Uncovering
Interests and Values
3/18/2022
When was the last time you sat down and made a list of your interests in life? How about what you value? When making a career selection, it is essential to consider your interests and job skills, but our values are often overlooked.
Take some time to analyze your preferences for a new career. Then, when you are searching for a new job, you will know what you value and what you are interested in because that will help you identify the right jobs for you, which will also naturally eliminate the jobs that would not be a good fit for you. Besides just making a list of your career interests and values from things you find on Google, there are online assessments to help you narrow this down even further. The more reliable assessments you might have to pay for or receive from a vocational rehabilitation counselor, but there are still a lot available.
Before we begin, what even are values? Can you value something and not want to do that in your career? How about interests? Can you be horrible at something and still be interested in it? Absolutely.
VALUES
Beliefs about what is important in your work and your activities. Some of the most common values people tend to think about are being accountable, honesty, individuality, creativity, and leadership. When your values align with what you choose to do at work, you might feel way more satisfied and confident, so it is imperative to clarify your values so you can seek jobs that match YOU. Some of the better assessments out there offer more details in the value department and can help you narrow it down even more. For example, do you value activities where you follow orders, or do you not have to follow orders? Another example of values in the workplace: Do you like to solve problems with or without acknowledgment?
Once you have determined your values, take a look at your interests to see if they line up. You would be surprised how many people do not match their interests to their jobs.
Interests
Interests help you find the work you are interested in doing. Again, not necessarily what you are good at, but just what you are interested in. For example, you may like basketball, but that does not mean you will be in the WNBA/NBA. Common interests that you might find online are video games, working with hands, working outside/inside. One of the more popular and valid interest categories is the Holland Codes. The Holland Codes is a system that classifies jobs into job categories (see image)- including five different types (initially 6, but they removed one):
If you had to identify one of these that you feel describes you best, what would it be? Of course, there are other assessments to help you identify additional interests, ones with different questions. For example, suppose you were interested in working in the medical field. There might be questions about measuring blood pressure or operating an x-ray machine, or perhaps you are interested in writing; there may be questions about writing books or plays.
On average, adults spend 90,000 hours of their lifetime at work. Not even counting the hours you might be commuting to work. So why not find a job that matches your personality so that it can bring satisfaction into your life. Make those hours worth it. Make the drive worth it.
After you have identified your interests and values, do they align with what you are currently doing?