WORK VALUES
This exercise rates characteristics of jobs and how they match your work values.
1. Put check mark next to the YDOXHVlisted below which are the most important to you.
This means you would want them in any job.
------- Help Society: Do something to contribute to the betterment of the world.
-------- 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 personal 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 the 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: Direct the work activities of others and have the authority to
make decisions.
------ Influence People: Be in a position to change attitudes or opinions of other people.
------- Work Alone: Do projects by myself, without any 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: Have a job in which I am directly responsible for the work done by
others.
------ Change and Variety: Have work responsibilities which frequently change in their
content and setting.
------ Precision Work: Work in situations 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 a strong likelihood of accumulating large amounts 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
(to be defined by your) standards which I feel are very important.
------ Lifestyle: Find a place to live (town, geographical area) which is conducive to my life
style and affords me the opportunity to do the things I enjoy most.
------ Community: Live in a town or city where I can be 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.
__________________________ Other:
__________________________ Other:
__________________________
Other:
2. List a job you are interested in:
Job Title: ________________________________
Or go to http://www.bls.gov/oco/ooh_index.htm
to select a job.
Get a description of the job and summarize the description below.
Job Description:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3 . How does this job fit with your values?
List your top five values from step 1 in the spaces below. Then, rate the degree to which you feel
each value is present in this particular job. Use the following scale ranging from “not at all
present” to “extremely present”.
Top Five Values
Not at all present
Somewhat
present
Extremely
present
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
4. Repeat this process for all the jobs you are interested in.
After you complete the form, please print it so you may keep it for your records.