What motivates you? What gets you out of bed every morning?
(Other than the thought of coffee, that is). If you're preparing for a job interview, you already know to expect common interview questions about your background and experience. It's likely that the hiring manager will ask you more in-depth questions, too—questions centered around what makes you uniquely you.
The interview question "What motivates you?" is one such question. It's a succinct way to ask a candidate what they value, what purposes drive them, and what they find inspiring.
If you're the candidate, the challenging part of this question is that it's open-ended. It's more difficult to answer than, say, a question about being a good fit and what qualifies you for the job. There's more to answering it than listing off your previous experience or your hard skills.
To that end, we've created a three-step process that will help you determine what really does motivate you so that you're prepared with a well-thought-out, insightful, and honest answer when faced with this question.
What Is Motivation?
Before we dive into how to answer this question, let's get a concrete understanding of what motivation actually is.
Psychology Today defines motivation as "the desire to act in service of a goal. It's the crucial element in setting and attaining our objectives." In other words, motivation is that special "something" that makes you inspired to achieve what you want to achieve, whether that's a 5K, a fulfilling career, or a cross-country move.
What's more, there are two general types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is a kind of motivation that's found within. It's that spark inside that makes you want to achieve something—just for the sake of working toward it. It's that feeling of fulfillment you get when you're working on something that's meaningful to you.
Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is the kind of motivation that is fueled by outside sources. If you're externally motivated, you might choose to work hard on a task because you'll be rewarded for it through compensation or a "pat on the back," rather than finding the "reward" in the work itself.
Generally, in a job interview, you're going to want to have your answer to "What motivates you?" skew toward intrinsic motivation. Most hiring managers are looking to see that a job candidate has an inner drive that helps fuel them—not that you are only working for the sake of external rewards, whether the reward is a job title, money, or other "outside" motivators.
A note: We are all motivated by a combination of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators—and there's nothing wrong with that. It's okay to want a specific title after you've spent years working toward it. It's okay (and good!) to desire a fair salary for the hard work and time you put into your career.
But for the sake of the interview question, answering with more of your intrinsic motivators is likely to be more relevant.
Why Interviewers Ask About Motivation
For starters, asking what motivates a candidate is a genuinely helpful job interview question. If an interviewer or hiring manager asks you this, they hope to determine what drives you—and how your particular drive fits into the company culture.
For example, if the company at which you're interviewing has a "nose to the grindstone" culture, they might look for an answer that emphasizes hard work, the intrinsic reward you get from working on meaningful projects, or the fulfillment you find from working with a team.
On the other hand, an organization that puts work and life balance at the forefront of its culture might look for an answer that mentions the purpose you find in your work and in your personal life. They might be curious to better understand your career goals and passions.
This question might also allow a recruiter to learn about your work style. If your answer mentions relationships, they might learn that you're motivated by working as part of a team and that you value team camaraderie.
If you mention that you get a sense of accomplishment and pride from working toward the "greater good," they might learn that you're an empathetic, enthusiastic employee who cares a lot about the company's mission. If you mention that you love diving into a project and problem-solving, they'll understand that you're a strategic thinker.
In short, the sources of motivation that you mention in your answer can help your hiring manager gather valuable insight about you as a potential employee.
Now, time for a little homework and some self-reflection, which is helpful for answering open-ended questions. Let's explore what motivates you to leave that pillow-top mattress every morning and dive into work.
How to Answer "What Motivates You?"
Sometimes, what motivates you is the promise of a big bowl of ice cream after a long day. Sometimes, it's the promise of a sunny Saturday spent in the company of some sand and waves. Yep, these are some pretty solid motivators.
Professionally speaking, your motivations are going to be a little different.
At work, motivation comes from finishing great projects, launching a new product receiving positive feedback, or learning (and mastering) a new skill set. When determining what motivates you—or what could motivate you—we created this easy three-step process.
Let's motivate.
Step 1: Pull some key phrases from the job description.
We can't stress enough how much of a cheat sheet the job description is for every interview. When used correctly, the job post or job description *literally* has may of the answers to these questions; your only job is to tailor these answers to yourself.
We recommend printing out the job description so that you can take notes and mark it up. You'll want to highlight some key phrases that you see that you'd consider motivators.
These might be things like: "the ability to effectively multitask" or "strong collaborative teamwork."
