Understanding Motivation for Your Interview

​When interviewing, employers are assessing three things: skills, motivation, and cultural fit.

Motivation comes to the forefront as we experience obstacles in pursuit of our goals. How did you handle the obstacles? What skills did you use to overcome the obstacle? 

If you struggle to answer these questions, spend some time with them. You will need to build your own understanding of when you've felt in flow, before you can describe these situations, behaviors, and factors to others.

Sample Questions About Motivation
Visit the linked articles for additional information and sample questions.

Source: Susan M. Heathfield, "Job Interview Questions About Motivation for Employers to Ask," TheBalance.com, (https://www.thebalance.com/motivation-job-interview-questions-for-employers-to-ask-1918749 : 17 Jul 2017) Updated 1 Jul 2017

• Imagine that five years from now you have received a coveted national award. Why did you receive the award, what is the award, and what are the circumstances under which you are receiving the award?
• What goals, including career goals, have you set for your life?
• Describe a work situation in which you can demonstrate that you encouraged the motivation of another person.
• You are assigned to participate on a team that has several members who are not motivated to work hard and contribute. How have you in the past, or would you, if you were to experience it, approach this motivation situation?
• What role does your manager or supervisor play in your personal motivation at work?

Source: Marcel Schwantes, "20 Behavioral Interview Questions to Test If Job Candidates Have High Motivation," Inc.com (https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/20-interview-questions-that-will-tell-you-if-job-candidates-are-highly-motivated.html : 18 Jul 2017) Written 17 May 2017

Schwantes highlights behavior-based questions that showcase the motivated behaviors sought by employers. He then adds questions that are utilized to help the interviewer understand the candidates motivating factors.

• Everyone has good days and bad days at work. Take your time and think back to a really good day you had and tell me why it was a good day.
• How do you maintain self-motivation when you experience a setback on the way to achieve your goal? How do you do it?
• If you find yourself working with a team that is not motivated, how do you keep yourself motivated and motivate others?
• Describe the work environment or culture in which you are most productive and happy.
• Tell me about the job position that satisfied you the most. How about the least? What made each one more or less satisfying to you?

Source: Lou Adler, "Using the One-question Interview to Measure Motivation" ERE. Media (http://www.ere.net/2010/02/05/using-the-one-question-interview-to-measure-motivation/ : 17 Jul 2017) Written 5 Feb 2010

​This interview starts with one question focused on performance:

• What is the candidate expected to achieve on the job (candidates can make their best guess)?

Plus follow up questions:​​

• Related to this accomplishment, give me a few examples of where you went the extra mile.
• ​What aspects of this work did you enjoy the most?
• What did you have to learn to do this work, and how did you do it?
• Were there any times you had to go 24/7?
• What did you like least about the work — where you had to struggle to get going?
• Were there any aspects of the work you didn’t like, but you pushed on through anyway?
• What aspects of the work gave you the most personal satisfaction?
• It’s actually nothing more than asking the candidate to describe an accomplishment comparable to each of the required performance objectives.

Showcasing your motivation to do the work, can be the differentiator that gets you hired. 

Understand your motivation and develop stories that demonstrate your motivation and accomplishments.

For more about interviewing, check out the Interviewing Resource page.

Image source: "Trucks: Chevy Advance Design Truck and '40 Ford Coupe billet hotrod," Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/95319912@N03/8690098363/ : 18 Jul 2017) Created "Tap Tapzz" on 6 Aug 2012