<p>Team members play a key role in the success of information systems (IS) projects. The literature on motivation tends to focus on IS professionals irrespective of their career stage. However, motivators seem to depend on the latter. Many young IS graduates leave universities to join IS project teams as external consultants (e.g., running a project from an IS consulting company’s side) and function as key contributors to these teams. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the factors that motivate these young professionals. Using a qualitative approach, we surveyed master students involved in a project-based learning course on IS projects. The results suggest that ‘personality traits’ (e.g., empathy and enjoyment of interaction with others) can function as a primary motivator for young team members. ‘Role played’ also emerged as a new motivator. Our study provides a better understanding of what motivates young IS professionals, helping to improve project performance and IS education and training.</p>