What is Your Career Motivation – Passion or Pay?

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In my experience as a recruiter, it is almost common place for me to ask everyone I interview what their career motivation is? Many often don’t have a clue of what their own unique answer is. Let me add that everyone is not the same, so our internal motivations would definitely differ. On the other hand, I have seen a common trend which made me pen my thoughts and such has birthed today’s post. Hence, I need to ask you – What is your career motivation – Passion or Pay? To help you find possible insights to answer this question, please continue reading.

The term motivation often is used to explain decisions and behaviours that cannot be explained by ability alone. Motivation is concerned with the direction, arousal, amplitude, and persistence of an individual’s behaviour.

Career motivation encompasses a wide range of career decisions and behaviour. It includes the motivation you have to follow a particular career path, decision to take a job offer with an organisation, choose to stay with an organisation over joining another, or in a way know what drives you in your career decisions. In summary, what is your career decisions and behaviour anchored on?

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius

The above quote is credited to Confucius, the great Chinese legend. I believe many of you would have come across the above quote at one time or the other. Many career coaches often cite this quote at will during career counselling to drive home the view that a person’s career decisions should be based on passion and not pay.

“After a certain point, money is meaningless. It ceases to be the goal. The game is what counts.” – Aristotle Onassis

Once your passion leads the way in your career pursuit, pay would definitely be a part of the career equation. Many who choose the big bucks (money) early in their career journey without developing enough ‘capacity to earn’ often get their fingers burnt later. Passion is a requisite to developing job competence/expertise and you would surely be paid for competence/expertise no doubt! I’m not proposing that you leave pay for passion that would not pay a dime – not at all. Career wisdom is profitable to direct that you endeavour to balance both passion and pay to your career advantage as you progress in your career journey.

So ask yourself, what is your career motivation – Passion or Pay?

Please drop your answers in the comment section below and let us have a one-on-one conversation today. I earnestly long to read your comments!

N:B: I specifically made today’s post short so we could have real discussion on this forum today. I am passionate about helping as many as I can. So flee free to share your thoughts with me.

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