One reason interviewers ask this question is to see if you're settling for this position, using it merely as a stopover until something better comes along. Or they could be trying to gauge your level of ambition.

If you're too specific, i.e., naming the promotions you someday hope to win, you'll sound presumptuous.  If you're too vague, you'll seem rudderless.

BEST ANSWER:   Reassure your interviewer that you're looking to make a long-term commitment.that this position entails exactly what you're looking to do and what you do extremely well.  As for your future, you believe that if you perform each job at hand with excellence, future opportunities will take care of themselves.

Example:  "I am definitely interested in making a long-term commitment to my next position.  Judging by what you've told me about this position, it's exactly what I'm looking for and what I am very well qualified to do.  In terms of my future career path, I'm confident that if I do my work with excellence, opportunities will inevitable open up for me.  It's always been that way in my career, and I'm confident I'll have similar opportunities here."

Here's what the resume advice company Resume Edge recommends as a sample answer to the question, "Where do you see yourself in ten years?"

In ten years, I endeavor to have refined my strategic and client relations skills. I intend to be a leading expert in estate planning. After having proven myself as a senior manager, I hope to help shape the strategic direction of estate planning services. I could do this in any number of official roles. The important thing is that I will continue contributing my abilities in a challenging and rewarding environment.

• While it is not usually a good idea to try to be a Jim Carey in an interview, depending on how things have gone and who you are dealing with, you might inject a little humour here and ask: "When do you expect to be promoted?" ....or "When are you moving on?... This could easily break the ice. Seriously, you can easily respond that you have no idea as you have no idea what you are capable of so far, although you know it is a lot. Therefore, you want to make sure you are open and flexible to whatever opportunites present themselves. If you actually know what you want to be when you grow up, you could offer to conduct a seminar on how to actuate that.

• You know when you come to that common situation where someone asks you "Where do you see yourself in five years?" Yea you should call a person on that because that question is silly! You have no idea where you'll be in five years nor should you worry. I mean how depressing can that question actually be? If someone asked me that question five years ago I wouldn't have predicted my life to be like this nor would I have wanted to say my life would be like this, I'm not saying I'm unhappy with my life necessarily its just that in a span of five years a persons likes and dislikes change, the people around them either disappear, reappear, or show up for the first time. The things you once loved could become something you hate or vice versa. Aspirations change and feelings lose their magic. Yes you can say what you'd like to see happen in five years but I'm pretty sure it won't and five years from now when you look back on yourself answering that question you'll probably no longer want the same things. There's always hope but no definite so all you can do is live life like you have those five years to look back on...

• When an interviewer asks this question, they're asking where you see yourself within a company. They don't want to hear you say, "Well, in five years, I will be married to a handsome European man, touring the South Pacific in our yacht with a maitai in my hand." They want something like, "Well, that will depend on my individual performance and on the opportunities I'm presented with, but ideally, I will be..." Even if you're going, "Yeah, like I'll be here in 5 years..." act like you will be. They don't want to hear you saying you'll essentially use them to get where you want, and the minute the opportunity is presented jump ship.
• Some might think that you should not tell the interviewer that you want to move up the ladder of success, because they will fear that you might replace them or move on to another job. However, most would recommend that you answer with just the opposite: that you do want to be successful. A good manager wants his employees to be successful and grow in their careers because that benefits the whole company. If they don't want this, you don't want to work for them. As for the actual standards of success and specific career paths, they are very different for different people and different industries. It is most important to show that you do want to be successful.
• Think educationally-- higher degree? certification? Think leadership-- at least one step up from where you are at now.

This is a very common job interview question. Think carefully about your plans. Really answer it for yourself, Where do you see yourself in five years? Where do you hope to be?

The interviewer is looking to find out a few things with this question. First, are you the type of person who plans ahead and sets goals? You should be. Second, do your goals match those of the company and the position? Your goals need to fit the career path for the job. They don't want to lose you in a year or two.