years. Thanks for reading.