You’re staring at a blank resume template or a LinkedIn ‘About’ section, and you know you’re supposed to write something about your values. But here’s the thing: most people approach personal value statements as resume optimization— another box to check in the job search. That’s backwards.
A personal value statement is a concise declaration of the core values that guide your actions, decisions, and behaviors in both personal and professional contexts. Most effective statements are 50-250 words and focus on 5-10 prioritized values that define what matters most to you. These statements serve as decision-making filters for career choices, helping you identify opportunities that align with who you are rather than just what you can do.
Key Takeaways:
- A personal value statement clarifies decisions: It serves as a filter for career opportunities, helping you choose roles and projects that align with who you are, not just what you can do.
- Start with honest self-reflection: The most powerful statements come from genuine introspection about what you excel at and aspire to, not what sounds impressive on a resume.
- Keep it concise and specific: Effective statements are 50-250 words, focus on 5-10 core values, and define each value in your own words with concrete examples.
- Use it beyond job applications: Your value statement guides LinkedIn profiles, interviews, career transitions, and even personal decision-making when you’re feeling lost or overwhelmed.
What Is a Personal Value Statement?
A personal value statement is a short declaration of the core values that guide how you make decisions, show up in the world, and choose the work you do. Think of it as a personal constitution— not just a resume bullet point.
It’s different from a personal value proposition. A value proposition focuses on what you deliver to employers or clients— your skills, your results, your unique offering. A personal value statement, on the other hand, is about your beliefs. What guides your choices. What matters to you when no one’s watching.
Most people encounter this term while preparing job applications and treat it like another box to check. But here’s the thing: the real power of a personal value statement isn’t in landing a job. It’s in understanding yourself well enough to choose the right job in the first place.
So why go through the effort of creating one? Because without it, you’re making career decisions in the dark.
Why You Need a Personal Value Statement
Your personal value statement acts as a decision-making filter. When you’re staring at a job offer, considering a career pivot, or wondering if you should take that freelance project, your values give you a framework for saying yes or no.
Without that framework, you end up making choices based on what sounds good or what other people think you should do. And that’s how you wake up three years into a role feeling restless— like something’s off but you can’t quite name it. That disconnect—what psychologists might call values misalignment—is exhausting.
Here’s what a clear personal value statement does for you:
- Clarifies career decisions when you’re choosing between opportunities
- Reduces burnout risk by helping you avoid roles that clash with what you stand for
- Strengthens your personal branding by grounding your professional messaging in authenticity
- Serves as an anchor during transitions, layoffs, or moments when you’re questioning everything
- Connects to your larger sense of calling— you cannot separate who you are and what you do
Finding your purpose starts with understanding your values. They’re clues. Not the whole map, but clues.
How to Write Your Personal Value Statement (5 Steps)
Writing a personal value statement isn’t a quick exercise— it requires honest reflection. But the process is straightforward: identify your values, prioritize them, define what they mean to you, craft your statement, and refine it with feedback.
Step 1: Identify Your Core Values
Start with a broad values list or values card sort. There are dozens of free resources online. Pick one that resonates.
But don’t just check boxes. Reflect on moments when you felt most yourself— most alive, most aligned. What was happening? What were you doing? What mattered in that moment?
Also notice what frustrates you. The inverse of your frustrations often reveals your values. If you’re bothered by dishonesty, integrity matters to you. If you can’t stand inefficiency, effectiveness or productivity might be core.
As Science of People notes, the values we identify often fall into two categories: qualities we already excel at, or qualities we aspire to develop. Both are valid starting points.
Step 2: Prioritize Your Top 5-10 Values
You can’t prioritize everything. If everything is important, nothing is.
Look for patterns. Which values show up repeatedly across different areas of your life— work, relationships, hobbies, decisions you’re proud of? Circle those.
Ask yourself: If I could only choose five values to guide my life, which ones would they be? Then push to ten if you need more nuance. But stop there.
Step 3: Define Each Value in Your Own Words
This is where most people skip ahead. Don’t.
Generic “integrity” means nothing without your definition. What does integrity look like in practice for YOU? Is it keeping your word even when it’s inconvenient? Is it speaking up when something’s wrong? Is it transparency in communication?
Write a sentence or two for each value. Make it specific. Make it yours.
Here’s the difference:
- Generic: “I value integrity.”
- Specific: “Integrity means keeping my word even when it costs me something, like the time I turned down a lucrative project because it required me to compromise on quality standards I’d promised a client.”
The second one is a value statement. The first is just a word.
As Develop Good Habits emphasizes, your values statement should come from honest self-reflection—focus on creating something that feels true to you, not what sounds impressive.
Step 4: Craft Your Statement
Now combine your prioritized values and their definitions into a cohesive statement.
Start with a draft. Don’t perfectize. Just write.
Your statement should include your top 5-10 values and briefly define at least a few of them in context. Length depends on where you’ll use it. For a resume summary, aim for 50-75 words (according to HBS Online, 50-250 words is the standard range). For a full statement you keep for yourself or use on LinkedIn, 100-250 words works well.
