What Motivates you?

terra_ferma

Chuzzle wrote: »

I'm talking about admin jobs for any sector. She was asked this over the phone by a recruitment agency after a couple of seconds of thought her reply was "having a clear desk at the end of each day", the person on the other end of the phone quickly went onto the next question!

All the comments so far have given me food for thought and I realise now what motivates me and it is challenges, which I'm not really getting in my current job so I'm thinking maybe Customer Services is a better job to go for, rather than admin/purchase ledger

For admin It sounded like a good answer, I don't normally recruit admin staff, but someone who likes to do a good job to feel a sense of achievement would be the right person.
I think liking a challenge is also good for any job.

For a job where you provide some kind of customer service, I would say interacting with people (which would explain moving from admin to customer service), problem solving.

HTH. Good luck!

foxy-roxy

I work in admin / sales, and i love it when i build relationships with customers to the point when they will ask for me when they phone and only like giving me their orders:D

Mattjimf

terra_ferma wrote: »

Don't take it the wrong way... but if you said that to me I would never give you a job. Unless you were clearly someone with a lot of money who wants to work because you have nothing better to do (and I know people like that, strange as it may sound...)

I would think you are taking the pixel, just trying to give what you think is the best answer.

Don't worry, I actually left my last job partly because I wasn't getting the chance to progress through training and partly because the work they were asking me to do was very monotonous, I never refused to do any work given and was always willing to help other departments, but I wasn't happy in the job any longer.

terra_ferma

Mattjimf wrote: »

Don't worry, I actually left my last job partly because I wasn't getting the chance to progress through training and partly because the work they were asking me to do was very monotonous, I never refused to do any work given and was always willing to help other departments, but I wasn't happy in the job any longer.

Put it this way it sounds much better

Except if you went for a job that was data entry all day or something like that....
Once a friend of mine went for a job that sounded very much like what she was doing at the time but better paid, and went on and on about how much she enjoyed contact with people, problem solving, dealing with challenges. But it transpired that the job was in fact data entry and nothing else, while she was on her own doing everything, they had several people doing bits of her job.
Needless to say they did not give her the job, and she was not disappointed about it....

dave4545454

sillygoose wrote: »

I would be cautious of giving answers like 'customer satisfaction' or 'the satisfaction of doing a good job'. Most employers know that the reason you are doing it is for money, even if its considered 'vulgar' to say so.

Telling the employer what you think they expect to hear can be construed as a hint of dishonesty in fact.

I prefer to balance it. Instead of talking about money directly you can say you are looking for a successful company with opportunities that will enable you to provide security for your family and the means for you to give them the best possible life.
This shows ambition (hard work in other word), responsibility and highest possible motivation (the employer may know the work isn't very motivating!).

I would balance with the statement that that you need to be happy and challenged in your work role to help drive you towards your goals.

good post, employers would appreciate that sort of honesty because they know the primary reason is for the money

terra_ferma

dave4545454 wrote: »

good post, employers would appreciate that sort of honesty because they know the primary reason is for the money

Again we are generalising...
Obviously I don't know if you are talking from personal experience of being an employer/manager yourself, or your employers having demonstrated that.

This does not apply to every situation. I know as a fact (not opinion) that some employers wouldn't.

DCFC79

As long as you are doing something you like then money should come second

Absinthe_Fairy

DCFC79 wrote: »

As long as you are doing something you like then money should come second

I would tend to agree with this - I reckon money is the most important reason many people have a job, but it shouldn't be the chief reason why you want that particular job.

Morgan_Ree

I would have to say making a better life for me and my little boy

I'm a student nurse, still 2 years of the course to go so I guess at the minute I'm bottom of the food chain! The way I look at it is it won't be like this forever.

Lets face it I'm never going to make my millions being a nurse, but my aim is to be comfortable. With job security. Thats what motivates me to get out of bed at 5am on a cold dark morning to go onto a ward full of hormonal teenagers and put up with their !!!!! for 14 hours a day

jamespir

success not necessarily money success but jsut the feeling that youre the best at what you do