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What are career values, and why are they important?
The world is noisy, and sometimes, we feel pressured to motivate ourselves to do or achieve something that truly holds no meaning for who we are.
Who created these universal career values, anyway? What if I don't want a C-level job title? What if I want a good enough job that fits my personal needs? Is that really so wrong?
In this article, I'll share why a really bad job pushed me to finally assess my career values—and how that experience changed my career trajectory.
Spoiler alert: Since centering my career values, I am much happier and more fulfilled professionally.
What Are Career Values?
Career values describe the principles and characteristics that your career should be centered around. These are the core values that bring career satisfaction and personal fulfillment.
When you center your career values, you're much more likely to experience a work environment that reflects your extrinsic and intrinsic values.
Intrinsic Values
Intrinsic values are values that feel richly rewarding. This includes values like creativity, sincere relationships, self-expression, philanthropy, and connection with surroundings.
Extrinsic Values
Extrinsic values are centered on external approval, recognition, and praise. This includes things like wealth, social status, reputation, and self-image.
Why Are Career Values Important?
Have you ever made a bad career choice that landed you in a toxic work environment? I know I have.
Once my career "got going," I wanted a big change. My boss and mentor had moved on, and it seemed like my job had become a dead-end cousin of what it once was.
Young in my career, I had never even considered "career values" or their worth. Instead of looking for a new job that aligned with my career values, I looked for the quickest career change I could find. Once the job offer came in, I gave a resounding yes. Ignoring red flags in favor of a new title and a better salary, it was no surprise that I found myself close to rage-quitting six weeks later. (I didn't rage quit, but I quit "effective immediately" because it was bad.)
That's right. It only took six weeks for me to realize that my core career values were nowhere to be found.
My big mistake? I let my quest for something new outweigh everything else. However, I learned so much from this failure that it was well worth it.
How I Identified My Career Values
So, I quit my new job without another job lined up. While I wouldn't advise quitting any job without a backup plan, I needed to leave for my mental and emotional health. It was that bad.
From there, I needed to act swiftly while being smart. This is when I decided it was time to identify my career values. These values would guide my next career decision. They would create the foundation for a successful career on my terms.
I wouldn't fall for the fancy title at a "cool" company. I was finished conducting a job search with compensation as the main filter. Rather, I took time to define my lifestyle and core values.
Nowadays, I use my career values to inform every career decision I make. It's no coincidence that I have a fulfilling career that inspires creativity.
My five career values, as of today, are:
- 1. Creativity
- 2. Helping Others
- 3. Flexibility
- 4. Trust
- 5. Humanity
I'll tell you how I landed at each one of these values.
How to Define Your Very Own Career Values in 5 Easy Steps
Before we define career values, deal-breakers, and everything in between, it's important to know that your career values must fit you.
- Forget what your parents have said about prestige.
- Don't get distracted by your friends' salaries or job titles.
- Unremember everything society has taught you about what achievement and "real success" look like in a career.
Clear out the noise to identify your own career values.
There are no "right" or "wrong" career values. Career values are your preferences. While some professionals might value autonomy and routine, others might value recognition and adventure.
While one career professional might center on helping others in their non-profit careers, another might prioritize compensation at their Fortune 500 organization.
There is no right or wrong answer. When defining your career values, they belong to you.
1. What Are Your Core Values? What Matters Most to You in Your Life?
The first step might be the toughest, but honesty is crucial when assessing your core values. Try a little self-reflection practice to get to your core values.
Use this step to identify what matters to you in life. Feel free to add everything that comes to mind. We'll use the next step to translate your core values into different types of career values.
Core Value Examples
- Relationships
- Friendship
- Balance
- Community
- Diversity
- Empathy
- Kindness
- Recognition
- Impact
- Dependability
- Adaptability
- Work-life balance
- Self-motivation
- Collaboration
- Strong self-confidence
- Teaching others
- Continuous learning
- Loyalty
- Honesty
- Resilience
- Leisure Time
- Physical Health
- Making a difference
- Being reliable
- Being positive
- Showing tolerance
- Being accountable
- Helping others
- Perfection
2. What Do Your Core Values Look Like When Applied to Your Career?
After leaving my big bad job experience, the first career value I identified was trust.
This was a huge "aha!" moment for me.
I didn't want to feel like my bosses were my babysitters. I never wanted to play the game of "Who is brave enough to leave the office first?" with my coworkers. I wanted to work in a place with mutual trust between management and employees.
By identifying "Trust" as a core career value, I also found that flexibility was another really important career value I needed for greater job satisfaction.
Some questions you can ask yourself:
- What do I want my salary to be?
- How important is my salary to my professional fulfillment? Am I willing to trade less work-life balance for more money?
- Do I want a job at an organization that will allow me to climb the corporate ladder?
- Would I want to work for a larger corporation with a recognizable name or a smaller company where I could learn more skills?
- What kind of benefits package would I require on top of my salary?
- How can I center physical fitness in a 9 to 5 desk job?
- How can I make sure that I am always learning something new?
We'll want to whittle down to 3 to 5 career values, but there are no rules here! If you feel you have ten solid career values that must be met, go for it!
3. How Does Your Career Currently Fit Your Values?
This might be a sobering one. If I had defined my career values before accepting a bad job, I would have learned that literally none of them were present.
For example, if you have defined "creative expression" as a core career value, ask yourself how your current job empowers your desire to work creatively and innovatively.
If you find that your professional career isn't aligned with your career values, ask yourself some follow-up questions.
- Why is [CAREER VALUE] missing from my career?
- Can I infuse [CAREER VALUE] into my current job?
- What elements of my professional career could be modified to center it in [CAREER VALUE]?
I'm not telling you to quit your job if it doesn't instantly align with your career values. However, if you've been unhappy at work for a while only to discover that none of your values are being matched, it might be time to work them into your future professional development.
4. How Could Your Next Career Move Reflect Your Career Values?
In this step, use your career values to start planning the long term—but with one very important caveat. Your career values are subject to change—and that's completely fine!
The average career spans four or five decades. Chances are that your career values at age 20 will differ from those at age 53.
In fact, I think it's a good practice to reflect on your career values at least twice a year or whenever you reach a personal or professional milestone.
Some of my professional values changed drastically once I became a mother, but some became more pronounced. For example, my quest for a bigger, better salary was replaced by a need for a better work-life balance.
However, my career value of "helping others" became more pronounced. Specifically, I wanted to use my career to help others navigate the same challenges of working parenthood, career confusion, and, yes, identifying their career values!
5. Rank Your Career Values
Last but not least, rank your career values. Remember, this is all for you—and you're free to keep your values private. If your career exists as a means to financial success, then don't feel ashamed that moral fulfillment isn't number one in your career values. That doesn't mean you should feel free to stomp on your colleagues to work your way up.
Be a good person in your professional and personal life, but it's fine if you really want to prioritize getting a mortgage or that C-level job title.
Rank your career values and use them to inform your most important career decisions.
Now You Try! Choose Your 5 Core Values
These values should encompass what’s meaningful to you, the impact you’d like to make, and what matters most to you.
We put together a few prompts to further solidify how your core values work, what they mean, and how putting them first can influence all that you do.
My life’s work prioritizes ____________________ over ___________________.
My best efforts will earn me __________________, ______________ and ___________________.
My priorities will definitely not include ____________________, ____________________, and _____.
My best efforts will earn me __________________, ______________ and ___________________.
My priorities will definitely not include ____________________, ____________________, and _____.
Finally, know that your core values can change—and that’s fine. This practice helps you be mindful of what they are and how to honor them.
