Values shape the person you are. Your values affect your work ethic, personality, beliefs and what you deem to be important.

Often people with similar values create strong rapport and build strong friendships.

In the job interview, you can use values to create likability with the interviewer increasing your chances of a job offer. The employer will value certain aspects of the job more than others, they deem certain company policies and procedures over others and they will reference ways of working. 

If your values match the interviewer’s values you will increase interview rapport.

Understanding Your Values

What is important to you in your career? To understand what you value in  a career I would first ask you to write down your values on a piece of paper. 

Example Values	Your Values
Money Career progression Working with others Seeing the end result to my work Working close to home Having targets Feedback Personal development Flexibility Reliability Ongoing support Variation

Now you have a list of your career values; you need to reorder them according to importance, which of your values is more important to you? If you had a choice would you take a job that had value A or value B?

Your Values in Order of Importance

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Once you know your career values and the values you most require, ask your self “could I have a job that didn’t have Value X?” – Pose this question for all the values on your list.

People who accept a job offer with a company who doesn’t have the same values will soon become bored, agitated or stressed, which will lead to them quitting their job or becoming depressed and falling ill. If you have not reflected on and identified your values then you may fall into the trap of applying for similar unsuitable roles in which you quickly become bored, creating a cycle of negative career choices.

Once you know what you truly value in a career, you can match your values to that of the position you are applying for and I would add, once you find your values in the position you are applying for you will quickly become more excited about the position and this excitement will shine through during the interview which will lead to leaving a lasting positive impression.

Often enthusiastic, passionate and motivated interviewees gain job offers over experienced but boring interviewees – candidates might give the same answers but they are not always heard the same by the bored interviewer.