What are your work values?

How do you like to work?

Before deciding on a particular job, it's useful to understand how you like to work and what sorts of working conditions you prefer.

Hours

What hours do you want to work? You may want to work part time only, or perhaps having flexible hours is important to you. For example, you may want to start early so you can be home when your kids return from school.

Working with others

Think about whether you want to work alone, or with others. Do you like meeting a wide variety of people, or do you prefer to work with only a few people?

You’ll also need to consider if you want to be a leader in your workplace, or if you prefer working as part of a team.

Work environment

Some people say they’d rather do anything than sit behind a desk all day, others may find the comfort of the office ideal. Think about whether you like indoor or outdoor work, and whether you like a quiet or a busy and noisy workplace.

Challenge and variety of work

You may prefer jobs where you get to do a variety of things each day, and where you are never sure what is going to happen. Or, you may prefer to stick to a routine, so you always know what you are doing and what is expected.

You should also consider whether you want to be challenged by your work – and risk making mistakes – or do you prefer using the skills that you have to do a job well every time?

What aspects of a job are important to you?

This includes thinking about things like:

• Do you want a job that is high-paying? A job that gets you respect from others?
• Do you want a job that allows you to help others in some way?
• Is it important to you that you are learning new skills, picking up knowledge, or learning new ways of working?
• Do you want to be able to decide how you work, and not have to report to others?
• Do you like doing physical work, or work with your hands?
• Is it important that your work still allows you enough time with your family and friends, and to do the activities you enjoy?
• Do you prefer using your brain, solving problems and being challenged mentally by your work?
• Do you like to be in charge, have people come to you for advice, and enjoy making decisions?

• What are your work values exercise -  identify and reflect on your values and how they affect your work choices
  

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