Counseling Services - Workshops - Identifying Your Work Values

Part 1

the following list describes a wide variety of satisfactions that people obtain from their jobs. Either print out or copy down (just the value, not the description) the list below, then look at the definitions of these various satisfactions and rate the degree of importance that you would assign to each for yourself, using the scale below:

Key: 1 = Not important at all; 2 = Not very but somewhat important; 3 = Reasonably important; 4 = Very important in my choice of career

Help Society: Do something to contribute to the betterment of the world I live in.
Help Others: Be involved in helping other people in a direct way, either individually or in small groups.
Public Contact: Have a lot of day-to-day contact with people.
Work With Others: Have close working relationships with people as a result of my work activities.
Affiliation: Be recognized as a member of a particular organization.
Friendships: Develop close person relationships with people as a result of my work activities.
Competition: Engage in activities which pit my abilities against others where there are clear win-and-lose outcomes.
Make Decisions: Have power to decide courses of action, policies, etc.
Work Under Pressure: Work in situations where time pressure is prevalent and/or the quality of my work is judged critically by supervisors, customers or others.
Power And Authority: Control the work activities or (partially) the destinies of other people.
Influence People: Be in a position to change attitudes or opinions of other people.
Work Alone: Do projects by myself, without and significant amount of contact with others.
Knowledge: engage myself in the pursuit of knowledge, truth and understanding.
Intellectual Status: Be regarded as a person of high intellectual prowess or as one who is an acknowledged "expert" in a given field.
Artistic Creativity: Engage in creative work in any of several art forms.
Creativity (general): Create new ideas, programs, organizational structures or anything else not following a format previously developed by others.
Aesthetics: Be involved in studying or appreciating the beauty of things, ideas, etc.
Supervision: Having a job in which I am directly responsible for the work done by others.
Change And Variety: Have work responsibilities which frequently change their content and setting.
Precision Work: Work in situation where there is very little tolerance for error.
Stability: have a work routine and job duties that are largely predictable and not likely to change over a long period of time.
Security: Be assured of keeping my job and a reasonable financial reward.
Fast Pace: Work in circumstances where there is a high pace of activity, work must be done rapidly.
Recognition: Be recognized for the quality of my work in some visible or public way.
Excitement: Experience a high degree of (or frequent) excitement in the course of my work.
Adventure: Have work duties which involve frequent risk-taking.
Profit-Gain: Have strong likelihood of accumulating large amount of money or other material gain.
Independence: Be able to determine the nature of my work without significant direction from others; not have to do what others tell me to do.
Moral Fulfillment: Feel that my work is contributing significantly to a set of moral standards which I feel are very important.
Location: Find a place to live (town, geographical area) which is conductive to my life style and affords me the opportunity to do things I enjoy most.
Community: Live in a town or city where I can get involved in community affairs.
Physical Challenge: Have a job that makes physical demands which I would find rewarding.
Time Freedom: Have work responsibilities which I can work at according to my own time schedule; no specific working hours required.
High Earning Anticipated: Monetary rewards would be such that I am able to purchase those things I consider essential and the luxuries of life I wish.
Status: It is important the position I have carries respect with my friends, family, and community.
Advancement: The opportunity to work hard and make rapid career advancement.
Challenging Problems: the position does not have to be "essential to the survival of the human race," but it should provide challenging problems to solve and the avoidance of continual routine.
Creative Expression: Opportunity to express in writing or verbally my ideas, reactions, and observations concerning my job and how I might improve it.
Job Tranquility: To avoid pressure and the "rat race."
Work On Frontiers Of Knowledge:
1. Be involved in hard science or human research.
2. Work in a company which is considered one of the best in the business and striving for better product advances.
Exercise Competence: An opportunity to involve myself in those areas in which I feel I have talents above the average person.

Part 2

Now choose four or five of these Work Values which are the most important to you and write them on the blanks below (or on your own sheet of paper). If you can think of any other work values (desired satisfactions) that are not included in the list above and which are especially important to you, add them to the four values you list in the box. You may also summarize several value areas if the groupings are important to you. (example: Recognition, Help Others, Creativity, Independence)

These four values comprise a core group to refer to when considering any career or occupation. Ask yourself, "How well does this occupation fulfill my values?" If an occupation does does match your most important values very well, you will probably not be satisfied with it.