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Using your core values when looking for a new job should be at the forefront of your job search and acceptance of a job. I ask, is it?
How many of us take the first job offered? Let’s be raw and honest, many of us do. Does the job you do now align with your core values?
If you said yes, great! If not, it’s time for a serious change. Otherwise, you are selling your talents to a company that may not understand you, accept you in the “club” or you may just sell your soul to a company to destroy and never recognize yourself or your true talents ever again.
Are you alert now? Are you interested in what I’m saying? Can you relate?
Look, we all want to work and live our passions, but we can’t just wish our way to success. Some of us are fortunate to do this by chance and luck, but many of us aren’t so fortunate, we work hard to give hours to companies that have no appreciation for self or service.
So, if you don’t know what you want to do, starting with your core values is a great place to start.
Top 10 Core Values
Let’s start with the top 10 core values. Our values are personal to us, but they do carry over into our professional lives. Our behaviors and personal benefits spill over into our professional lives, it’s just a part of being human.
If any of these resonate with you, examine why and how. Introspectively, look within yourself for your own core values.
When looking for a job, start at the very beginning starting with the job posting, this will share a lot about a company. And if your gut tells you to pass on a posting, PASS on it. There is something better out there for you.
- Integrity: Upholding honesty, ethics, and moral principles in all actions and decisions.
- Respect: Valuing the dignity, opinions, and rights of oneself and others.
- Responsibility: Taking ownership of one’s actions, commitments, and obligations.
- Compassion: Demonstrating empathy, kindness, and understanding towards others’ experiences and feelings.
- Excellence: Striving for the highest standards of quality, performance, and continuous improvement.
- Accountability: Accepting responsibility for one’s actions, outcomes, and consequences.
- Collaboration: Working cooperatively and harmoniously with others towards common goals and shared success.
- Innovation: Embracing creativity, curiosity, and adaptability to drive positive change and growth.
- Diversity: Embracing and respecting differences in backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.
- Balance: Maintaining harmony between work, personal life, and overall well-being to achieve a fulfilling lifestyle.
Clarifying Values Exercise
Step 1
- List down YOUR top 5 most important things in your life. It can be personal and professional. Think about your answers carefully.
- Recall a time when your felt happiest or most fulfilled. Identify the values you were honoring at that time and write them down.
- Think of a time when you felt the most frustrated or unhappy. Identify the values that were being violated at the time and write them down.
- Let’s review your answers to 2 and 3. Identify and circle the values you wrote down that are the most important to you. And write down the top 3.
Using your core values when looking for a new job, stops the insanity. Additionally, you now have clarity on what’s important to you. Sometimes we lose sight of this, and we must regain this power.
Examining Your Career Choices
Step 2
- Think about your current or past job or career choices. Identify the values you were honoring by choosing those careers and write them down.
- Imagine your “dream or ideal job or career.” Identify the values that would be honored by that career and write them down.
- Compare your answers to questions 1 and 2. Identify any values that are missing from your current or past job or career choices that are important to you. Write down ANY career choices that align with your TOP 3 values.
Creating a Value-Based Career Plan
Step 3
Based on your answers to STEP 2, create a list of potential career paths that align with your top 3 values. This process could show you, you are in the wrong field of work, introduce you to what’s most important to you in your career life, and also it can definitely get you started in the right direction for what is right for you. Take your time with this.
Trust me, there are plenty of jobs out there, align with your core values first, then the job search will become easier.
“Values are like fingerprints. Nobody’s are the same but you leave them all over everything you do.” Elvis Presley
Career Path
Now that you have a pretty good idea of what’s important to you, research the skills, education, and experience required to pursue each career path.
Now, identify any gaps in your current skillsets, education, or experience that you need to get started towards this new career path.
Identify specific steps you need to take to acquire the necessary skills, education, and experience.
Try hard to take this in steps. Don’t overwhelm yourself. It’s so important at every stage in your life to examine your core values, they are the “deal makers and deal breakers.”
Final Thoughts and Words of Encouragement
With each step you take towards aligning your career with what truly matters to you, you are investing in your own happiness, growth, and success.
Your commitment to honoring your core values will not only enrich your career but also inspire others to do the same. Remember, your values are your compass, let them lead you to a future filled with purpose, fulfillment, and endless possibilities.
Your core values will not lead you down a black hole of unfulfillment, only the unwillingness to use them will.
We’ll chat soon,
