2. Values
What are Values?
Values are what you find deeply important to you. At work, your values refer to those things you need to
have in a job to be happy.
It’s critical to keep your values in mind when making career decisions, for these reasons:
• The better your job provides what you value, the more satisfied you will feel with your work.
• Knowing your values will help you answer questions like…
• "Why have I felt in conflict with myself with past employment?"
• "What do I most need from my work environment?"
• "When it comes down to it, what do I absolutely need to have in a job?"
Your Scores
We measure six work values drawn from the Theory of Work Adjustment. Your scores are
Your scores reveal that your primary values are Achievement and Support.
People who value Achievement:
• Need to make the most of their abilities on the job.
• Need to feel a sense of accomplishment from their work.
"People who value Support:
• Appreciate working for a supportive organization.
• Need to feel comfortable with the management’s style of supervision.
• Need to work for supervisors that are competent, considerate, and fair.
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3. We measure six interests types drawn from Holland’s RIASEC theory of vocational types. Your scores
are below.
Interests
Your Scores
Interests are what you enjoy doing, those things that get you excited. When work tasks and activities
match your interests, you will feel energized and motivated.
It’s critical to keep your values in mind when making career decisions, for these reasons:
What are Interests?
Understanding your interests and aligning them with an employer or a job are a critical step to
making the best choice in an employment path.
The better your job satisfies your interests, the more satisfied you will feel with your work.
Knowing your interests will help you answer questions like…
• "Why have I felt bored in my past employment?"
• "What types of activities will I enjoy most in a career?"
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Your scores reveal that your primary interest area's Artistic, Social and Enterprising.
People with Artistic interests:
• Often enjoy creating things, but on a more basic level, they enjoy activities that allow for self-
expression.
• Like work that deals with the artistic side of things, defined broadly to include visual arts but
also writing, music, drama, dance, and other activities that involve forms, designs, and patterns.
• Prefer settings where work can be done without following a clear set of rules.
People with Social interests:
• Often do like interacting with people, but more importantly they like to work in roles that
directly help people and promote their learning and personal development.
• Like to communicate and counsel, to teach, give advice, or otherwise be of service to people.
People with Enterprising interests:
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4. • Are often go-getters who enjoy persuading people, leading people, and making decisions.
• Like work activities that involve starting up and carrying out new projects, especially business
ventures.
• Are action-oriented and like taking risks for profit.
People with Realistic interests:
• Are often “realistic” or pragmatic in their outlook, but more importantly they like working with
their hands, working outdoors, and working on mechanical activities.
• Enjoy dealing with tangible, real-world objects and materials, like plants, wood, tools, and
machinery.
• Enjoy providing security services and operating equipment and vehicles.
People with Investigative interests:
• Like exploring ideas, asking intellectual questions, and seeking answers to those questions.
• Like to search for facts and figure out problems mentally.
• Enjoy math, science, and research, and appreciate having independence in how they
approach their work.
People with Conventional interests:
• Like work activities that follow set procedures and routines.
• Are detail-oriented and enjoy working with data.
• Appreciate having precise standards to guide their work, and they like workplaces where the
lines of authority are clear.
Your scores reveal that your secondary interest area's Realistic, Investigative and
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5. Your scores reveal your standing on each of the pattern of traits in the Big 5, the most heavily-researched
and well-supported model of personality traits in history.
What are Personality traits?
Personality traits are relatively permanent dispositions that influence how people think, feel, and act.
Traits are mostly consistent over time and across situations, and knowing your traits helps you answer
questions like:
• What is a good way to describe my personality?
• Why have my past jobs fit me so poorly?
• How might people in the workplace experience me?
Your Scores
Personality
You have a moderate-to-high score on Openness to Experience. People with scores like this tend to
have above-average levels of creativity, imaginativeness, curiosity, open-mindedness, and wittiness.
At the workplace, others may see you as someone who often enjoys creating new plans, likes
complexity, appreciates innovation and change, and prefers a broad vision instead of details.
