Question

What motivates you?

Answer 1

Bad answer: "Doing a good job and being rewarded for it.”  

It’s not that this answer is wrong – it’s just that it wastes an opportunity. This question is practically begging you to highlight your positive attributes. So don’t give a vague, generic response – it tells them very little about you. Instead, try and use this question as an opportunity to give the interviewer some insight into your character, and use examples where possible. 

Good answer: “I’ve always been motivated by the challenge of meeting a tough deadline – in my last role, I was responsible for a 100% success rate in terms of delivering our products on time and within budget. I know that this job is very fastpaced, and deadline-driven – I’m more than up for the challenge. In fact, I thrive on it.” 

Answer 2

Interview questions:

Answer tips/answer samples:

This question is rather common and not a specifically designed for any interview. The interviewer, simply, wants to understand your incentive to apply for the job, and more importantly, the motivation to develop in one career. You may answer as to your preferences, make up one or address your true motivations, however, there are still some tips that you should pay attention to: base the answers on your experience and background and support your answers with examples of your achievements and work you have done in the past, which should necessarily be true.

For examples:

• A few year ago, when I was responsible for an investment project and leading a team and our performance was one of the best among all the teams of the corporation. Being appraised for such was one of the best moment in my life, and that has put incentive for me to try my best to complete my projects since then.

• I am motivated by the satisfaction of my employer. When I do my job excellently, I know my employer will be satisfied, and that keeps me going on enhancing my performance.