How to find a job that shares your values

For an important number of people, a job has to be meaningful for them to find fulfillment. Indeed, an increasing amount of people consider that happiness is found when the work they carry out contributes to the company’s growth. You may think that passion in work only comes from the most exceptional job opportunities. However, even people in super-competitive roles can become miserable in their job because what made the job high value, such as high pay or status for example, pays off quickly. The grass always seems greener on the other side.

Given this, how can you link performance and engagement? Your engagement comes from the alignment between your values and those of your company. If you feel you are working towards something you and your company strongly believe in, you will feel motivated and thus become more efficient.

Here is our advice on how to find a job that shares your values:

1. Become aware of what you want
It's not an easy task as the idea is not only to write down what you want right know, but what you will want to accomplish and experience throughout your working life. Your desires may change overtime, but your core values will remain the same. People are motivated by 3 main values:

1. Status

Throughout your career, you will seek to get ahead of others and compete with them. Depending on your character, you will either be motivated by power or by recognition. If its power that makes you thrive, you should focus on positions that give you full control such as commercial positions for example.

2. Affiliation

It is your desire to get along with the people in the company you work for. If you’re a person who is willing to help others, affiliation will be an important factor for you to carry out value-driven work.

3. Learning

It relates to people's way of thinking. Some have a scientific way of thinking, meaning they will thrive in careers such as research, technology, engineering… Others are better at intuitive thinking and will find happiness in aesthetic experiences in the arts for example.

2. Find out as much as possible about your employer
Try and find out as much as you can about the values of your employer. Have a look at what the company communicates about its identity. However, be aware that sometimes the marketing of the company will get in the way. Try getting in contact with people who have worked within the company or who are still working there to get real feedback. You can also take a look at comments that employees leave on their company. 

3. Learn from previous experiences
Take a step back and look at your previous experience. Try to remember the tasks that you strongly disliked in your previous job. What made you unhappy in your daily routine? You will change throughout your professional life but it’s unlikely that the features you strongly disliked will become tasks you enjoy carrying out. Equally, find out what highly motivates you – a strong pay check or travels abroad – and make sure you don’t lose it from sight in your job hunt.

Compare your job hunt to a relationship: it may take a while to find the right one, but once it’s done you will know exactly what makes you happy.