Finding Your “Fit”: How to Align Your Career With Your Values

If we have to work for a living, why not do something we can feel proud of? Why not pursue careers that align with our most deeply held values?

Most of us share this vision, and many of us do our best to follow it. However, it’s not always easy to find meaning in our daily grid. Fifty percent of Americans say they are only somewhat or not at all satisfied with their jobs, according to Pew Research, a statistic that would most likely be lower if more of us could truly align our work with our values.

Where can we turn for inspiration? Individuals like David Miscavige, leader of the Scientology religion, set examples worth following. After all, Miscavige has built an organization that takes a broadly tolerant approach to its operations while adhering steadfastly to the principles that define it.

Yet it’s not necessary to work for a mission-driven organization to find this elusive alignment. Your “fit” is out there, no matter the industry or your particular mix of skills. Here’s what you can do to find it before too much more time goes by.

Conduct an Honest Self-Assessment Before Going Any Further

First, perform a professional self-assessment to gain a deeper understanding of your strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities as a productive individual. 

If you’ve never done one before, it might sound like an uncomfortable task. However, it’s nearly impossible to truly align your values with your career (let alone your day-to-dayday to day work) if you’re not honest with yourself. It’s not like you have to share the results with anyone else if you choose not to, although many professionals considering career changes do find it useful to work with a career coach.

Decide Whether Your Current Role (Or Career Path) Is Aligned

Now that you’ve taken an honest look at yourself, take a closer look at your current professional role and the career path you’d expect to follow if nothing changed.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re not entirely satisfied with either. Still, the decision to change jobs (to say nothing of your career) is not one to be taken lightly. It’s best to confirm that this really is the best path ahead of you, lest you come to regret your choice in the near future.

Develop and Prioritize a List of “Must Haves” and “Nice to Haves” 

Once you’re sure you’re doing the right thing for yourself and your career, begin thinking about how “whatever’s next” might look. 

One early step to take here is to make a list of “must haves” and “nice to haves” in your new role (or career, if you’re thinking more expansively). This list will be helpful as you begin researching potential employers, career tracks, and individual roles, as you’ll want a keener understanding of how they might align (or not) with your values and longer-term life goals.

Research Employers and Career Tracks for Values Alignment

You can learn a lot about prospective employers from what they choose to share on their websites and social media accounts. Look for statements of values and mission, then map them onto your own preferences to determine how well they mesh.

Likewise, if you’re thinking about changing careers, you can learn more about the sorts of roles you can expect to find early on in your new career. While keeping in mind that job satisfaction and values alignment often depend on employers themselves, this should give you a sense of whether you’re likely to feel happy and fulfilled moving forward. 

Weigh Your Values Against Economic Opportunity Costs

Would you accept lower pay to do a job you love? Millions of people do, quite happily. But this isn’t for everyone. If your pursuit of values-aligned work is in tension with your obligation to support your loved ones, it might have to give way, at least temporarily.

On the other hand, maybe you’re okay with the economic opportunity cost. You just need to decide one way or another before you begin looking for work in lower-paid professions or in the nonprofit sector, where average compensation tends to be lower.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions in Interviews (But Know Where the Line Is)

Just as employers are prohibited by law from asking certain questions during the hiring process, prospective employees should tread carefully as well. However, it’s fine to ask a prospective employer about their approach to balancing work and family obligations, how their stated mission and values intersect with your own priorities, and what sort of “fit” they’re looking for in team members (if they haven’t yet been clear about this). You won’t know until you ask.

If All Else Fails, Launch Your Own Values-Aligned Endeavor

Many mission-driven professionals try without success to find the ideal fit in an employer. Should they go back to their list of “must haves” and “nice to haves” to see where, if at all, they can find compromise?

Some do. Others, instead, choose to launch their own endeavors. Starting a new business (especially a single-person consultancy or freelance shop) is not a heavy lift these days, and it can be a great way to at least temporarily find meaning in your work. 

Stay the Course, Enjoy the Journey

Compromise is a fact of life. Nearly without exception, all of us — regardless of our station in life — make at least some perceived sacrifices in the course of our daily lives.

We learn to live with these sacrifices, for the most part. That’s why we treat them as compromises. If and when they become truly intolerable, we make immediate adjustments; in the fullness of time, we work to reduce both their number and their impact on our quality of life.

All this is as true for our working days as it is for our lives writ large. It’s very unlikely that we’ll find perfect happiness or satisfaction — however we choose to define these — in our occupations. But you can, and should, strive to align your career with your values as closely as possible. And enjoy the journey as it unfolds.