CAREER OPTIONS WORKSHEET KNOWDELL ™ CAREER VALUES WORKSHEET

Career Options Under Consideration

Career Values
Career
Values
1.

2.

3.

THIS WORKSHEET BELONGS TO:

4.

5.

The Knowdell™ Career Values Card Sort is a simple tool

6.
that allows you to prioritize you values in as little as five
minutes. Fifty-four variables of work satisfaction—such as
time freedom, precision work, power, technical competence
7.
and public contact—are listed and described. This as an
effective tool for job seekers, those fine-tuning their present
jobs and career changers at all ages and stages.
8.

TOTALS Created by Career Development Expert

Richard L. Knowdell, MS, NCC, NCCC, CCMF, CDFI
How congruent are your career values with the various career-options you are considering?
Assign a “Congruence Number” to each value-option pair and then total each column.
3 2 ? 0 -1
Very Congruent Congruent Maybe Congruent Incongruent Very Incongruent CAREER RESEARCH & TESTING, INC.
P.O. Box 611930, San Jose, California 95161-1930 •Tel: 408-272-3085 • www.CareerNetwork.Org
©2011 Richard L. Knowdell. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher—Career Research & Testing, Inc. www.CareerNetwork.Org.
How to Use the Knowdell™ Career Values Card Sort

©2004 Richard L. Knowdell. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
OBJECTIVES: INTRODUCTION:

VALUED
NEVER
This instrument was developed to assist you to: define The Knowdell™ Career Values Card Sort provides a quick
factors affecting your career satisfaction; to define the and easy way to clarify what you want in a job or career.
intensity of your feeling about these factors; to determine Accomplishing this activity is like playing solitaire. You have
areas of value conflict and congruence; and to apply a deck of cards and will deal them out into several catego-
learnings from the card sort to your career decisions. ries. Where you put the cards will depend upon your feel-
ings. Identify what is important to you, without regard for
what you think other people would say or want you to say.

STEP 1 STEP 2
SUMMARY SHEET OF PRIORITIZED VALUES CAREER OPTIONS WORKSHEET

SELDOM
VALUED
(On the page to the right.) (On the back of this handout.)
The Summary Sheet of Prioritized Values provides a quick and This Career Options Worksheet provides a quick and easy way to
easy way to clarify what you want in a career. see how your values affect the career decisions you make.

1. Be sure you have a good-sized space where you can lay out 1. Using your Summary Sheet of Prioritized Values (on the inside
a full deck of cards in front of you. of the handout) for your reference, copy your ALWAYS VALUED
column of Prioritized Values in the spaces provided below. Write
2. Establish five column headings, arranging the following your most highly prized value on the 1. line and the second
cards from left to right: Always Values, Often Valued, most highly prized value on the 2. line, and so on for each line.
Sometimes Valued, Seldom Valued and Never Valued.
2. At the top of your Career Options Worksheet, write one or more
There are 54 cards in your deck, each listing a value and a career/life options that you will be considering in the near future

SOMETIMES
brief description of that value. (next week, month, or year).

VALUED
3. Deal your cards into the appropriate column (Always 3. Weigh each of your career options against each of your eight
Valued, Often Valued, etc.). Your Always Valued column prioritized values, and note whether your values support,
should have no more than eight or ten cards in it. Lay cards negate, apply equally, or appear irrelevant to each career option.
out so that you can see all of your choices in one glance. A question mark (?) means you need more information. A high
Move quickly, following your feelings. total suggests that your values support an option and a low total
suggests that the option is not supported by your values.
4. Next, prioritize your cards within each outer column, putting
the value you feel most strongly about at the top and
arranging the rest in decreasing order of importance.
CAREER OPTIONS WORKSHEET
Career Options Under Consideration
5. Copy the headings of your values cards onto your Summary
al En x, inc.
r

Knowdell™ Career Values Card Sort

ginee

Sheet of Prioritized Values, as below.

r
inee
hanic -Aja

Eng

er
gine

Man eering
Mec ent job

Mec s, Inc.

Eng lting

SUMMARY SHEET OF PRIORITIZED VALUES

ical

Spe ting
t

r
r
cialis

inee
age
s En
han

Career Values
su
in

in
Mark
Curr

Collo

Con
Sale

Eng

OFTEN
VALUED
1. WORK-LIFE 3 ? ? ? -1 ?
ALWAYS OFTEN SOMETIMES SELDOM NEVER BALANCE
VALUED VALUED VALUED VALUED VALUED
WORK
2. 3 3 -1 -1 -1 -1
ALONE
WORK-LIFE BALANCE PRACTICALITY FAST PACE TRADITION SUPERVISION
HIGH EARNINGS
WORK ALONE COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT PHYSICAL CHALLENGE
3. CHANGE AND -1 2 3 3 3 3
CHANGE AND VARIETY EXCITEMENT FAMILY VARIETY
ARTISTIC CREATIVITY PERSONAL SAFETY
EXCITEMENT HELP SOCIETY AFFILIATION STABILITY POWER AND AUTHORITY
PRECISION WORK INFLUENCE PEOPLE WORK UNDER PRESSURE SECURITY MAKE DECISIONS 4. EXCITEMENT -1 ? 3 3 3 3
EXERCISE COMPETENCE ADVANCEMENT PUBLIC CONTACT STATUS
CHALLENGING PROBLEMS CREATIVITY FRIENDSHIPS ADVENTURE 5. PRECISION 3 3 3 2 3 3
INDEPENDENCE LOC ATION DIVERSITY PROFIT, GAIN WORK

SPIRITUALITY INTELLECTUAL STATUS AESTHETICS

publisher—Career Research & Testing, Inc. www.careernetwork.org.

EXERCISE
JOB TRANQUILITY 6. 3 ? ? ? -1 ?
COMPETENCE
MORAL FULFILLMENT
RECOGNITION 7. CHALLENGING 2 3 3 3 3 3
PROBLEMS
FUN AND HUMOR
TIME FREEDOM
KNOWLEDGE
8. INDEPENDENCE 2 ? ? ? 2 3
HELP OTHERS
TOTALS 14 14 13 10 12 17
ALWAYS
VALUED
How congruent are your career values with the various career-options you are considering?
Assign a “Congruence Number” to each value-option pair and then total each column.
SUMMARY SHEET OF PRIORITIZED VALUES 3 2 ? 0 -1
Very Congruent Congruent Maybe Congruent Incongruent Very Incongruent
Knowdell™ Career Values Card Sort
©2004 Richard L. Knowdell. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
©2004 Richard L. Knowdell. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher—CareerTrainer www.careertrainer.com.
written permission of the publisher—CareerTrainer www.careertrainer.com.

The directions on this sheet will guide you to a quick and simple look at your career values and how those values affect career decisions.
For a more in-depth examination, go to the Knowdell™ Career Values Workbook and look at the worksheets and five supplementary activities.

©2011 Richard L. Knowdell. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher—Career Research & Testing, Inc. www.CareerNetwork.Org