Career goals

What Interviewers Look For in Career Goal Questions

When interviewers ask about what your career goals are, they are looking for these qualities:

Realistic and informed goals
Motivated
Fits the school
Has purpose
Growth mindset
Flexibility

It is important that you understand that these may be your current goals and what drives you currently, but you make it clear that you’re flexible with these changing throughout your time on the course.

Using the STAR Structure

When answering this question, you could use the STAR structure:

S – Situation
T – Task
A – Action
R – Result

Example Structure

Situation

What experiences shaped your goals?
Have you had any experiences that have influenced or made you excited about an aspect of the course?
What values drive you the most, e.g. animal welfare?

Task

This is when you define what your actual goals are. You want them to be realistic but still show ambition. You could choose short-term or long-term goals, or a mixture of both.

Long-term goal examples: Specialisation in surgery
Short-term goal examples: Join a certain society in the university

Action

This is when you think about how you’re going to make your goals a reality and what you’re already doing to make them happen.

Result

What is the overall impact that you would like to make? Pick an impact that resonates the most with you.

An example could be that you want to improve access to veterinary care across the UK.

Final Note

Finally, finish this answer with a line that shows you’re open to adapting these goals and they are not set in stone.

Example – ‘Although these are my current goals, I know that veterinary medicine will expose me to lots of new areas that I haven’t yet explored, so I understand that my goals may evolve throughout my time on the course.’