Reviewed October 28, 2026
A work values assessment helps clarify what matters to you in your career. It gives us a starting point for examining the rewards, responsibilities and working conditions you are willing to pursue—and the trade-offs you would find difficult to accept.
You can enjoy the subject of your work and perform its tasks well while still feeling that something important is missing. Greater independence, stability, meaningful service or room to develop expertise may matter more than a different occupation title.
What are work values?
Work values concern what you consider important in working life. Depending on the assessment, you may explore priorities such as:
- Independence and room to make decisions.
- Security and continuity.
- Service to people or a cause.
- Achievement, challenge or expertise.
- The relationship between work and the rest of life.
These examples are not a universal set of assessment scales. Different instruments define and organize values differently. Their usefulness depends on the question you need to answer and how the findings are applied.
Career Anchors and values inventories
Career Anchors, developed through Edgar Schein’s work, explores a career self-concept involving perceived talents, motives and values. It is broader than a simple list of preferences. Reflection on work experience helps make the discussion concrete. MIT Sloan describes the career-anchor concept.
The framework can be useful when considering how you want your career to develop or why an attractive opportunity does not feel right. It does not establish your natural abilities through performance tasks.
COPES is a different instrument: a workplace values survey within the COPSystem. COPS assesses interests and CAPS assesses abilities; those are separate assessments. The COPES publisher describes its workplace-values focus.
Before choosing, examine the sample report, intended audience and interpretation provided. Some tools clarify priorities; others connect the findings with career exploration resources. They do not all produce the same kind of guidance.
Values need practical definitions
“I value independence” is a useful beginning. It becomes more useful when we ask what independence means in your daily work. Do you want to decide how to complete a task, choose your hours, avoid close supervision or build your own business? Those choices have different implications.
Illustrative example: A person may value autonomy and also need reliable income. Starting a business is one possibility, but so is a salaried role offering responsibility for how work is carried out. We need to investigate actual conditions rather than assume one employment arrangement meets every need.
Consultation helps distinguish a preference, an important priority and a requirement you cannot reasonably compromise.
Values and circumstances belong in the same conversation
An assessment does not establish whether a particular job offers what you need. Nor does it settle your financial commitments, family responsibilities, location or feasible training options.
We turn your priorities into questions to investigate: What decisions would I control? How predictable is the schedule? What does advancement involve? Which parts of the work serve the purpose I care about?
This helps distinguish dissatisfaction with a particular workplace from a mismatch with the work itself. It also gives you clearer criteria when comparing opportunities.
Connect values with your whole profile
Values add a perspective alongside interests, personal style, natural abilities and the skills you have developed. They do not replace those findings. A role may offer something important to you while requiring tasks you do not want as your main focus.
During consultation, we examine the combination and connect it with your goals. Values may be explored through a dedicated assessment or through discussion, depending on your selected package and needs. Check the profile package components before purchasing.
Your next step
Begin by buying and completing the profile package of your choice. Each assessment includes consultation, with video interpretation followed by consultation or consultations alone as specified by the selected package. I am Marjorie Wall Hofer, the consultant for people coming through The Career Profiler.
Decide your next step at the final profile consultation. If you choose Targeting or Landing afterward, those involve further coaching sessions with me. Find My Profile Package, or book a free 30-minute consultation to clarify the process before purchasing.
The Career Profiler owns TestEts, where assessment and package purchases take place.