What Are Your Core Values? (The Interview Question That Reveals Your Character)

You’re sailing through the interview. Technical questions? Nailed them. Experience overview? Flawless. Then the interviewer leans back and asks, “So, what are your core values?”

Suddenly, that confident momentum hits a wall. Your mind races through generic buzzwords: Integrity? Teamwork? Innovation? But you know those words sound hollow without substance behind them.

Here’s the reality: This question isn’t about reciting impressive-sounding principles. It’s about revealing who you are when no one’s watching, how you make decisions under pressure, and whether you’ll thrive in their culture or clash with it six months in.

This is one of the most revealing behavioral interview questions you’ll face. Unlike technical assessments that test what you know, this question examines who you are. And that makes many candidates uncomfortable.

But here’s the good news. Once you understand what interviewers are really looking for and how to articulate your authentic values with compelling examples, this question transforms from a stumbling block into your chance to shine.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to identify your genuine core values, structure your answer using proven frameworks, avoid the mistakes that sink most candidates, and connect your personal principles to the company’s mission in a way that feels natural, not rehearsed.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear, confident approach to answering this question authentically. Because the right answer isn’t about sounding perfect. It’s about being real.

What Makes This Question Unique

Unlike questions about your greatest weakness or career goals, there’s no formula that works for everyone. Your core values are uniquely yours.

This question tests multiple dimensions simultaneously. It reveals your self-awareness, your ability to reflect deeply on what drives you, and whether you’ve done the uncomfortable work of examining your own behavior patterns. Most people haven’t.

The question also functions as a cultural compatibility test. Companies know that skills can be taught, but values are deeply ingrained. When your values align with an organization’s culture, you’ll naturally make decisions that support their mission. When they don’t, every day becomes an exhausting exercise in code-switching.

Here’s what makes this particularly tricky: You can’t rely on memorized scripts. Interviewers can spot rehearsed answers instantly because they lack the specificity and emotional authenticity of genuine self-reflection. If you’re just listing words from the company’s website, it shows.

The question reveals whether you researched their culture beyond surface-level reading. It demonstrates whether you can connect abstract principles to concrete professional behaviors. And most importantly, it shows whether you’re genuinely aligned with what they stand for or just trying to land any job.

Interview Guys Tip: The best answers to this question don’t sound polished. They sound personal. If your response could be copied and pasted into any candidate’s mouth without changing a word, you haven’t made it yours yet. Your values should be as unique as your fingerprint.

To help you prepare even further, we’ve created a resource with proven answers to the top questions interviewers are asking right now. Check out our interview answers cheat sheet:

Why Interviewers Ask “What Are Your Core Values?”

Let’s get inside the interviewer’s head. When they ask this question, they’re gathering intelligence on several fronts.

To Assess Cultural Fit

Bad cultural fits are expensive. When someone’s values clash with company culture, they typically leave within 18 months. That means wasted recruiting costs, training investments, and team disruption.

Interviewers want to know if you’ll thrive in their environment or merely survive. Will you embrace their way of working, or will you constantly push against the current? Values misalignment creates friction that shows up in how you communicate, make decisions, and collaborate with colleagues.

To Gauge Self-Awareness

People who can articulate their core values have done serious introspective work. They understand their own motivations, recognize their behavioral patterns, and can predict how they’ll react in various situations.

This self-awareness correlates strongly with emotional intelligence. When you know what you value, you can better understand others’ values too. That makes you more effective at navigating conflicts, building relationships, and adapting your communication style.

The question also reveals whether you’re coachable. Self-aware people recognize their growth areas and actively work on them. They take feedback constructively because they’re not defensive about who they are.

To Predict Behavior Under Pressure

Your resume shows what you’ve accomplished. Your values show how you’ll handle situations that aren’t in any job description.

When a client demands something unethical, what will you do? When a project deadline conflicts with quality standards, which wins? When your team member struggles and your manager wants them fired, how do you respond?

Policies and procedures only go so far. In ambiguous situations where there’s no clear rulebook, your core values become your decision-making compass. Interviewers want to know where that compass points.

To Understand Your Decision-Making Framework

Every professional faces competing priorities. Cost versus quality. Speed versus thoroughness. Individual achievement versus team success.

Your values determine which trade-offs you make and which hills you’ll die on. Understanding your framework helps interviewers predict how you’ll approach the real dilemmas you’ll face in the role.

This connects directly to questions like what motivates you and why you want this specific position. Your values drive your motivation, which influences your performance and longevity.

How to Identify Your Core Values (Before the Interview)

You can’t articulate values you haven’t identified. This introspective work needs to happen before interview day, not in the hot seat.

Reflect on Peak Moments

Think about three times in your career when you felt genuinely proud. Not just successful, but deeply satisfied with how you handled something.

