Employers would want to observe a very important aspect of a prospective employee – how self motivated is he/she?
During the job interview process, the interviewer will not only check whether the person has the required skills and work culture to fit in well with the company, they will also try to observe whether the person has the self motivation to sustain in a job and to ensure that the person delivers his/her best in the job.
To find this out, the interviewer normally asks some kind of motivational questions – these types of interview questions are called motivational or motivation job interview questions.
Examples of Motivational Interviewing Questions and Answers
Here are some of the questions about self motivation that are normally asked:
• Tell us one of the most exciting aspects of your previous job?
• What do you like about your previous job?
It is a known fact that if a person likes the job that they are in, they will always perform and deliver better than their counterparts. This is the entire reason why children are nowadays put through various tests, and there are various professional options for a person to pursue if they are not happy with the mainstream jobs. Therefore, you should not even for a moment make the interviewer feel that you have taken up this career and job because you were out of options, or that you had some other aspirations but did not take them up for any kind of reasons.
Therefore, when you are asked this question, make sure that your answer reflects your true interest and enthusiasm for the job. Of course the correct answer to this question would depend on the profession to profession and profile to profile.
* If you are a programmer, you can say that the most exciting aspect of the job is to take on new challenges pertaining to the world of computers and digital technology.
* If you are in the world of graphics designing, you can say that you are excited about using the aspects of form and colors to communicate the points that the client wishes to make clear with their consumers.
* If you are in the manufacturing process, you could say that the most exciting prospect of your job is the responsibility of creation that has been given to you.
Simply put, when asked this question, you should quickly consider some of the key areas of your profile and express them as your exciting aspects of the previous job.
Further reading – What do you like about your job? Interview question and answers.
• Have you set a personal goal for yourself? Were you successful? Why?
• How would you define success at work or in your career?
A job is a personal as well as professional ambition for the person. In fact, a person would be able to excel in their jobs only if they have the ambition and dream to achieve something in their jobs.
Such people generally have a set of personal goals and ambitions and basically work towards the ambition in their professional life. Having a personal or professional goal is not a fad or a fashion, but it is actually something that tells the interviewer that you have a perfect game plan for your professional life and career, and that you are working on a path that you have chalked out for yourself.
To answer this question, you would have to be prepared for it before you even are at the interviewer’s desk. Make sure that your answer does not seem a fake or made up. The best way to ensure this is to jot down your ambitions before the interview.
Refer also – Interview Questions – What motivates you, Define success at work.
• Are you a self starter? What motivates you?
Companies love self starters – those who are strongly motivated and show initiative.
In fact, with the changing pace of business and the corporate world, there are many entrepreneurs who would hire an enthusiastic person with less experience than a veteran who does not seem as much of a self starter as anyone else who is giving an interview.
Simply put, a small business requires talented people who are enthusiastic enough to bring about a progressive change in the business that they are working for.
Read further: How to get promoted? And Responsibilities to Take for Getting Promoted.
• Which has been the most exciting project that you have been involved in till date? Tell us about this project.
A job comprises of a number of assignments and projects. Some of these projects are simple money makers while some of these projects are actually something that satisfy you on a professional level and play an important role in forwarding your professional career.
These projects can be anything, something that has changed the industry standards, or some small project that you took on as a means to enhance and fine-tune your secondary skills.
Therefore, when the interviewer asks you about the most exciting project that you have been involved in, make sure that you give the right answer.
Actually, the answer to such questions is not something that you can come up with in the immediate moment. The best thing that you can do to be ready for these questions is to do some of your homework before you actually attend the interview. Read up on some of the basic questions that are asked and you will be able to make up a list of the exciting projects that you have been working on, or have worked on.
• Give an example of a situation/project/time when you went above and beyond your responsibility to get the job done.
Think of a recent incident when you went above and beyond the call of your duty. What was the motivational intensive to act this way – it is surely not your normal behavior?
If you had such a project or a situation, you can answer the questions and explain the reasons for this initiative and why did you decide to perform your best.
These are just some of the questions that can be asked during an interview to gauge your motivation skills.
