How to answer “What motivates you?” in job interviews

You have applied for a position. You’ve polished your resume and written a professional cover letter. Then it happens. You receive the long-awaited interview request. Landing an interview is a wonderful feeling, but like any part of the job search process, it requires careful preparation to ensure you showcase your skills, experience and unique personality in the best way possible.

As you prepare for your upcoming interview, it’s probably occurred to you that answering the question “What motivates you?” in interviews tends to cause you to stumble, an awkward pause, an incomprehensible answer, or some combination of the three. In this guide, we’ll help you understand the purpose of this question and how to answer it in a way that impresses.

The purpose of this tricky job interview question

When a hiring manager asks “What motivates you?” or another common iteration of that question, such as “What drives you?” or “What inspires you?” they’re ultimately looking to see if your personal motivations will be a good fit about the position and company culture.

For example, if someone is looking to hire a team leader for a position in retail, they will be looking for someone who is motivated to work with others, inspire employees, and interact well in a team environment. Conversely, if they’re hiring for a back-office job that requires a lot of time spent in isolation working on spreadsheets, they probably want to find someone data- and analytics-driven.

They will also take into account the company culture of the business. If they’ve built a culture around integrity, safety, and innovation, they’ll want to find a new employee who finds motivation in those core values.

Preparing for the “What motivates you?” question

To prepare for the “What motivates you?” question, the best thing you can do is spend some time before your interview in self-reflection. Do not leave this question for a direct answer. As you consider your answer, it may help to ask yourself the following questions:

• In previous jobs, when was I the best?
• What helped motivate me to work my hardest at my previous job?
• What comes to mind when I think of the best work experience I’ve ever had?

As you ponder these questions, you may begin to see patterns emerge. Perhaps you are a sociable, team-oriented individual. When you think back to your best days at work, you remember working with colleagues to achieve goals or brainstorming with your manager to solve problems together.

Maybe you’ll walk away noticing that your favorite projects involve a deep dive into analytics. You were driven by results and saw the numbers progress. This can help you understand that your motivation lies in the data.

Once you have a rough idea of ​​your personal motivation at work, take a moment to think of specific examples of when you were highly motivated on a project or in a specific role. When answering this question in an interview, you’ll want to provide a detailed example, ideally with specifics of how your motivation led to specific accomplishments.

What you should and shouldn’t answer

With a rough idea of ​​your answer in place, take the time to check your answer against these general dos and don’ts.

Dos:

• Provide work-related examples. Make sure the stories you tell demonstrate professional achievement.
• Let your personality shine. Remember, the hiring manager wants to better understand who you are and how you will fit into their organization.
• They do research. Before going to the interview, be sure to carefully review the job listing. You can often tell what a hiring manager is looking for in motivation from the job posting. This allows you to craft a response that fits the role well, while being honest about your personal motivating factors.

What not to do

• Don’t lie about what motivates you to find a job. For example, if you enjoy working in teams and interacting with people, but you know that a company is looking for someone who is happy to work alone doing manual data entry, don’t lie about your motivation. You may end up in a job you don’t like.
• Don’t rattle. Try to keep your answer to the point. Avoid telling long stories or getting into your personal life.
• Don’t mention any negatives. Make sure you discuss positive motives and not something that has a negative aspect. For example, trying to fly under management’s radar is not a good answer to what motivates you to do well at work.

Examples of how to answer “What motivates you?”

If you need a good starting point to compose your answer, read the following examples. Remember, you want to make your answer your own. Authenticity goes a long way in the interview process.

Example 1 (Team role):

I have always thrived in a team environment where I can partner and collaborate with colleagues. Recently, in my role as Communications Specialist, I have been working in constant tandem with our Learning Specialist and our Marketing Specialist. Together, we drove employee engagement by launching an internal app that offered company-wide messaging, customized training plans, and important information about ongoing marketing promotions. When I have the chance to work with others, I feel empowered to give my best.

Example 2 (Data Focused Role):

I thrive when given a complex data set with instructions to create comprehensive reports from the web of information. In my last job, I was responsible for combining data from 12 different departments into one easy-to-digest report for senior management. Solving complex problems and spending hours crunching numbers is what makes me tick.

Example 3 (management role):

What inspires me at work is helping others discover their talents and apply them at work. As a team leader in my previous two roles, I helped recruit, train and mentor new hires as they joined our team. Every day I wanted to show up and do my best, which helped inspire those around me to do their best as well. I believe that quality leadership is about empowering those around you to use their strengths while helping them with their weaknesses.

Example 4 (customer-oriented role):

I am passionate about providing the highest quality customer service possible. I like to go the extra mile to ensure the customer is happy and leaves our interaction on a positive note. In my last position, I won the annual Customer Obsession award in recognition of my focus on delighting our customers. For me, taking care of my clients brings me personal and professional satisfaction.

Bonus tips for answering tough interview questions

Answering an interview question, such as the “What motivates you?” question, can feel challenging. Often this requires thinking on your feet and adapting to the interview as it is taking place. However, there are a few things you can do to prepare for any tough question you’re asked:

• Try to find out as much as possible about the interview beforehand. While chances are good that you won’t find an exact list of questions, you can often use the Internet to find out if previous interviewees have listed common questions from the company. Also, if possible, find out whether you will be interviewing individually or with a group. This can help you gauge what types of questions you are most likely to be asked.
• Practice providing your answers with a friend or family member. Thinking about how you will answer the interview questions is a good start, but actually speaking your answers out loud can help you polish them further. Ask a friend or family member to interview you with common questions and test your answers.
• When possible, stick to specific examples. Vague answers to questions like, “I like people,” don’t help the hiring manager position you in a specific role. As much as possible, use real-life examples from previous work experience to make your point.
• Continue with your own questions. For example, after being asked what motivates you, consider asking a question about the company’s culture or how the manager strives to motivate his employees. This shows that you are also looking to make sure the match is good.

You can also check out our Behavioral Interview Questions page – 73 sets, each containing 30 job-specific questions unique to Ladders.