Expressing Values Clearly

Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
September 14, 2011

by Kevin Gaw, Ph.D.

Can students express their personal and work values with clarity?

• Identifying personal and work values—Identifying values is fairly straightforward. Most [career counselors] have some sort of values card sort handy or worksheet system, in addition to using standardized online or paper-and-pencil assessment tools. These values, sorted in order of preference or strength from most to least important, provide the foundation for the in-depth exploration on which the [student] and [career counselor] embark.
• Clearly expressing these values—Expressing these values without ambiguity and in a manner that clearly demonstrates understanding is the more difficult challenge for many students. This is particularly true for traditionally aged students who have less life experience, from which many values are derived and solidified. Students often need to talk about and explore their values and to associate life experiences (their own and those of others) that support their expressed values. Clarity and understanding are the keys to this expression and this takes some exploration and practice. What is clarity and understanding? When students can clearly express their personal and work values, they:
  • Can associate one or more meaningful life event/experience with each identified value that helps define why the value is important to the student.
  • Can make the abstract association with a personal/workplace value and the workplace environment, mission, and/or vision.
  • Can state how one’s personal and workplace values are part of one’s career identity, and how these values can support the vision and mission of an organization, as well as support their sense of self.

John’s opinion:  Knowing one’s values and being able to express them clearly so that the job candidate can align with a potential employer’s values is a crucial job search skill that will enhance career satisfaction several fold!