How Your Personal Values

Can Affect Your Life and

Career
 Activity 1:
For your work to be satisfying, it must be compatible with your
values. For some people, money, power, prestige and status are
what it takes for a job to be rewarding. Other may have these
extrinsic rewards in their work and find it unsatisfying. Read
through the values on the next page. Do you find these values
important to you or unimportant? List each value under one
of the following categories:
Always Value
Often Value
Sometimes Value
Seldom Value
Never Value
 ADVANCEMENT
Opportunities for growth
and promotion
 CHALLENGING WORK
To be stretched to achieve your
work tasks, to be a problem solver
as part of your work
 EXPERTISE
Demonstrate a high degree of
proficiency in job skills and
knowledge.
 LIFE/WORK BALANCE
Workplace supports employees
spending time with family and
other personal activities.
 INDEPENDENCE
Not having to follow
instructions or conform to
regulations. Responsible for
making decisions about your
work.
 MORAL FULFILLMENT
My work contributes to values
that are very important to me.
 RECOGNITION
Receive credit for work well
done.
 FLEXIBILITY
I have a flexible work
schedule
 HELP SOCIETY
Do something that
contributes to the betterment
of the world.
BELONGING/AFFILIATION
Be recognized as a member of
a particular organization and
feel a sense of belonging.
 ADVENTURE
Exciting work which may
involve risk
CHANGE AND VARIETY
To have many different
experiences, responsibilities,
and activities as a part of your
work.
 EXCITEMENT
High degree of stimulation or
frequent novelty or drama on
the job.
 HELP OTHERS
Contributing to helping people
directly, either individually or
in small groups.
CALM ATMOSPHERE
Minimal pressure and avoid
the “rat race.”
 LEADERSHIP /
AUTHORITY
Being in charge, leading others,
organizing event and activities
or being the prime decision-
maker.
 SECURITY
Not having to worry whether
your employment will continue
at the same or at a better level.
 WORK ALONE
Do projects by myself with
minimal contact with
others.
 DECISION MAKING
Making choices about what
to do and how to do it.
 COMPETITION
Use my abilities to surpass
the performance of others
 AESTHETICS
Work in a physically pleasing
environment or be involved in
creating or studying beauty
 CREATIVITY
Conceive new ideas, programs,
structures; thinking “outside of
the box.”
 FRIENDSHIPS
Opportunity to develop
close personal relationships
with people at work.
 HIGH EARNINGS
Offers potential to
accumulate large amounts
of money.
 LOCATION
Located in a town or area
conducive to my lifestyle and
personal needs and desires.
 STATUS
Impress or gain respect of
friends, family and
community by nature or
level of my work.
 STRUCTURED
ENVIRONMENT
Work routine and duties are
largely predictable and not
likely to change.
 TEAMWORK
Work with others towards
a common goal.
PERSONAL GROWTH
Job provides opportunities for
me to grow as a person and
learn new ideas, skills, etc.
 CUTTING EDGE
Work at the frontiers of
knowledge.
How Your Personal Values
Can Affect Your Life and
Career
Introduction

It is very common to hear from career experts that

you should define your values first before you
could set your career path. This may sound easy,
but you actually cannot define your values without
knowing what they are actually.
VALUES
 It comprised the things you think and believe
which is essential in the way you work and live
your life.
 It help you identify your priorities both at work
and in life.
 It also help to determine whether the things
that are going on in your life are part of your
plans or intentions.
 You can say that life is good when your
decisions, behavior, and lifestyle actually
match your values. This is when you can feel
contentment and satisfaction.
 On the other hand, you will always have a
feeling that something is wrong when such
things do not align with your personal values.
As a result, you will suffer from
discontentment and unhappiness. With all
that said, it is important that you make a
conscious effort to identify your values and
live your life according to them
Whether you are aware of them or
not, values do exist. But what can
make life much better and easier is
your awareness of such values.
Ideally, all the plans and decisions
that you make should be in
accordance to your values.
Try Reflect on this….

