INTERVIEWS

How to answer "What motivates you?"

This question asks what makes you want to do good work. Name one thing that drives you, tell one time it pushed you to do more and say where this job gives you more of it. Put a moment behind the motivator. A word like "success" gives them nothing to picture.

The interviewer wants to know two things: whether you know what keeps you going, and whether this job has it. If you love fixing things, they're listening for whether this job has enough to fix.

The common trap is a word anyone could say, like "I'm motivated by a challenge." The other is the answer you think they want to hear. If it doesn't match how you've worked, their follow-up questions will show it.

The structure: what drives you, a time it did, this job

Start with what drives you, in one sentence and in your own words: "I like finding the one number in a report that doesn't add up." Then tell one time it pushed you to do more: what happened, what you did and how it turned out. End with one sentence on where this job gives you more of it, and stop.

Aim for under a minute. Lead with one motivator. If you list three, none of them gets a moment, and they blur together. Write the motivator and the moment as a few words each, then say the answer out loud from those notes.

The short answer

If they want it quick: "I'm motivated by [what drives you]. [One sentence on a time it did.] [Where this job has it.]" Then stop and let them ask for the story.

What the interviewer listens for

One motivator, said plainly.
A real time it made you work harder or better.
Whether this job has that motivator, day to day.
That you know what you're like at work.
Whether it sounds like you or like an answer from a list.

How to find what motivates you

Think of a good day at work, school or volunteering. What were you doing when the time went fast?
Look at the tasks you volunteer for, and the ones coworkers hand you because you like them.
Ask what you'd miss if you left your job tomorrow.
Remember a thank-you you still think about. What had you done?
Look at what you do on your own time that looks like work, like fixing a friend's laptop or planning a group trip.
Then read the job posting. If your motivator shows up in the duties, lead with it. If it doesn't, pick another true one that does.

Motivators that work, made specific

Pick one that's true for you, then say it the way it shows up in your work:

Learning: "I like the first month in a new system, when I go from asking questions to answering them."
Solving problems: "I like the ticket nobody else could figure out."
Helping people: "I like the moment an upset customer relaxes because the problem is fixed."
Finishing things: "I like ending the day with nothing left on my list."
Hitting a goal: "I like having a number to beat each week."
Teaching: "I like it when a new hire stops needing to ask me."
Making things better: "I like finding the step in a process that wastes everyone's time."

Six sample answers

The people and places below are made up. Each answer names one motivator, tells one time it showed and says where the job has more of it. Read each one out loud with a timer. Each runs under a minute. Then swap in your own and keep the shape.

Customer support

"I'm motivated by fixing the problem before the customer hangs up. I work support for a company that makes card readers for small shops. One Saturday morning, a woman who sells honey at a farmers market called because her reader wouldn't connect to her tablet, and her line was already forming. I had her restart the reader, remove it from her tablet's Bluetooth list and pair it again. It connected in about four minutes, and she ran her first card sale while I was still on the line. On Monday, she emailed to say it was her best Saturday of the season. This job is weekend support, and those calls come from shops with customers waiting. They're the calls I like most."

Recent graduate

"What keeps me going is finding the number that doesn't add up. In my internship at a property management company, I matched each month's rent payments to the tenants' accounts. In June, three tenants showed as late, though their checks had cleared. Their payments had gone to the same unit numbers in our other building on the same street. I moved the payments before the late notices went out. Then I suggested we put the building number in front of every unit number, and my manager made that change the same week. This job is audit work, checking that a company's records match what really happened. That's the part of accounting I like most."

Sales

"I'm motivated by a number I can see move. I sell online ads for a regional newspaper, and I track my calls and sales every week. Last spring, I was behind my quarter's goal with five weeks left. I pulled every business that had bought an ad in the past two years and then stopped. I called 60 of them, met with 14 and signed 6 for summer ads, and I finished the quarter at 104% of my goal. The commission mattered, and I won't pretend it didn't. What kept me calling was watching the gap get smaller every Friday. This job pays on new accounts, and I do my best work when I can see exactly where I stand."

Apprentice electrician

"I'm motivated by work that passes inspection the first time. I'm in my second year as an apprentice electrician. Last month, my journeyman let me wire a detached garage, and he checked my work at each step. I labeled every circuit and kept my wire runs neat enough to follow by eye. The inspector passed the rough-in on the first visit. My journeyman told me that doesn't always happen on an apprentice's first garage. You wire a lot of new homes, and every one gets inspected, so I'd get to chase that first-visit pass all the time."

Career change

"I'm motivated by making work safer for the people doing it. For four years I was a yard lead at a lumberyard. One corner of our yard was blind, and forklifts and people on foot kept almost running into each other there. I logged every near miss for a month and counted six at that corner. I asked our manager for a mirror on the corner and a painted walkway for people on foot. In the three months after, we logged one. That's why I'm moving into safety. A safety coordinator finds corners like that one before someone gets hurt, and that's the part of my old job I'd do all day if I could."