You have a high score on Conscientiousness. People with scores like this tend to be responsible,
persevering, organized, disciplined, and determined. At the workplace, others may see you as a
highly focused, well-organized planner who strives for high achievement and is refining and improving
continually.
You have a moderate-to-high score on Extraversion. People with scores like this tend to have above-
average levels of sociability, assertiveness, energy, adventurousness, and spunk. At the workplace,
others may see you as a generally energetic, active person who usually prefers working with others.
You have a high score on Agreeableness. People with scores like this tend to be cooperative,
trusting, good-natured, accommodating, unselfish, compassionate, and polite. At the workplace,
others may see you as humble, interested in others’ needs, conflict-avoidant, and pleasant.
You have a moderate-to-low score on Negative Emotionality. People with scores like this tend to
have slightly below-average levels of sensitivity, anxiety, tension, moodiness, and vulnerability to
stress, and instead tend to be described as generally relaxed, stable, calm, resilient, secure, and
usually content. At the workplace, others may see you as
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6. usually at ease, relatively optimistic, generally calm, and resilient.
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7. Your Scores
Workplace Preferences
Different companies promote and emphasize different values. For example, some employers may
emphasize innovation but downplay stability; others are very supportive but downplay rewards. Your
workplace preferences (WPs) are the values you’d like your ideal employer to emphasize. Simply put,
your WP gives you a bit more direction about where will you feel like you fit.
Your scores will help you answer questions like:
• What do I most need from an employer?
• What type of workplace fits me best?
• How can I use these values to impact the workplace I am in?
What are Workplace Preferences?
Your pattern of workplace preferences is revealed in your scores on seven organizational
Your scores reveal that your preferred workplace values are Excellence and Guiding Principles.
People who value Excellence like workplaces that place a strong emphasis on:
• Achievement.
• Quality.
• Being distinctive from others.
• Being competitive.
People who value Guiding Principles like workplaces:
• That value social responsibility.
• That have a clear guiding philosophy.
• That are reflective in their approach to doing business.
• That have a good reputation.
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8. Use Your Results
I am an employee.
Here are a few tips for putting your VIP results into action.
1) Better manage your performance reviews.
In a performance review, it helps to give examples of how you can use your strengths to help
the organization succeed. To do this well, use specific examples to highlight how your VIP
profile makes you an effective employee. To practice,
• One successful project I worked that really built on my Artistic and Social interests
was…
• As an example of how my Achievement and Support values can be an asset in my
work here, I…
• Here’s a quick story about how my personality has helped me in this job:…
• I strongly value Excellence and Guiding Principles in an organization. As an example
of how this plays out in my job here, I…
2) Evaluate career paths in your current organization for fit.
Take a career path offered by your employer that you are considering. Ask yourself: How well
will this path satisfy my interests in Artistic and Social? How well will it reinforce my values in
Achievement and Support?
To facilitate this, go to www.onetonline.org. In the upper right corner, search using the name of
the career pathway (job title) you are considering. Scroll down until you see the interests and
values profiles for that career path. How well do they align with your values and interests?
Where are the gaps?
3) Shape and strengthen your company’s culture.
How well do your workplace preferences for Excellence and Guiding Principles align with the
values espoused by your organization?
Is the fit poor? Talk with your supervisor about how you fit into the company’s vision, and how
you can help shape the culture to enhance the company’s success, and to bring you satisfaction
and joy.
Is the fit good? Talk with your supervisor about how you can help enhance the company’s
culture, help other employees strengthen the culture, and assist in recruiting new employees
who fit the culture well.
4) Craft your job to improve its fit.
When people fit their jobs well, it’s a win-win; both workers and employers come out ahead. And
most people have more latitude than they realize to craft their job in ways that improve fit.
Consider these questions:
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9. What tasks can I change or add to my daily routine, so that my interests in Artistic and Social
are better satisfied?
In what ways can I work with my employer so that my values of Achievement and Support are
better reinforced?
What changes can I make so that I can better “be who I am” at work, with my personality traits
as an asset?
In what specific ways can I improve my fit to my organization’s culture, given my workplace
preferences of Excellence and Guiding Principles?