Imagine that you have to work 70 hours a

week and you are someone who values your
family, do you think you will suffer any
internal conflict and stress? If you are
someone who doesn’t enjoy being
competitive and you are put in a situation
where everyone is competitive, do you think
you will find satisfaction in your workplace?
 In such situations, the conflict between your
values and the things you are actually doing
can definitely affect the quality of your life.
But when you get a clear understanding of
your own values, it will be much easier for
you to decide if you are in the right place or
not. By being aware of your own values, you
will not find it difficult to decide what job you
should pursue, whether to accept or decline a
promotion, or even whether you should keep
or leave your job.
Needless to say, these issues can
have a huge and negative effect on
how we perform at work. Thus, we
should find a way to really
understand what it is that we want
in life so we could be in a better
position to pursue our personal and
career goals.
TIP:
 You will realize that your values are
generally consistent and stable. But of
course, there no boundaries or limits
to them. This means that as you go on
with your life, you may feel that your
values are changing and are possibly
getting bigger. This is because your
standards of a good life also change as
you gain experience and meet different
kinds of people.
With that said, it is vital that you
always revisit your values to
make sure that you will not lose
sight of what matters in your life
and what
CAREER MOVES YOU
SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT
MAKE
How Your Personal Values
Can Affect Your Life and
Career
 Activity 2:
MY INTEREST
INVENTORY
 PERSONALITY TYPE:
Realistic
-Robust, rugged, practically strong
-uncomfortable in social settings
-Good motor coordination
-Weak verbal and interpersonal skills.
- See themselves as mechanically and
athletically inclined
-natural, persistent
-prefer concrete to abstract problems
 PERSONALITY TYPE:
Realistic
- Rarely perform creatively in the arts or
science
- Like to build things with tools
- Like to work outdoors
- Cool to radical new ideas
- Like to work with big, powerful machines
- Buy boats, campers, snowmobiles,
motorcycles
Realistic
(sometimes refered to as Mechanical Career
Cluster).

Interests in working with tools, instruments, and

mechanical or electrical equipment.
Activities include designing, building, repairing
machinery,, and raising crops/ animals. Many of the
occupations require working outside, and do not
involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with
others.
Realistic
 Architect
 Athletic
 Inspector
 Draftman
 Computer Technicians
 Electricians
 Health Technicians
 Military Officer
 Veterinarian
 Videopgrapher
Investigative
(sometimes referred to as Technical or Science
and technology career cluster).

Interests in investigating and attempting to

understand phenomena in a natural sciences
through reading

Computer System analysts,

archeologist, Forensic Science,
Technician, Psychiatrist and Surgeon
Artistic
(sometimes referred to as Creative or Arts
career cluster).

Interests in activities such as painting, designing,

singing, dancing and writing; artistic appreciation
of such activities (e.g. listening to music, reading
literature).

Floral Designer, Graphic Designer,

Actors, Musicians, and
Creative Writers
Social
(sometimes referred to as People Service or
Social Service career cluster).

Interests in helping, enlightening, or serving

others through activities such as teaching,
counseling, working in service-oriented
organizations, engaging in social/ political studies.

Crossing Guards,
Physical Therapists,Teachers, and
Psychologists
Enterprising
(sometimes referred to as Business, or Sales
career cluster).

Interests in persuading, influencing, directing,

or motivating others through activities such as
sales, supervision, and aspects of business
management.

Door-to-door sales persons,

Real Estate Sales Agents, Chefs
and Head Cooks, Judges and Lawyers
Conventional
(sometimes referred to as Office or Financial
career cluster).

Interests in developing and/or maintaining

accurate and orderly files, records, accounts,
etc.; designing and/or following systematic
procedures for performing business activities.

Clerk and secretaries, Computer

Operators, Accountants, Actuaries
Realistic
 Agriculture  Parametric
 Archelogy  Pharmacy
 Architech Physical Therapy
 Astronaut  Pilot
 Chef  Police Officer
 Computer Science  Soldier
 Engineener  Veterinarian
 Fire Fighter
 Gardener
 IT
Investigative
 Computer Science  Statistician
 Economist  Surgeon
 Engineer
 Finance
 Lawyer
 Mathematician
 Pharmacy
 Physician
 Professor (all fields)
 Psychologist
 Psychiatrist
 Science
Artistic
 Actor
 Writer
 Poet
 Dancer
 Painter
 Graphic
 Designer
 Musician
Social
 Therapist  Psychologist
 Audiologist  Receptionist
 Babysitter  Social worker
 Caretaker  Teacher
 Mental Health Counselor  Theology
 Education  Speech-language pathologist
 Instructional technologist
 Martial Arts
 Nurse
 Nutritionist
 Physician
 Professor
Enterprising
 Business Administration  Publishing
 Academic Administration  Public Relation
 Business/MBA  Public Policy
 Communications  Real Estate
 Insurance
 Investment Banker
 Journalism
 Law/Politics
 Marketing/ Advertising
 Management
 Management Consultant
 Public Health
Conventional
 Accountant  Secretary
 Actuary
 Banking/Investment Bank
 Business/MBA
 Clerk

 Copy Editing
 Instructional Technology
 Lexicographer
 Librarian
 Payroll Officer
 Proofreader