I recruit recruiters. During the interview process, one of the most important things that I look for is what drives them to be great, to be better than the day before, to graduate from college, to look for a new job, to enjoy their friends, to workout, to do a cross-word puzzle, to simply wake up in the morning. It's not a question that I ask during the interview, because then I'd get some cookie-cutter answer shoved down my throat and they'd figure out how to weave the word "motivated" into every single response from then on, and I wouldn't get even a glimpse of their true self.

Wikipedia defines motivation as having "the desire and willingness to do something. A motivated person can be reaching for a long-term goal such as becoming a professional writer or a more short-term goal like learning how to spell a particular word".

So what motivates a good recruiter?

I would say that the best recruiters are motivated by the challenges of recruiting itself, money, the high of actually making the perfect placement...the unparallel sense of accomplishment. I received my degree in Anthropology, so the tree huggin hippie inside of me is satisfied by knowing that at the end of the day I've helped someone. I'm in the unique position of being a college recruiter, and knowing that I've given someone their first opportunity to enter the corporate world the right way (training, a good team, great pay, etc) is worth more than my paycheck.

So tell me...what motivates you?