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10. Unless you pursue self-employment, you will work for an employer, in an organization that is
unique. How well do your workplace preferences for Excellence and Guiding Principles align
with the values espoused by that organization?
Having trouble figuring out the organization’s values? Start with this:
Take a career path you are considering right now. Ask yourself: How well will this career satisfy
my Artistic and Social interests? How well will it reinforce my values in Achievement and
Support?
To facilitate this, go to www.onetonline.org. In the upper right corner, search using the name of
the occupation you are considering. Scroll down until you see the interests and values profiles
for that occupation. How well do they align with your values and interests? Where are the gaps?
Here are a few tips for putting your VIP results into action.
2) Evaluate a specific employer for fit.
I am a Jobseeker.
1) Evaluate potential career paths for fit.
• Look at the organization’s publicly-stated mission and objectives. Usually these are
presented on the organization’s website.
• Ask current employees of the organization—especially your potential co-workers
there—to describe what they see as the organization’s values.
As a jobseeker, you should always be ready to explain your fit to a potential employer in any
initial contact in person, in a cover letter, and even in a resume. This includes your training,
experiences, and abilities, but it also includes your VIP profile. How would you complete these
sentences?
My interests in Artistic, Social make me a good fit for your organization because…
I strongly value Achievement and Support in a job, which would benefit your organization in
that…
My personality makes me the kind of person who…
My strongest workplace preferences are Excellence and Guiding Principles, which will
enhance your company culture by…
3) Market yourself to potential employers.
In an interview, use specific examples to highlight how your VIP profile makes you a strong
candidate. To practice, complete these sentences:
4) Nail the interview.
• One successful project I worked that really captured my Artistic and Social interests
was…
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11. • As an example of how my Achievement and Support values can be an asset in a job,
I…
• Here’s a quick story about how my personality has helped me in a job:…
• My ideal organization would have high values for Excellence and Guiding Principles.
In my last job, this meant that… With your organization, I see the fit as…
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12. In an interview for an internship or for a job, use specific examples to highlight how your VIP
profile makes you a strong candidate. To practice, complete these sentences:
1) Explore career paths.
• Look at the organization’s publicly-stated mission and objectives. Usually these are
presented on the organization’s website.
• Ask current employees of the organization—especially those with whom you will work
closely on your internship—to describe what they see as the organization’s values.
I am a student.
Internships are very important at preparing you for your career, and will place you with an
employer, in an organization that is unique. How well do your workplace preferences for
Excellence and Guiding Principles align with the values espoused by that organization?
Having trouble figuring out the organization’s values? Start with this:
Here are a few tips for putting your VIP results into action.
3) Evaluate internship opportunities for fit.
Once you have a sense of occupations that would fit you well, ask yourself: What kind of
training program would equip me to pursue a job within this occupation?
Go to your school’s website or talk to a counselor or instructor to learn more about majors and
training programs that are available to you.
When evaluating a training opportunity, ask yourself: Does this major or training program fit
with my Artistic and Social interests? Will it reinforce my values in Achievement and
Support? Is it compatible with my personality traits? Would I enjoy the courses that I would
take as part of this major or training program?
To gain a clearer sense of the specific training needed to pursue a particular occupation, go to
the Occupational Outlook Handbook (http://www.bls.gov/ooh/) and search by occupation.
2) Evaluate majors and training programs.
Ask yourself: Which career paths will satisfy my interests in Artistic and Social? Which
occupations will reinforce my values in Achievement and Support?
To answer these questions, go to www.onetonline.org. Click on “Advanced Search” and choose
“Interests” or “Work Values” in the drop-down menu under the “Browse by O*NET Data” header.
Choose the interests or values on which you score highest, and run searches to find
occupations that fit you well.
4) Nail the interview.
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13. One successful project I worked that really captured my Artistic and Social interests was….
As an example of how my Achievement and Support values can be an asset in an internship
or job, I….
Here’s a quick story about how my personality has helped me on a project:….
My ideal organization would have high values for Excellence and Guiding Principles. With
your organization, I see the fit as…….
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