For example, if the job description lists "strong collaborative teamwork" as a requisite, highlight that phrase.
Once you've gone through and highlighted some of the items from the job description that seem to stand out and align with your own motivators, you'll have a starting place. You can use those as a baseline to think through your motivating factors.
In our example, if the job description emphasizes collaboration, you might expand on how much you enjoy—and find motivation from—working with team members.
Some other examples of key phrases you can pull from a job description are:
- Motivated self-starter
- Results-driven
- Driven by deadlines
- Strong collaborator
- Strong project management skills
- Ability to take initiative
- Strong cross-functional experience
- Ability to work independently
- Intellectual curiosity
- Test-and-learn mentality
- Data-driven approach
- Team-leadership abilities
- Build effective relationships
- Demonstrated thought leadership
- Ability to manage multiple projects at once
- Demonstrated reliability and flexibility
Step 2: Think of your best work day ever.
We all have bad days at work, but let's talk about those banner days you sometimes have. Close your eyes and think about that day. Perhaps you received amazing feedback from your boss or a stellar review from a client.
Maybe you completed a project that you'd been working on for months and felt proud of the way it turned out. Maybe the type of work you were doing that day felt totally in line with your interests.
Didn't that feel pretty dang good? Did it motivate the heck out of you?
Isolate those great days. Think about why they were great. Was it because you finally landed a huge client you had been wooing for the last few months? Was it because you were chosen for a leadership position? Did you create a killer presentation that impressed the C-level executives? Does your workplace or work environment provide you with the resources you need to perform at your highest level and that support is your biggest motivation for doing great work?
Gather the best days in your professional career. Think through why you felt proud and how they were motivating. Once you determine what made them so spectacular, you may be able to more easily pinpoint what motivates you the most.
Step 3: Tie steps one and two together (use your imagination).
If you've completed the first two steps, you now know what skills the position requires, what the organization deems important, and where the fuel from your past successes has come from. Now, marry the two—and imagine what motivation could look like in this new role.
Compare the position's skills and requirements against your own motivators. You'll probably notice some overlap happens organically. Once you know what they value and what you value, you'll be able to pinpoint some key motivators to highlight in your answer (not to mention, you'll have a better grasp on whether this position and their company culture is one that is well-suited to you).
We often talk about the importance of using stories in your interview answers. This is helpful when answering this question, too. When you're preparing, consider a time where you felt a strong sense of achievement or motivation at a previous role.
If you can eloquently weave that story into your answer for this interview question, even better. (We wrote an in-depth explanation of how to effectively answer behavioral interview questions using story circles. Trust us: this hack is a game-changer.)
Example Answers to "What Motivates You?"
We all have different personal motivators. What makes a great answer to "What motivates you?" is answering honestly—but being cognizant of their company values as well. Here are some examples of good answers.
Specific Example #1: In the context of my career, my motivation comes from successful teamwork, which is something that drew me to [ORGANIZATION]. The emphasis on teamwork and collaborative success at [ORGANIZATION] is attractive to me. My motivation comes from working collaboratively with a team—and really sharing our wins together. Specifically, I am extremely motivated when I am able to teach and to learn within a single team.
Specific Example #2: When it comes to my career, I'm motivated by feeling like I'm making a difference and helping others in some way. I find real satisfaction in participating in meaningful projects that are meant to do good, even if it's in a small way. That's one of the reasons I was drawn to [ORGANIZATION]. I think the company's mission is a really important one.
Specific Example #3: I tend to be motivated by projects that require in-depth analysis and strategic thinking. I find it rewarding to be a part of a team that digs in and solves a problem. In my previous job, I worked on [EXAMPLE PROJECT]. It was so rewarding to play a part of solving an issue that ultimately [RESULTS].
Other Interview Questions Like "What Motivates You?"
Like many interview questions, the "What motivates you?" prompt might come in different variations or even as follow-up questions. While the question may slightly vary, the interviewer is likely trying to determine the characteristics about you that we've discussed. Here are a few common iterations of the same question (to which you can apply our same three-step method).
- What gets you out of bed in the morning?
- What are you most passionate about?
- What were your biggest contributions at your previous job?
- What might a coworker say is the best thing about you?
- What is your favorite element of your job?
- What does an ideal day look like to you?
- What drives you?
- What strategies motivate you the most?
- What was the most rewarding part about your previous position?
