Page 135 - How To Answer Interview Questions (II)

Job Interview Question 71

What gets you up in the morning?

For many people, what really gets them up in the morning and motivates them to get on with the day is
a personal thing—maybe it’s your kids, or your love of life, or your goal of early retirement. In a
social setting, these are acceptable and even noble answers. In an interview setting, they are not your
best choices. (The worst answer of all is money.)

In an interview, you always want to keep thefocus on your fit for the job, even with personal
questions like these. Good things to mention are why you like your work, why this job in particular
is a good match for you and why you would enjoy it. Show your enthusiasm for the job here—it
makes you more likeable.

So a good answer might sound like:
“I am one of the lucky few people in the world who gets to get up and do work I love to do. I know
that I am good at my job, and I love the feeling of overcoming challenges and being successful. That
gives me a sense of accomplishment that makes me excited to get up in the morning and happy when I
go to bed at night.”
You might mention that you are motivated by:

Meeting goals (like when you met the goal for X last year and were recognized for it)
Being recognized for doing a great job (like when you won ‘Most Valuable Employee’)
Making difficult sales (like when you landed the customer that everyone said you couldn’t)
A positive and supportive work environment (like the one that this company is known for)
Competition (which is why you enjoyed being named #1 out of 135 sales reps in your company)
The chance to come up with creative solutions to complex problems (like you did when you
got to be on the team tasked with X in your company and you created Y solution)
Knowing that the work you do makes a positive difference in someone’s life (like when you
help someone be healthier, save money, reach a goal, etc.)