Purpose Researchers have long recognized that employee expectations play an important role in determining their levels of motivation. However, less is known about the relationship between newcomers’ expectations about their job and intrinsic motivation. Even more, there is limited empirical research on the underlying mechanisms that explain this relationship. Given the recent resurgence of interest concerning the construct of work-related boredom and drawing on several theoretical frameworks, the purpose of this paper is to address this gap by examining the mediating role of work-related boredom in the linkage between newcomers’ expectations and intrinsic motivation. Design/methodology/approach The current study utilized a snowball approach in order to garner a diverse sample of newcomers. To examine the present hypotheses, bootstrapping analysis and Sobel test were used. Findings The results showed that unmet expectations enhance work-related boredom which in turn affects intrinsic motivation. Research limitations/implications Given the cross-sectional and mono-source design of the study, the results may suffer from causality and common method variance issues. Originality/value The present study provides novel insights into the psychological mediating mechanisms that explain the relationship between newcomers’ expectations about their job and their intrinsic motivation.