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

You’ve applied for a position. You polished your resume, and you wrote a professional cover letter. Then it happens. You get the eagerly anticipated request for an interview. Landing an interview is a wonderful feeling, but just like every 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 will probably dawn on you that answering “What motivates you?” in interviews tends to cause a stumble, awkward pause, rambling response, or some combination of all 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 this question, such as “What drives you?” or “What inspires you?” they are ultimately looking to see whether or not your personal motivations will be a good fit for the position and the company culture.

For example, if someone is looking to hire a team lead for a retail position, they will look for someone motivated by working with others, inspiring employees, and interacting well in a team setting. Conversely, if they were hiring for a back-office job that requires large amounts of time spent in isolation working on spreadsheets, they probably want to find someone driven by data and analytics.

Additionally, they will factor in the business’ company culture. If they have built a culture around integrity, safety, and innovation, they will want to find a new hire that finds motivation in these 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. Don’t leave this question for an off-the-cuff response. As you think through your answer, it can help to ask yourself the following questions:

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

As you reflect on these questions, you might start to see patterns emerging. Perhaps you are an outgoing, team-oriented individual. When you think about your best days at work, you recall working with coworkers to achieve goals or brainstorming with your manager to solve problems together.

Maybe you will walk away noticing that your favorite projects involved a deep dive into analytics. You were driven by results and seeing numbers move forward. This might help you realize that your motivation lies in data.

After you have created a rough idea of your personal motivation at work, take some time to think of concrete examples of when you were highly motivated on a project or in a specific role. When you answer this question in an interview, you will want to provide a detailed example, ideally with specifics about how your motivation led to concrete accomplishments.

The dos and don’ts of answering

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

The dos:

• Do provide job-related examples. Make sure that the stories you tell showcase a professional achievement.
• Do allow your personality to shine. Remember, a hiring manager wants to better understand who you are and how you’ll fit within their organization.
• Do research. Before heading to the interview, make sure you carefully review the job listing. You can often find out what a hiring manager is looking for as motivation from the job ad. This allows you to create an answer that matches the role well while still being honest about your personal motivating factors.

The don’ts

• Don’t lie about what motivates you to land a job. For example, if you love working on teams and interacting with people, but you know a company is looking for someone happy to work alone doing manual data entry, don’t lie about your motivation. You might wind up in a job that you dislike.
• Don’t ramble. 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 that you discuss positive motivations rather than 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 on the job.

Examples of how to answer “What motivates you?”

If you need a good jumping-off point for composing 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-based role):

I have always thrived in team environments where I get to partner and collaborate with colleagues. Recently, in my role as a communications specialist, I worked in constant tandem with our training specialist and our marketing specialist. Together, we drove employee engagement by launching an internal app that offered company wide announcements, personalized training plans, and important information about current marketing promotions. When I have the chance to work with others, I feel empowered to deliver my best.

Example 2 (Data-focused role):

I thrive when I’m handed a complex set of data with instructions to create comprehensive reports from the web of information. In my last job, I was in charge of combining data from 12 different departments into one easily digestible report for upper management. Solving complex problems and spending hours pouring over the numbers is what makes me tick.

Example 3 (Management role):

Helping others discover their talents and apply them to the job is what inspires me at work. As a team lead in my previous two roles, I helped onboard, train, and mentor new employees as they joined our team. Every day, I wanted to show up and provide my best, which helped inspire those around me to deliver their best as well. I believe quality leadership is about empowering those around you to put their strengths to work while assisting them with their weaknesses.

Example 4 (Customer-centric role):

I am passionate about delivering the highest quality customer service possible. I love going the extra mile to ensure that a customer is satisfied 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 customers 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, it requires thinking on your feet and adapting to the interview as it takes place. However, there are a few things you can do to help prepare for any tough question that gets thrown your way:

• Try to find out as much about the interview as possible beforehand. While the odds are good that you won’t find an exact list of questions, you can often use the internet to find out if any previous interviewees have listed common questions from the company. Also, if possible, find out if you’ll be interviewing one-on-one or with a panel. This can help you gauge what types of questions you’re most likely to be asked.
• Practice delivering your answers with a friend or family member. Thinking through how you’ll answer 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 concrete examples. Vague answers to questions, such as “I enjoy people,” don’t help a hiring manager picture you in a specific role. As much as possible, use real-life examples from previous work experience to showcase your point.
• Follow up with your own questions. For example, after you are asked what motivates you, consider following up with a question about the company’s culture or how the manager seeks to motivate their employees. This showcases that you are also looking to ensure the match is a good fit.

You can also take a look at our page of behavioral interview questions – 73 sets, each containing 30 job-specific questions, unique to Ladders.