‘What motivates you?’ A tough graduate student interview question

This question, a popular strength-based interview question, is one that throws many candidates because it’s very broad and easy to misinterpret, and it can throw you if you haven’t thought about it beforehand. The best answers to interview questions about your motivation are honest, but they should also relate to the job you’re going for, suggesting you’d be right for the job.

Get help answering tougher interview questions with our article on the top nine tough interview questions and answers.

Good answers to the question “what motivates you?”

A good answer to any interview question is short and uses eloquent details. Whatever you say about your motivation, you should support it with examples from your education, work experience and/or extracurricular activities, and it should relate to the skills and abilities required for the job you’re seeking.

You can practice answering this question by completing an interview using the resources available from our Shortlist.Me partners.

Here’s an overview of the kinds of experiences you might find motivating (although you should always make sure your answer is personal and related to your own experience, and give a specific example):

• meeting deadlines, targets or goals

• mentoring and training others

• learning new things

• coming up with creative ideas to improve something or create something new

• analyzing complex data to draw clear and simple conclusions

• works well as part of a team

• leading a team to success

• completing a difficult project and bringing it to completion

• detecting flaws and errors to ensure that the end result of the project is as good as possible

• finding a way to solve a problem or overcome a challenge.

When one of our intern editors was asked about her motivation in the interview, she said, “I’m motivated by meeting set goals within deadlines because it gives me a sense of accomplishment and it’s something I can look back on and to say, ‘I’ve achieved that’. I’m also motivated by visible results – for example, when I wrote an article for my student newspaper, I felt a sense of accomplishment knowing that up to 16,000 students would read it.”

This was a good answer because:

• it suited the type of work we do here at targetjobs: the work we do is deadline driven and visible (will be seen by students)

• seemed sincere and self-aware: she knows she’s motivated by whether her work will be seen, not just the work itself

• her example shows that she has relevant work experience, which is always an added bonus.

If you’re going into a job that’s highly goal-oriented and competitive, such as a sales role, a response along the lines of smashing targets, achieving financial rewards and being the best wouldn’t be out of place.

How to approach the graduate student interview question “what motivates you?”

As you prepare to answer this question, you should consider:

• What do you like to do? Think about your course and your wider interests. What do they have in common?

• What did you enjoy while working part-time or interning? What were you looking forward to? When you got home feeling like you had a good day, what tasks or projects did you tackle?

• What tasks do you do best? What kind of environment (busy, under deadline, noisy, quiet, etc.) do you work best in?

For example, are you good at working as part of a team? Do you work at your best when you have a looming deadline or are you falling apart?

Next, think about the skills the employer is looking for and the nature of the work you will be doing.

This question is

no

asking “What motivated you to apply for this role?”

Another job interview question you’re likely to be asked, which we cover in a separate article, is “What motivated you to apply for this role?” . Questions about your motivations for applying for a job or graduate scheme invite you to match your motivations in a specific way with the employer, industry and role.

Likewise, they don’t ask you “What are your career goals and aspirations?” although you could touch on them in your answer.

In contrast, “What motivates you?” asks: what motivates you in life in general? What (besides a loud alarm clock and a cup of industrial-strength tea) gets you out of bed in the morning?

Why do recruiters ask you what motivates you?

This question helps recruiters learn more about you as a person. Your answer may give them some insight into:

• what makes you tick

• what you like to do and what you value

• whether you would do well at work

• how you would fit into their team.

Motivation questions in strengths-based interviews

Motivation questions are typically used in strengths-based interviews that focus on what you like to do and what you do well. Other ways to ask about motivation include “What motivates you in life?” and “What interests you?”

Many graduate employers now use strengths-based assessments as part of their hiring process. Back in 2019, a survey of members of the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) found that 50% of employers now use some form of strengths-based approach as part of their recruitment process. So, it’s wise to be prepared for both strengths-based and competency-based questions, as you may be asked a mix of both, whether you’re facing a phone interview, a video interview or a face-to-face meeting face with the face recruiter.