How to Include Your Values in Your Job Search

Some workplace values are non-negotiable, so it is important to determine your own immovable values. Rank your values to find which are most important. Research the prospective employer’s actions and speak to employees to see if your values align. Use your values ranking to decide whether to draw a line or work with the company.

By Lora Korpar

What do you value in the workplace? Some might prefer flexibility. Others might prioritize growth opportunities or diversity initiatives.

Deciding what you value can affect your job search. People want to work for companies that share their values. Misalignment between company and employee values can cause some workers to quit.

A Blue Beyond Consulting study of U.S. and Canadian workers found that 80% of respondents said “it was important that company values were consistent with their own,” according to BBC Worklife. About half said not having shared values would convince them to leave.

However, not everyone has the luxury of choosing a company based on values. Where should you draw the line? The first step is to identify your immovable values.

How to Determine Your Job Search Values

Some workplace values will be more important than others. Maybe you are flexible on remote or hybrid work but won’t budge on a mental health-friendly environment.

Values-based career coach Alexander McCall suggests listing your values and determining which are most important.

“Look at that list that you create and say, ‘If all of these weren’t present, is there anything that would cause me to leave my career? Or is there anything else that would cause me to stay in a career?’” McCall said. “Doing that over and over again gives you a comprehensive list that you can rank one through 10, or however many may be. Then you can go into a job opportunity or current employer and say, ‘Here are my values. If these are met, I will be a superstar employee for you.’”

Your top two or three values are the immovable values or must-haves. The ones further down the list are more flexible. Take the time to reflect on which fall in the immovable or flexible categories.

Sheri Byrne-Haber, who a values-based engineering, accessibility, and inclusion leader, added that “the first place you look for values is yourself.”?

How to Determine a Company’s Values

Once you know your must-have values, determine whether the company you are applying to shares those values.?

Some companies show their values on websites or social media. For example, company websites include sections for diversity and inclusion initiatives. Research where the company has donated or volunteered. Then see whether their actions align with their words.

“Don't look for the words. Look for the actions,” Byrne-Haber said. “Everybody says they're inclusive, but do they actually take action that supports those claims of inclusion? … A lot of companies did letters of support for the Black community after the George Floyd incident. Look at what they've done since then. Have they announced that they're recruiting at HBCUs? Do they have a Black employee resource group? Some of that information for larger companies is public and you can find it on their websites. For smaller companies, that information might not be public, so you need to ask the recruiter.

“I have previously asked during interviews ‘Can I talk with the person who runs the disability employee resource group?’ because I feel like I'm going to get somebody who's really connected to the same cause that I'm connected to. And they're more likely to be honest than the person who's trying to get you to take the job.”

Where Do You Draw the Line with Shared Values?

Sometimes a misalignment of values isn’t black and white. Maybe a company agrees with some values and doesn’t agree with others. Or you have a strong values misalignment but need to take a job to stay afloat.

Whether you choose a career that doesn’t 100% align with your values is situational. That is why McCall stresses the importance of ranking your values.

“The way I was trained as a values coach is that your values are your subconscious driver. They drive how you spend your time and how you evaluate your time spent,” McCall said. “If there's a conflict between your top values and your more middle-range values, those top values will take over a little bit more. For example, my number four value is flexibility. However, if I'm really tied to a purpose, I might be willing to give up more flexibility in exchange for meeting that higher purpose.”

Also, don’t discount the value of taking an imperfect job to build experience before moving on to a position that fulfills your values more.

“I've worked positions, I'm sure as you have, where you didn't necessarily enjoy the work that you were doing, but there was an end goal,” McCall said. “I think that mentality is something a lot of people don't have as much anymore, especially with Gen Z and millennials being unhappy in jobs and wanting to leave immediately without necessarily seeing the value of the application toward the next job.?

“But with that, I don't think it's ever bad to be looking for that next opportunity. If you're unhappy in your position, [ask yourself] ‘Why am I unhappy right now? What's missing in my career?’ Then look for ways to create that in your current career or find that in your next one.”

Byrne-Haber said to establish clear work-life boundaries if stuck in a job that doesn’t share your values.

“I think you need to not be dwelling on the problems that you're experiencing at work during your personal time because if that starts to leak over, then it takes over your entire life, and that's not going to put you in a good mental health space,” Byrne-Haber said.

(A version of this article first appeared on October 25, 2022, on the Get Hired by LinkedIn News page. You can read the full article, which was written and reported by Lora Korpar by clicking here.)

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