Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years? Avoid Disqualifier

// THE THREE THINGS YOUR INTERVIEWER IS SCORING YOU ON

// SIGNAL 1 — DIRECTION
// Do you have a sense of purpose?
// Weak:  "I just want to be successful and learn things."
// Strong: "I want to grow into a lead engineer role, which is why I'm
//          targeting companies with strong mentorship culture like yours."

// SIGNAL 2 — FIT
// Does your ambition match what this company/role can offer?
// Weak:  "I'd love to start my own business in a few years."
// Strong: "In five years, I see myself managing a team here and
//          contributing to product strategy at a senior level."

// SIGNAL 3 — SELF-AWARENESS
// Do you know what you're good at and what you still need to build?
// Weak:  "I'll probably be a VP by then, to be honest."
// Strong: "I know I still need to build my leadership experience,
//          and this role looks like the perfect place to start that."

// REMEMBER: They are not asking 'where will you be?'
// They are asking 'do you have direction, and does it point this way?'

// THE 3-PART ANSWER FORMULA — FILL IN YOUR OWN DETAILS

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// TEMPLATE (adapt this — don't memorise it word for word)
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────

// PART 1 — YOUR GROWTH GOAL
// "In five years, I see myself [role or skill level you're aiming for]."

// PART 2 — THE BRIDGE (connect it to THIS company/role)
// "This role appeals to me specifically because [what it offers
//  that moves you toward that goal — mentorship, scale, tech stack,
//  domain expertise, leadership opportunities, etc.]."

// PART 3 — THE CONTRIBUTION (what you'll give back)
// "By that point, I'd hope to be [contributing in a meaningful way
//  to the team, mentoring juniors, owning a product area, etc.]."

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// EXAMPLE: Fresh Graduate applying for Junior Developer role
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
/*
  "In five years, I'd love to be a mid-to-senior developer
   with strong expertise in backend systems and APIs.

   This role at your company is a great fit for that path —
   I know you work with distributed systems at scale, which is
   exactly the kind of challenge I want to grow through early
   in my career.

   By year four or five, I'd hope to be someone who can mentor
   the next round of junior engineers coming in, and maybe
   start contributing to architectural decisions on the team."
*/

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// EXAMPLE: Career Changer moving into UX Design
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
/*
  "In five years, I want to be a confident UX lead,
   specialising in accessibility and inclusive design.

   I'm particularly drawn to this role because your team
   works on products used by millions of people — that kind
   of scale is the best possible training ground for learning
   what actually works in design.

   Over time, I'd love to be the person on the team who
   champions accessibility in every product decision we make."
*/

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// CANDIDATE TYPE 1: Recent Graduate
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────

// ✗ WEAK ANSWER:
/*
  "Honestly, it's hard to say. I just want to be successful
   and keep learning. Maybe a manager? I'm not really sure yet."

   WHY IT FAILS: No direction. 'Keep learning' is what
   everyone says — it signals no real thought. 'Maybe a manager?'
   sounds accidental, not intentional.
*/

// ✓ STRONG ANSWER:
/*
  "I want to grow into a solid full-stack developer over the
   next five years — someone who can own a feature end-to-end
   and has real experience shipping at scale.

   This graduate programme stands out to me because you rotate
   engineers across front-end, back-end, and DevOps in the first
   two years. That's exactly the kind of broad foundation I want
   before specialising.

   Five years from now, I'd hope to be a go-to person for
   younger engineers joining the team — passing on what I've learned."
*/

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// CANDIDATE TYPE 2: Mid-Level Professional
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────

// ✗ WEAK ANSWER:
/*
  "I'd like to be in a senior position, maybe director level.
   I want to keep growing and taking on more responsibility."

   WHY IT FAILS: Vague seniority-chasing. No connection to this
   role. 'More responsibility' is hollow — everyone says it.
*/

// ✓ STRONG ANSWER:
/*
  "In five years, I want to be a senior product manager with
   deep expertise in B2B SaaS — specifically, I'm interested
   in how enterprise customers adopt and retain products.

   Your company is one of the few in this space that works
   with Fortune 500 clients at that complexity level, which is
   why this role genuinely excites me as a next step.

