Career Discovery with CliftonStrengths® and Profilingvalues: How to Find the Job That Truly Fits You

You sense that your current job no longer fits – but you don't know where to go. Or you're at the start of your career, asking: Which profession truly suits me? Most people answer this question with gut feeling. The problem: Gut feeling is heavily influenced by expectations, fears, and whatever is currently 'trendy.'

There's a better way: CliftonStrengths® and Profilingvalues – two scientifically validated assessments that help you objectively identify your talents and values. Together, they form the strongest foundation for conscious career discovery.

Why Traditional Career Discovery Often Fails

Most career discovery approaches focus on interests or skills. But interests change. And skills say little about what will fulfill you long-term.

The Three Most Common Traps:

• The Prestige Trap: You choose the profession that sounds impressive – not the one that fits you.

• The Competence Trap: You stick with what you *can do* instead of discovering what *drives you*.

• The Comparison Trap: You orient yourself by what others do instead of finding your own direction.

What's missing is a dual perspective: your natural talents (what comes easily to you) and your value orientation (what truly matters to you). This is exactly where CliftonStrengths® and Profilingvalues come in.

CliftonStrengths® – Discovering Your Natural Talents

The Gallup CliftonStrengths® Assessment identifies your top talents from 34 talent themes. Developed by Donald O. Clifton, it's based on over 50 years of strengths research and more than 30 million assessments conducted worldwide.

What CliftonStrengths® Delivers for Career Discovery:

• Recognize talent patterns: Your Top-5 talents show which activities come naturally to you – and in which roles you'll grow fastest.

• Identify energy sources: Talents are activities that *give* you energy, not *drain* it. This is the crucial difference from mere competencies.

• Narrow down career fields: Certain talent combinations fit particularly well with certain career fields – e.g., 'Strategic + Analytical + Learner' for consulting or 'Empathy + Developer + Relator' for coaching and HR.

Example: The 'Maximizer' Talent

If 'Maximizer' is among your top talents, you'll thrive in roles that involve developing good into excellent – e.g., as a quality manager, product developer, or executive coach. In roles that primarily require troubleshooting, you'll feel chronically drained.

Profilingvalues – Understanding Your Value Orientation

While CliftonStrengths® shows what you do well, Profilingvalues shows why you do it. The assessment is based on formal axiology by Robert S. Hartman and measures how you evaluate values in three dimensions:

• Intrinsic: How important are people, relationships, and self-actualization to you?

• Extrinsic: How much do you value practical results, structures, and performance?

• Systemic: How strongly do you orient yourself by principles, rules, and overarching systems?

What Profilingvalues Delivers for Career Discovery:

• Check value congruence: A profession only fulfills you long-term when it aligns with your value orientation. Profilingvalues shows whether you'll thrive in a rule-oriented environment (systemic) or a relationship-oriented culture (intrinsic).

• Reveal inner conflicts: When your self-perception and world perception diverge significantly, it indicates an inner value conflict – often the root cause of professional dissatisfaction.

• Identify motivation drivers: The combination of three dimensions shows what *truly* drives you – not what you think *should* drive you.

Example: High Intrinsic + Low Systemic Orientation

If your profile shows a strong intrinsic and low systemic orientation, you'll struggle in hierarchical, rule-dominated organizations – even if the role is a perfect technical fit. You need an environment that prioritizes relationship quality over process transparency.

The Combination: Why Both Assessments Work Together

CliftonStrengths® and Profilingvalues complement each other perfectly because they capture different levels of personality:

Together they answer the central question: In which profession, role, and environment can you deploy your talents in alignment with your values?

5-Step Process: Career Discovery with Both Assessments

Step 1: Complete the CliftonStrengths® Assessment

Start with the CliftonStrengths® Assessment. Identify your Top-5 talents and read the detailed descriptions. Ask yourself: *In which moments of my life were these talents most active?*

Step 2: Complete the Profilingvalues Assessment

Complement with the Profilingvalues Assessment. The result shows your value profile – how you evaluate the world and yourself. Pay special attention to the discrepancy between self-perception and world perception.

Step 3: Pattern Matching with Coaching

In a professional coaching session, both profiles are overlaid. Together you identify:

• Congruence zones: Where do talents and values align? → These are your sweet spots.

• Conflict zones: Where do talents work against your values? → This explains past frustrations.

• Development zones: Where are untapped potentials you can still activate?

Step 4: Explore Career Fields

Based on the matching, you develop 3–5 concrete career profiles or role descriptions. Not theoretically – but through informational interviews, job shadowing, or pilot projects.

Step 5: Decision and Implementation Plan

The result is a concrete plan: What steps do you need? Further education? Networking? Application strategy? Your coach accompanies you through the implementation process.

Case Study: Marketing Manager, 34, Bern

Starting point: Sarah (name changed) has worked in marketing at a pharmaceutical company for 8 years. She's successful – but chronically dissatisfied. 'I function, but it feels empty.'

CliftonStrengths® result: Top-5: Empathy, Developer, Strategic, Relator, Communication. → Sarah's strongest talents lie in building relationships and developing people – not in product marketing.

Profilingvalues result: Strong intrinsic orientation, low extrinsic orientation in self-perception. → Sarah values relationships and personal growth highly; practical performance metrics barely motivate her.

Insight: Sarah's talents and values don't match her current role. She's not 'bad' at marketing – but her talents aren't nourished there.

Outcome: Sarah completed a coaching certification and now works as an internal leadership coach – at the same company, but in a role that fits her talents and values. Her satisfaction and performance have measurably increased.

Who Is This Approach Suitable For?

• Career starters who want to find the right path from the beginning instead of experimenting for years.

• Mid-career professionals who sense something is missing but don't know what.

• Leaders questioning whether they're in the right role.

• People in career transitions – after layoff, parental leave, or burnout.

• Organizations wanting to develop their employees into fitting roles.

The Scientific Background

Both assessments are internationally recognized and scientifically grounded:

• CliftonStrengths® is based on the strengths psychology of Donald O. Clifton (Gallup) and is used by organizations like Google, Facebook, and the US military.

• Profilingvalues is based on the formal axiology of Robert S. Hartman, a Nobel Prize-nominated mathematician and philosopher.

• Positive Psychology by Martin Seligman provides the overarching framework: Well-being arises from deploying strengths in alignment with personal values.

Your Next Step

Career discovery isn't a matter of luck – it's a structured process. With CliftonStrengths® and Profilingvalues, you have two tools that give you clarity, confidence, and direction.

At PurposeCoach®, we guide you through the entire career discovery process – from assessments to a concrete implementation plan.

👉 Book a free consultation now

Sources & Further Reading

• Gallup (2023): State of the Global Workplace Report – gallup.com

• Clifton, D. O. & Harter, J. K. (2003): Investing in Strengths – Gallup Press

• Hartman, R. S. (1967): The Structure of Value – Southern Illinois University Press

• Seligman, M. E. P. (2011): Flourish – Free Press

• International Coach Federation (ICF): coachingfederation.org