Web designer

"I'm motivated by finding the step that makes people quit halfway and cutting it. I'm the designer for a car wash company with six locations. Our membership sign-up page asked for nine things, and most people who started it never finished. I cut it to the four we needed and put the monthly price at the top. Online sign-ups went from about 40 a month to about 110 within three months. You're rebuilding your online checkout this year, and that's the kind of work I like most."

What to leave out

Money as the whole answer. Pay alone doesn't set you apart. In a job that pays on commission, you can say the pay matters, as long as you also say what keeps you going.
A word with no moment behind it, like "success" or "a challenge."
A motivator this job doesn't have. If you love working alone and the job is all teamwork, ask yourself whether you want the job. If you do, lead with a different true one it does have.
Fear as your main reason, like "I don't want to get fired."
Complaints about your current job or your manager.
Your life story. If family is part of why you work hard, say it in one sentence, then get to the work.

How to say it

This answer is about what you care about, so say it like you do.

Say the motivator in your first sentence, in plain words. "I'm motivated by fixing the problem before the customer hangs up" is easy to picture. "I guess I'd say I'm kind of motivated by helping people" sounds unsure. "I guess," "I'd say" and "kind of" each back away from the point.
Let your voice rise and fall when you tell the moment, the way it does when you tell a friend a good story. If yours tends to stay on one note, see how to fix a monotone voice.
Bring your voice down on your last sentence, about the job, so it sounds settled. If your sentences tend to rise at the end, see how to stop upspeak.
Keep the moment short. One thing that happened, what you did and how it turned out is enough.

The same question in other words

"What drives you?", "What gets you out of bed in the morning?" and "What makes you tick?" all ask the same thing. So do "What motivates you at work?" and "What motivates you to do a good job?" Answer them the same way: what drives you, a time it did, this job.

"What motivates you in your career?" looks further ahead. Give your motivator, then the direction you want to grow in and how this job moves you that way. Skip job titles. There's more in how to answer "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?". "What demotivates you?" asks the reverse. Name something real and mild, like unclear goals, and say what you do when it happens. If this job is full of it, ask yourself whether you want the job. If you do, name a different one that's true.

Practice it out loud

The risk with this answer is sounding rehearsed or flat. Practice the way you'll give it: out loud and on a timer.

Write your motivator in one sentence, in your own words.
Under it, write the moment in a few words: what happened, what you did and how it turned out.
Answer from your notes into your phone's voice recorder, and time it.
Play it back. Did you name the motivator in your first sentence, and did you end on the job?
Listen to the moment. If your voice stayed on one note, say it again and let it rise where the story gets good.
The next day, answer without the notes. Then have a friend ask the usual follow-up: "What demotivates you?"

For the rest of the interview, there's a 15-minute routine in how to practice for an interview by yourself. The other common questions are in how to answer interview questions.

Practice it with an AI coach in Charisma Lab

Charisma Lab is a speaking coach on your iPhone. In Speak, tap INTERVIEW under PRACTICING FOR. Then tap the center, say what the job is and tell the coach you're practicing "What motivates you?" Give your motivator and your moment as separate takes, since a pause of about two seconds ends a take. You hear each take played back. When something is off, the coach says what to fix, then the mic opens again.

To keep your voice from going flat when you say what drives you, try Train's Pitch Variation. It's open from the start in the Dynamics track. It gives you lines marked for pitch, like "There's something [high] exciting about this, and also [low] something serious." A take passes when you say the line and the gap between your highest and lowest pitch is more than a quarter of your average pitch. Setup is free. If you tap MAYBE LATER when it shows the price, then SKIP FOR NOW when it asks you to sign in, setup goes on to a short live session with the coach. After setup, the app needs Pro, which is $14.99 a month in the US. See pricing.

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FAQ

How long should my answer be?

Under a minute. One motivator and one moment is enough. If they want more, they'll ask.

Can I say money?

You can, if you say it plainly and add what else keeps you going. Pay alone doesn't set you apart. In sales or another job that pays on commission, a number to beat is a fine motivator.

What if I haven't had a job yet?

Use a class project, a sports team, a club or volunteer work. The shape stays the same: what drives you, a time it did, this job.

What if my real motivator isn't part of this job?

Ask yourself whether you want the job. If you do, lead with another motivator that's true and that the job has, and keep the first one for a job that fits it.

How is it different from "Why do you want to work here?"

"Why do you want to work here?" asks why you picked this company. "What motivates you?" asks what drives you at work, so lead with yourself and save the company for your last sentence. See how to answer "Why do you want to work here?".

Should I name a person who inspires me?

Only if they ask "Who inspires you?" Then say who it is, one thing they did and what you do differently because of it.

More practice guides

Updated November 5, 2026.