A friend of mine has an interesting take on what he calls “annoying interview questions” – and that includes questions about where you see yourself five years from now. (Others are about your greatest strength or weakness.)
While there’s certainly no one “right” answer for a question like that, some approaches work better than others.

OSE ANNOYING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS by L. Bosco
Interviews are a pain in the neck!
Ideally you want to see if there’s a good fit between you and the employer. But most interviews are full of those “pat questions” that have been written up endlessly in books and even on blogs where so-called experts give job applicants handy-dandy “pat answers” to those over-used “pat questions.” So basically both sides could just as well e-mail in their parts and save everyone a lot of time. It’s a rare interviewer who knows how to create a really informative interview.
So job seekers must still sit through these often painful interviews (some where the interviewer is barely listening) and be prepared to answer these same silly questions: What is your greatest weakness? What are your strengths? How would you handle an angry customer?
And, my personal not-favorite: “Where do you want to be in 5 years?”
I always want to answer that last one with something like “living in Bora Bora on my lotto winnings” or “King of Siam” or at least “Sophia’s latest lover.” (The name mentioned to be filled in by you based on your own gender, age, preferences, and imagination.)
(Note from Work Coach: Uh…I’m not recommending you do that!)
It is a question where virtually any answer can get you into trouble, since you don’t know your interviewer. If you aim too high, you might come off as too ambitious and either won’t be around long enough to cover the cost of training or you’ll threaten their own position. If you aim too low, you lack initiative and won’t