Make it sound like you. Not a corporate mission statement. You.
Step 5: Refine with Feedback
Share your draft with a trusted friend, mentor, or colleague— someone who knows you well.
Ask: Does this sound like me? What’s missing? What feels off?
Revise based on their feedback. But don’t revise yourself out of it. The goal is clarity, not perfection.
And remember: this is a living document. Your values might stay consistent, but how you define and prioritize them can shift as your career and life evolve. Review it annually or after major transitions.
Personal Value Statement Examples
Seeing examples helps. Here are three personal value statements from different career stages— notice how each is specific, authentic, and actionable.
| Career Stage | Example Statement | What Works |
|---|---|---|
| Early Career | “I’m guided by curiosity, growth, and integrity. Curiosity means asking questions even when I don’t have the context yet. Growth means seeking roles where I’m challenged beyond my current skill set. Integrity means doing the work I promise, even when no one’s checking. I value collaboration over competition and believe the best solutions come from diverse perspectives. I’m drawn to environments where learning is encouraged and mistakes are treated as data, not failures.” | Notice how each value is briefly defined with concrete meaning. “Growth means seeking roles where I’m challenged” is specific, not vague. |
| Mid-Career Transition | “My core values are authenticity, impact, and balance. Authenticity means aligning my work with who I am, not who I think I should be. Impact means contributing to projects that improve people’s lives in measurable ways. Balance means protecting time for family and health alongside professional ambition. I’m leaving a high-paying role because it required me to compromise on authenticity daily. I’m looking for work where I can bring my full self and make a tangible difference.” | This statement acknowledges the tension of a career transition and names the trade-offs being made. It’s honest about what’s driving the change. |
| Leadership Role | “I lead with empathy, accountability, and vision. Empathy means understanding my team’s context before making demands. Accountability means owning outcomes— the wins and the failures. Vision means keeping the larger mission in focus even when daily pressures pull in other directions. I believe in transparent communication, in developing people rather than just managing them, and in building cultures where autonomy and support coexist. My leadership philosophy is simple: create conditions where talented people can do their best work.” | This reads like a real leader wrote it. The “leadership philosophy” line is quotable and specific. |
Here’s what all three share: they’re concrete, they define values in the writer’s own terms, and they sound like real people.
Yours doesn’t have to sound like these. It has to sound like you.
Where to Use Your Personal Value Statement
Your personal value statement isn’t just for job applications. It’s a tool for alignment across your entire professional presence— and your personal decision-making.
Here’s where to put it to work:
- Resume (summary or objective section)
- LinkedIn (About section— this is prime real estate)
- Cover letters (opening or closing paragraph to establish who you are)
- Interviews (answer to “tell me about yourself” or “what’s important to you in a work environment?”)
- Personal decision-making (when you’re at a career crossroads or feeling lost)
- Portfolio or personal website (if you have one)
Indeed’s career guide confirms that personal value statements are typically used on resumes, LinkedIn profiles, cover letters, and during job interviews to communicate your professional identity.
But don’t stop there. This isn’t just a job search tool— it’s a compass for your career. When you’re offered a promotion that requires relocating your family, pull out your values. When you’re deciding whether to go freelance, check them. When you’re burned out and considering a pivot, they’ll remind you what you’re actually looking for.
Your values don’t just help you get jobs. They help you choose the right life.
Common Questions About Personal Value Statement
Here are answers to the questions I hear most often about personal value statements.
What’s the difference between a personal value statement and a value proposition?
A personal value statement focuses on your core beliefs and what guides your decisions. A value proposition focuses on the value you deliver to employers or clients— it’s more about your skills and outcomes than your guiding principles. Both are useful, but they serve different purposes.
How long should my personal value statement be?
It depends on context. For a resume summary, aim for 1-3 sentences (50-75 words). For a full statement you keep for yourself or use on LinkedIn, 100-250 words works well. The key is being concise enough to be memorable but specific enough to be meaningful.
How often should I update my personal value statement?
Review it annually or whenever you experience a major career transition, life change, or shift in what matters to you. Your core values might stay consistent, but how you define and prioritize them can evolve. Don’t treat it as set in stone.
Should I be authentic or strategic?
Both. Your statement should be genuinely true to who you are (not fabricated to sound impressive), but you can choose which values to emphasize based on context. Don’t lie, but do prioritize what’s relevant. If you’re applying to a startup, emphasize values like adaptability or risk-taking. If you’re applying to a nonprofit, emphasize impact or service. But only if those values are actually yours.
Your Values, Your Path
Your personal value statement is more than a career document. It’s a tool for self-understanding— a way to articulate who you are and what you stand for.
You don’t need perfect clarity before you start. You need to take the next step. Write a draft. Share it. Refine it. Use it.
Your values are clues to your calling. When you can name what matters most, you can build a life and career around it. Not overnight. Not without struggle. But with direction.
Living with purpose starts with knowing what you value. And now you know how to name it.
I believe in you.
