Because you can’t get a job without being asked: “Where do you want to be in five years’ time?”

If you try to find a better job, sooner or later, you’re bound to be asked the interview question: “Where do you want to be in five years’ time?”

What you probably shouldn’t do is tell the truth: “Iceland. Or maybe Namibia. I’d be working on my latest book for a couple of hours a day, but mostly I’d be climbing volcanoes or trekking through the desert. After a month or two of travelling, I’d go back to my beautiful home in a small mountain town, and work on my latest project, globemaking, maybe. I’d have enough money not to have to work, of course, so I’d go on writing my books and making my globes not because I have to, but because I want to. Sorry, you did ask where I want to be in five years’ time, didn’t you?”

What you’re supposed to do is describe a position you could reasonably attain working your way up through the organization that’s interviewing you, balancing impressive ambition with impressive realism, always emphasizing how your rise would contribute to the organization’s rise. What you’re supposed to communicate to your interviewers is that all you want from life is to dedicate every last ounce of your time, energy and ingenuity to them.

What you should do is declare: “This interview is a charade! You’re asking a question to which the only acceptable answer is a lie. I refuse to work in a place where such dissimulation is a requirement. This interview is over!” And storm out.