How Values Can Help You with Your Career Change

Why Values Matter When You’re Considering a Career Change

When you’re thinking about a new career path, it’s easy to focus on skills, salary, or job titles. But one of the most powerful and often overlooked tools in career transition is understanding your values. Your values act like an internal compass, guiding decisions and helping you recognise what truly matters. Aligning your values and career change journey can bring clarity, motivation, and purpose during what might otherwise feel like an uncertain time.

As Michael Glassock Coaching teaches, when you make career decisions aligned with your core values, you don’t just move jobs you move toward a more fulfilled life.

The Role of Values in Career Fulfilment

Values shape how we interpret success, satisfaction, and purpose. They motivate us, influence our behaviour, and drive the goals we set. When your day to day work reflects your values, you naturally feel more energised and engaged. But when there’s a misalignment, frustration or disconnection can start to build.

For example, if growth is one of your top values, a stagnant role with little room for development may feel draining, even if it pays well. Similarly, if connection or impact is important to you, working in isolation or without visible results may leave you unfulfilled.

Understanding your values and career change connection helps you identify what’s missing and what you truly need in your next role.

How to Identify Your Core Values

Before you can align your career with your values, you need to define what those values are. This process involves self reflection and honesty. Here are a few practical steps:

Reflect on peak experiences: Think about times in your life when you felt proud, fulfilled, or truly ‘yourself.’ What values were being expressed in those moments independence, creativity, contribution, or mastery?

Notice frustration patterns: What consistently drains you or causes conflict at work? Often, these moments reveal values that aren’t being honoured.

Ask meaningful questions:

1. What truly matters to me at work and in life?

2. What am I unwilling to compromise on?

3. What kind of environment brings out my best self?

Once you’ve identified your top 3 to 5 values, use them as a filter to evaluate future opportunities.

Using Values as a Decision Filter During a Career Change

When manoeuvring a career change, it’s tempting to make decisions based on short term factors such as location, pay rise, or convenience. But aligning values and career change decisions gives you a framework for long term satisfaction.

Ask yourself:

• Does this new role or company reflect what I care about most?

• Will it allow me to express my values daily?

• How does this move contribute to the life I want to build?

Think of your values as the non-negotiables that underpin every choice. They help you say ‘yes’ to opportunities that fit, and confidently decline those that don’t even if they look good on paper.

Recognising When Your Career No Longer Reflects Your Values

One of the clearest indicators that it’s time for a career change is a sense of disconnection between your work and your values. You might notice:

• A loss of enthusiasm for tasks that once motivated you

• A constant feeling of compromise or dissatisfaction

• Ethical discomfort or conflict with company culture

• A desire for something more meaningful or authentic

These are all signs that your values and career change may be out of sync. Acknowledging this disconnect is the first step toward realignment.

As Michael Glassock often highlights, clarity about values doesn’t just help you find a new job, it helps you build a career that supports who you truly are.

Lifelong Learning. A Value That Inspires Growth

One value that resonates deeply with many professionals is lifelong learning. It symbolises curiosity, adaptability, and resilience, which are all vital during career transitions. When you value continuous growth, change becomes less daunting and more of an opportunity for reinvention.

Change is the only constant. Recognising this truth helps you see a career change not as a setback, but as a chance to evolve. Lifelong learning ensures that your skills, mindset, and outlook stay aligned with both your values and the shifting demands of your career.

Do Values Change Over Time?

Absolutely. Just as we grow and gain new perspectives, our priorities evolve too. Early in your career, you may have valued stability or recognition. Later, autonomy or balance may take precedence. Revisiting your values regularly ensures your career continues to align with your present goals and lifestyle.

By reassessing your values and career change alignment at different stages of life, you maintain control over your trajectory rather than letting external circumstances dictate it.

Building a Career Around Your Values

Once you’ve defined your values, the next step is integrating them into your career strategy. Here’s how:

• Redefine success: Move away from external markers like job titles or income, and define success through your values, such as creativity, freedom, or contribution.

• Craft your personal mission statement: Write a simple statement that summarises how your values guide your work. This becomes your internal compass.