   By that point, I'd want to be driving strategy on one of
   your key enterprise verticals and helping scale what's
   working across the team."
*/

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// CANDIDATE TYPE 3: Career Changer
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────

// ✗ WEAK ANSWER:
/*
  "I've been in finance for seven years, so I'm looking for
   a fresh start. I don't know exactly where I'll be — I just
   want to try something new."

   WHY IT FAILS: 'Fresh start' and 'try something new' sound
   like you're running away from something, not toward something.
   This raises retention red flags immediately.
*/

// ✓ STRONG ANSWER:
/*
  "After seven years in finance, I've spent the last eighteen
   months deliberately building my data analysis skills —
   Python, SQL, and machine learning fundamentals.

   In five years, I want to be a data analyst who specialises
   in financial modelling and risk — combining my domain
   knowledge with technical skills that most pure analysts don't have.

   This role is specifically attractive because your team
   sits at the intersection of fintech and data, which is
   exactly the space I'm building toward."
*/

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// STARTUP CONTEXT — Emphasise ownership and adaptability
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
/*
  "In five years, I want to be someone who's helped build
   something from the ground up and genuinely shaped how
   a product evolves.

   Startups change fast, so I'm not locked to a specific
   title — but I want to be owning a significant piece of
   the technical architecture and mentoring a small team.

   What excites me about joining at your stage is that
   the decisions we make in the next two years will define
   the product for the next decade. I want to be part of that."
*/

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// LARGE CORPORATION — Emphasise progression and depth
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
/*
  "I'd love to grow into a senior role within your engineering
   org, ideally specialising in cloud infrastructure.

   I know you have a structured engineering career track,
   and that's part of what attracts me here — I want to
   develop within a team that has depth and rigour in how
   it grows people.

   In five years, I see myself contributing at a level where
   I'm helping set technical direction, not just implementing it."
*/

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// HANDLING THE FOLLOW-UP: "What are you doing RIGHT NOW
// to work toward that goal?"
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
/*
  ✓ STRONG RESPONSE:
  "I'm currently doing an AWS Solutions Architect course
   in the evenings — I'm about halfway through.

   I'm also building a personal project that deploys a
   containerised app using Kubernetes, specifically to
   get hands-on with the tech I'd be using in this role.

   And I've connected with a senior engineer in the cloud
   space who I check in with monthly — more of an informal
   mentor than anything formal."

  WHY IT WORKS: Three concrete actions. Shows discipline.
  Shows the goal isn't just talk — it's already in motion.
*/

// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
// HANDLING THE FOLLOW-UP: "What if your plan changes?"
// ─────────────────────────────────────────────
/*
  ✓ STRONG RESPONSE:
  "That's almost guaranteed to happen in some way.

   What I hold onto isn't a rigid plan — it's a direction.
   I know I want to grow in technical depth and eventually
   move into a leadership capacity. How that looks exactly
   in five years will depend on opportunities, the team
   I'm working with, and what I learn along the way.

   I'm a big believer in staying intentional but staying flexible."
*/

// io.thecodeforge — interview tutorial

def evaluate_answer(user_input: str) -> str:
    bad_signals = [
        "cto", "vp", "manager", "director",
        "just want to learn", "whatever you need",
        "interesting problems", "growth opportunity"
    ]
    
    signal_count = sum(
        1 for signal in bad_signals
        if signal in user_input.lower()
    )
    
    if signal_count >= 3:
        return "REJECT: No signal, just noise"
    elif signal_count >= 1:
        return "WEAK: Needs technical depth"
    return "PASS: Demonstrating direction"

print(evaluate_answer("I want to be a director who learns new tech"))

// io.thecodeforge — interview tutorial

TECHNICAL_DEPTH = "Can diagnose production incidents without a debugger"
BUSINESS_IMPACT = "Reduced cloud spend by 30% via caching strategy"
PREDICTABILITY = "Delivered Q2 roadmap within 8% variance"

def score_answer(depth: bool, impact: bool, predictable: bool) -> str:
    axis = [depth, impact, predictable]
    if all(axis):
        return "Senior+ — leads org"
    elif sum(axis) >= 2:
        return "Mid-level — solid IC"
    return "Junior — potential, needs scope"

print(score_answer(True, True, False))