When reviewing a job or internship offer, how much time do you spend thinking about your values? As a graduating senior, I have so many things on my plate and feel quite overwhelmed at times. Despite my current stress levels, thinking about the future is pretty scary, but oh so necessary! As I figure out my future plans, I'm beginning to assess the happiness factor in my future career. What makes me feel good about my job? What will give me satisfaction in my future work? It is important to assess career values because I believe it will be extremely helpful when it comes to making decisions about future job opportunities that are well-aligned with your personality, priorities, and needs.
Values are essentially things that are important to you in your life and career. They are things that you feel strongly about such as job security, financial security, flexibility, autonomy, creativity, and independence. A strong value for me is social interaction. I would hate to come to work everyday and sit at a desk from 9-5 everyday, therefore I value flexibility, and ability to work and help people in a community setting. Others folks may value creativity, benefits, career development, and many other types of values. When you base a career choice off of what you value as an individual, you are more likely to be happy and satisfied in the choices that you make.
So you are probably asking, how do I know what my values are? Well, create a list of your top 5 values that you cannot live without on the job. Think about what is really important to you in your lifestyle and in your career. This means that you are picking values that are absolutely necessary for you to have before you even think about applying for a job. Then you want to rank the values you’ve selected. Ask yourself which ones are the most important or essential for your happiness, because we don't live in an ideal world and most of us will not get everything that we want, at least in our first job out of college. However, finding your dream job is similar to finding your dream mate. You need to know where you are willing to compromise and where you are not, and hold true to your values and priorities.
If you still need assistance in identifying your career values, consider coming in to the Career Center to speak with a Career Counselor. We offer a variety of career assessments, including a Values Card Sort to help you select and define your personal career priorities and values.
Post by Erica McClanahan, Senior in American Studies.
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