• Audit your current role: Which values are being met? Which are missing? How might you bring more alignment through new projects, skill development, or conversations with your manager?

• Plan your transition: Use your values to inform networking, applications, and interview conversations. Employers are increasingly drawn to authenticity and purpose driven candidates.

• By building your career around your values, you create a foundation of meaning and resilience that helps you thrive even through change.

Practical Reflection Exercise

Grab a journal or open a new note and write your answers to these prompts:

• What are your top five values right now?

• Which value is most absent in your current role?

• What would it look like to live that value more fully at work?

• What small step could you take this week to move closer to alignment?

Even one clear step like exploring a new learning opportunity or reconnecting with what inspires you can shift your energy and perspective.

Why Values Create Clarity in Career Decisions

When your values are clear, your decisions become easier. You stop second-guessing yourself because your choices are guided by something deeper than external rewards. 

The link between values and career change becomes a path of self-trust and direction.

Clarity brings confidence. You begin to recognise that a meaningful career isn’t just about what you do it’s about why you do it and how it aligns with your purpose.

Understanding your values and career change connection is more than an exercise in reflection it’s a blueprint for fulfilment. Values give structure to your goals, direction to your efforts, and meaning to your achievements. They remind you that success isn’t about chasing titles; it’s about creating a life that feels right.

When you align your work with what truly matters, you don’t just change your career but you transform your sense of self.

For guidance on aligning your career with your values, visit Michael Glassock Coaching.

Key Takeaways on Using Values for a Career Change

1. Identifying Your Core Values: You can discover what truly matters to you by reflecting on past fulfilling experiences and recognising consistent sources of frustration in your work.

2. Using Values as a Decision Filter: Treat your core values as non-negotiables when evaluating new career opportunities. This framework helps you confidently choose roles that offer long-term satisfaction.

3. Recognising Misalignment: A persistent loss of enthusiasm or a feeling of compromise are key signs that your job is out of sync with your values, indicating it might be time for a change.

4. Building a Career Around Values: To create a fulfilling professional life, you should redefine success based on your values, audit your current role for alignment, and use your values to guide your entire transition strategy.

5. The Evolution of Values: Your priorities can shift as you grow. Regularly reassessing the connection between your values and career change plans ensures your professional path remains aligned with who you are today.

FAQs for How Values Can Help You with Your Career Change

Why are values so important in a career change?

Your values act as an internal compass. When you make decisions that align with them, you move towards a career that provides genuine fulfilment and purpose, not just a new job title. This alignment is crucial for long-term satisfaction and motivation.

How can I figure out my core values?

You can identify your core values through self-reflection. Think about times you felt most proud or energised, and consider what values were at play. Also, notice what consistently frustrates you at work, as this often points to a value that is not being met.

What if a new job offer looks great but doesn't fit my values?

An opportunity that looks good on paper but conflicts with your core values can lead to dissatisfaction down the line. Using your values as a decision-making tool helps you see beyond short-term benefits and choose a path that supports your overall well-being.

Can my professional values change over time?

Yes, absolutely. As you gain new life experiences and your priorities shift, your values can evolve. It's a good practice to regularly check in with yourself to ensure your career continues to reflect what is most important to you at your current stage of life.

How can coaching help with aligning my values and career change?

A coach can provide structure and guidance to help you clarify your core values and use them to build a practical career strategy. Services like those from Michael Glassock Coaching offer support in navigating this process, helping you make confident, value driven decisions.

About the Authors

Michael Glassock is a certified career and leadership coach who helps professionals navigate change with confidence and clarity. Through Michael Glassock Coaching, he supports individuals in aligning their values and career change decisions, helping them build meaningful, purpose driven careers.

Kiki from New Media Ghost is an AI marketing strategist and visibility expert who partners with professionals and brands to increase their online presence through authentic storytelling, SEO, and content strategy. Kiki collaborated with Michael on this piece to ensure it reaches the people who most need career clarity and personal growth.

Together, they bring the power of coaching and visibility to those ready to align who they are with what they do.