How can I measure motivation in an interview?

manpreet Best Answer 2 years ago

I've been performing technical interviews for about a year now, and I have learned a lot about what to look for in a candidate. The thing I'm struggling with most, however, is how to gauge a candidate's motivation level.

You can determine someone's technical proficiency by asking them technical questions and evaluating their answers. Is there an objective way to determine how motivated someone is/will be?

Here are some things I've tried. Some work with some candidates and not with others:

• Do you work on (field-related) projects outside of work?

  This one sounds like it would work, but sometimes people are really into their current job and pour all of their effort into that job and not side projects. Should candidates be penalized for this? The other extreme is there too: candidates spend all their time on side projects and don't concentrate on their full-time job.

• What technical blogs/books have you read recently?

  This one is actually one of the most helpful ones. If you care about what you're doing, you'll keep up with the technologies you are working with and know what's going on in your field.

These are really the only two that provide any insight. Even then, it's a limited view into the person's motivation. Even if they answer both of those questions positively, they may spend too much time on those things and not on their work.

So, any suggestions on how to gauge a candidate's motivation level? Or is it just something you have to gamble on? Is the only way to determine this to call references and ask?

manpreet 2 years ago

What I have noticed is that motivated people accomplish things. They deliver products, they do the hard stuff and they are more than willing generally to tell you about their accomplishments. Note the difference between the following two answers to a question on what you do in your current position:

"I write code to maintain the XYZ system. I do code reviews. I answer technical questions."

"I just delivered a module that did XYZ last month and it was quite an involved project using a technology that was unfamilar to me. In fact it started from a suggestion I made when I noticed...I had to do a lot of research to pick out the tool to use and I had to solve this really interesting problem...."

Which person do you think is more motivated?

Now you generally have to be careful to filter out the BS artists who also can sound very enthusiatic. They however are generally not able to answer technical details when you pursue the questions further and the truly motivated who really did do what they claimed to do can.