Core values
In this article we will discuss what are the core values and they are personal ethics and ideals that guide you in making decisions, building relationships and solving problems. Identifying the main values can help you to develop and achieve persona and professionals goals and also can help you to find jobs and companies that align with your ideals. Core values describe how people interact (humility, respect, etc.), the individual responsabilities one will hold (quality, reliability, etc.) and the focus that a person has to a business and a work (ingenuity, creativity, etc.).
Common career core values
Choose the core values is an individual decision but we can mention five common career core values:
- Collaborative: as an employee, you may want to feel empowered to make opinions and take actions. While autonomy is an important core value, collaboration is also important to your career success. Being a strong platoon player will help you to grow within your company and your career.
- Integrity: valuing the integrity of your workplace shows you that you are trying to do the right thing, even if no one is looking at you. To do what’s the best for your clients, customers, teammates and company you can also value honesty, transparency and commitments.
- Innovation: finding new methods to solve problems can help the company to move forward. You are a work in progress, trying to improve yourself and do always better, thinking on creating different ways to solve problems and act to find and calculate risks. This is a way to challenge yourself to se what’s possible to better meet the needs of your team, customers and company
- Growth: valuing the growth means that you have to drive to improve both yourself and your company because, often, the growth of a company follows the professional growth of its employees. If you are working to value your workplace you have to look for a company that develops its staff and provides an environment that promotes personal and professional development.
- Service: valuing a service means that you aim to provide a wonderful and important experience to the people you serve and support. Being service-minded or customer-oriented shows that you care about providing a quality experience to the clients you serve and this value can also include supporting the community and your team.
There are different types of core values that you can use as inspiration when you are looking to decide on your own core values. These values also help you when you are planning some answers to interview questions or to understand the core values of others. Below i will mention some of these values:
- Acceptance, authenticity, autonomy
- Balance
- Challenge, collaboration, communication, creativity, curiosity
- Determination
- Empathy, enthusiasm
- Fairness, flexibility
- Growth
- Humility, honesty
- Improvement, innovation
- Knowledge
- Leadership, loyalty
- Optimism
- Participation, patience
- Quality
- Reliability, reputation, respect, responsibility, results
- Security, stability, success
- Teamwork, transparency, tenacity
- Work ethic
How to recognise your core values
Another important process is the one to recognise our core values. If we are unsure what are our core values we may consider some of these questions:
- Do you want to work for what kind of culture?
- To do your best work what are the enviroments, settings and resources that you need ?
- To improve your relationships what qualities do you need to make them stronger?
- For your models what qualities do you admire the most?
- What are your motivations?
- What qualities do you wish to develop in yourself?
How include core values in your resume
It can be helpful to list your core values as they relate to the open position in case you are preparing your resume for submission. Especially if you are new to the world of the job market, identifying how you like to work can be helpful for employers. If you already had work experiences, you can weave core values into examples of specific accomplishments from you prior roles.
How to align your core values when you are searching for a job with companies
When you are searching for a job it’s important to identify what are the companies that align with the type of the work you are looking for, the culture you want to be in and the mission you want to work for. To follow this step it may help you a careful review about the job description for ways your core values would be relevant and helpful in the role. It can also help you make a little research about the company to ensure what is its company’s mission and core values align with your own.
How to discuss your core values during interviews
It’s important to know that many interviewers will ask questions specifically about the qualities that are important for you. These questions can be:
- What motivates you?
- What kind of employee are you?
- Why did you choose us to apply for a job?
In this kind of situation it can be important to use your core values as an answer and also to provide context for your most important accomplishments. For example, if you helped your previous company to increase the sales of products by 10 % you can explain the value of your responsibilities for it, time management and teamwork.
