Your Values and Your Job Search

Your values are just as important as your income, if not more. Values determine what type of career suits you, what type of employer you should work for, where you should work and what you want from a job. Use the guidelines below to help you identify your core values.

Inherent Values

Your inner values contribute to job satisfaction. It can be defined as those values that motivate you to do a certain type of work. It is what makes a job interesting and fun. These values come from within and are not influenced by other people.

Rate the importance of the inherent values on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the least important.

1. _____ Diversity and new challenges
2. _____ Being a specialist
3. _____ Doing groundbreaking work
4. _____ Assisting people
5. _____ Community work
6. _____ Thrill seeking
7. _____ Enjoy physical risks
8. _____ Respect and acknowledgement
9. _____ Competing
10. _____ Working with people
11. _____ Motivating others
12. _____ Enjoy detail work
13. _____ Working for rewards
14. _____ Need space to develop creative thinking skills
15. _____ Working for the good of society

External values

The external values comprise the work environment. This is the area where you place importance on titles, income, health insurance, security, stability, safety, and control etc. Rate the importance of values where 1 is the least important and 5 the most important .

1. _____ Travel required
2. _____ supervision and control in your hands
3. _____ Financial earnings
4. _____ Being self employed
5. _____ Working alone
6. _____ Working under pressure
7. _____ Having flexible work hours
8. _____ Having routine
9. _____ Being rich
10. _____ Obtaining status
11. _____ Being acknowledged for your expertise
12. _____ Bonuses and incentives
13. _____ Wearing corporate attire or uniforms
14. _____ Work in a visually attractive work place
15. _____ Require risk and challenges

Everyday Life Considerations

The section includes factors such as housing, free time, vacations, and family time etc. Rate the importance of these values where 1 is the least important and 5 the most important.

1. _____ Saving on expenses
2. _____ Expensive holidays
3. _____ Access to training and education
4. _____ Living close to schools or sport facilities
5. _____ Participation in volunteer or community projects
6. _____ Spending time with family
7. _____ Political involvement
8. _____ Enjoy the simple things in life
9. _____ Entertaining guests at home
10. _____ Live in a small town
11. _____ Seeing the world
12. _____ Opportunity for personal development
13. _____ Owning your own home
14. _____ Living in an urban area
15. _____ Looking for fun and excitement

Count the fives from each category. If a category has a value higher than twenty, you should go through the list again. If you don't have a five in a category count the fours. If you only have two fives then add two fours.

The category with the highest value shows where your priorities can be found. The same applies for each category on its own. Next evaluate your current situation. If your current situation matches the most important values and the most important category, you are at the right place. If it is not the case, you need to re-evaluate either your values or your current situation.

Make a summary of the most important values and look for a job that matches the values.