Do you have the most important interviewing tool confident and successful job and career changers have?

Successful Job Changer’s Interviewing Toolkit – item #3

Values Clarity Statements

Before I explain what these statements are – let’s get on the same page about what I mean by values.

 

Values – meaningful contributions you want to be a part of creating in the world

 

So how do you connect with your values?

 

You can start by simply asking yourself who really matters to me and what do I most want for them?  (If this doesn’t help you get started, don’t worry, I have a more step-by-step approach to offer you in a bit – and it will only cost you about 1 hour of your time).

 

Values are about what you intend and actively work to manifest for others.   When you are clear about who matters most to you, what you want them to experience and feel like – starting with what you can most control which is every interaction with you – a role that will fulfill you and an intended way of being in that role (how to behave) becomes clear.

 

One of our primary life responsibilities is to get clear about our values.  That includes the roles we play in life, the people who benefit from us playing in those roles, and our intentions for how we want to impact those people in our life.

 

Why so much focus on what we intend for others in an interview?   

I believe, that the purpose of my life, your life (anybody’s life), is to serve others.  When you think about it, we are all service providers of something for others whether we work or not — even famous people are servants (maybe of great music or entertainment) – and it’s true that from some, you may not like the service you get – but that’s another topic – the point is that YOU are a servant too.

 

So if our shared purpose is to serve others, then the real question to ask is “In what capacity will I serve others?”  That answer is your calling – your calling lies in self-discovery of a few key things – your values is one of them.

 

Most companies have value and mission statements – they want to know that you have them too AND that your values align with theirs.  They want to know that you value what they value – from your heart – not just because they have a job opening and you need a paycheck.

 

Your Values Clarity Statements will be similar to what companies develop – although companies tend to develop one key value statement – I will teach you how to develop 5 Values Clarity Statements.  This is one of the first steps I take with my clients to help them discover a job or career path that they can love.

 

These statements give you a personal compass for creating and making decisions.  The outcomes of making decisions that are aligned with your Values Clarity Statements include:

•clarity about your primary roles in life

•clarity about your audience – the people who matter most to you

•clarity about “value experiences” you intend for those that matter most to you – how to “serve” them (value experiences are the intentions you have for those you interact with – how you want them to feel as a result of personal qualities or behaviors that are easy and second-nature for you to show and share with others)

•a hierarchy for action – easily decide who to give your attention to first when multiple or conflicting things come up – how to reactively live!

•a life plan – a decided regular course of action – how to proactively live!

 

Values Clarity Statements can help you showcase yourself as someone who naturally embraces what the companies you are interviewing for embrace.  Companies who recognize similar values in job candidates rarely let them slip away – even if the candidate doesn’t have all the experience they initially desired.  

 

Once you clearly have your statements written out – you will know what words to use to describe yourself and your values.  It’s important to use these words in an interview to be able to identify if you and the company you are interviewing with are aligned.  For example, if you value creativity, knowledge, fun, strategy, helpfulness, variety, or whatever word you identify through the exercise I will give you the opportunity to try for yourself – use those words in the interview and always – have examples about how you are actively living and working in alignment with your values to back you up.

 

Values clarity can help you focus your efforts and notice the right opportunities quickly and easily.  It makes what to say “yes” to in life and what to say “no” to in life real simple. So if caring for your family matters more to you than anything else, you cannot pick an occupation or say yes to a job opportunity that is going to require you to travel for long periods of time frequently.  No matter how good or exciting that job seems, it will thwart your ability to experience holistic life happiness.

 

So, never shy away from using your value buzz words.  If the company you are interviewing with doesn’t resonate with the words you use to express your values, then you just avoided a job and/or work environment that never would have sustained your happiness or supported your success.But if you can see where a job you are interviewing for seems to resonate with your values then that’s an opportunity that has a greater probability of sustaining your happiness and supporting your success – of valuing YOU!

 

Want to discover your values, then check out the NY Times Bestselling book The Passion Test written by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood or get access to my Values Clarity exercise available to you at www.indigoforce.com/about  This exercise is based on the work developed by Janet and Chris – enjoy making more meaningful and purposeful decisions – about life and about jobs – starting today!