I think it’s totally reasonable to expect people to have a plan. It’s also totally reasonable, and expected really, for that plan to change over time. But working without a plan, which implies working without goals, is rarely a recipe for success.
I'd expect that to matter more if you're, say, trying to be a founder - I can see that benefitting from intentional planning. But for careers at big companies, "learn and get better" seems good enough (and if that qualifies as a plan, I don't think I've worked with anyone that doesn't have a plan).
A candidate's intrinsic development goals become the basis of how managers can best motivate and retain employees. Without this, employees quickly stagnate and fall back to doing the bare minimum of their role. This is true of all levels and not just entry level.
though im nearly 20 years into my career i barely can predict where i'll be in one year, let alone five
for the first 10 years my only goal was to make more money and not hate work
not a great goal from a hiring manager perspective
as a hiring manager, i ask what folks like to do and see if that aligns with what we need them to do
I don't know you, so it's hard to draw much from what you're saying.