What made those moments meaningful? Strip away the external recognition and focus on what internally satisfied you. If you felt proud about staying late to help a colleague, maybe you value generosity or teamwork. If you felt fulfilled after solving a complex problem independently, perhaps you value autonomy or intellectual challenge.

The underlying principles in your peak moments often reveal your core values.

Consider What Angers You

Your frustrations are inverted values. The workplace behaviors that make your blood boil highlight what you hold sacred.

If office politics drive you crazy, you might value transparency. If watching credit-stealing bothers you, perhaps you value fairness or recognition. If colleagues missing deadlines frustrates you, maybe you value accountability or respect for others’ time.

Flip your complaints into positive principles. The inverse of your irritation is often your aspiration.

Review Past Decisions

Look at major career choices you’ve made. Why did you leave that job? Why did you choose this company over that one? Why did you turn down that promotion?

Identify the common thread running through your decisions. If you’ve consistently chosen learning opportunities over higher salaries, you probably value growth. If you’ve prioritized work-life balance over advancement, maybe you value well-being or family.

Your past decisions reveal your operational values, which matter more than aspirational ones.

Use the Elimination Method

Start with a comprehensive list like Scott Jeffrey’s collection of over 200 core values. Don’t select values that sound impressive. Select values you actually live.

Narrow to 10, then to 5. Here’s the critical test: Imagine a scenario where following each value costs you something significant. Would you sacrifice a job offer because it violated this value? If not, it’s not truly core to you.

Your real values are the ones you’re willing to pay a price to uphold.

Interview Guys Tip: Your core values aren’t what sounds impressive to others. They’re what you’re willing to sacrifice for, even when it costs you something. If you wouldn’t turn down a job offer because a value was violated, it’s probably not truly core to you. Be honest with yourself about the difference between aspirational values and actual values.

The Framework: How to Structure Your Answer

Now that you know your values, let’s craft an answer that resonates.

Start With 2-3 Specific Values

Choose values you actually live by, not ones that sound good on paper. Avoid generic corporate buzzwords everyone claims. Instead of “integrity,” try “transparent communication even when it’s uncomfortable.” Instead of “teamwork,” try “elevating others’ contributions.”

Pick values relevant to the role and company culture. If you researched them using effective company research strategies, you’ll know which of your authentic values align with theirs.

Define What Each Means to You

Don’t assume your interviewer interprets “accountability” the same way you do. One person’s accountability is taking responsibility for mistakes. Another’s is proactively updating stakeholders. A third’s is holding teammates to high standards.

Give your personal interpretation. What does this value look like in practice? How do you know when you’re living it versus violating it? Connect it to professional context with concrete behaviors.

Provide Concrete Examples

This is where the SOAR Method becomes your best friend. For at least one value, provide a story that demonstrates it in action.

Describe the Situation you faced. Explain the Obstacles that made your value relevant. Detail the Actions you took guided by that value. Share the Results, both for the project and for your understanding of why that value matters.

Interview Guys Tip: The SOAR Method works brilliantly for values questions because the Obstacles section naturally highlights ethical dilemmas or difficult choices where your values were tested. That’s exactly what interviewers want to hear about. Anyone can claim values. Proving them under pressure is what counts.

Connect to the Company

If genuine alignment exists with their stated values, mention it naturally. Don’t force it if it’s not there.

Explain why their culture appeals to you based on your research. Reference specific things you noticed about how they operate, not just what’s written on their careers page. This shows you’ve done your homework and you’re making an informed choice about fit.

If you’re struggling to find connection points, that might be a red flag worth exploring through questions you ask at the end of your interview.

Sample Answer Using the SOAR Method

Here’s what a strong answer sounds like:

“I’d say my core values center on accountability, continuous learning, and advocating for the user. Let me focus on accountability since it’s guided some of my biggest decisions.

To me, accountability means owning outcomes, not just tasks. It’s not enough to complete my assigned work. I’m responsible for making sure it achieves the intended result.

Last year, I was the lead designer on a mobile app redesign. We launched the new interface and immediately saw our user engagement metrics drop 15%. This was tough because my designs had been approved by stakeholders, tested in focus groups, and were aesthetically strong. I could have blamed the data team for faulty analytics or marketing for poor messaging.

Instead, I immediately pulled together our cross-functional team, acknowledged that my design choices weren’t resonating with real users, and proposed rolling back to the previous version while I investigated. I spent two weeks conducting user interviews and discovered I’d optimized for visual appeal over task completion speed. Users found it beautiful but frustrating.

We redesigned with usability as the primary driver, and engagement recovered to 8% above our previous baseline within a month. More importantly, I built trust with stakeholders by showing I valued outcomes over ego.

I’m drawn to your company because I see that same accountability in how you publicly share post-mortems when products miss the mark. That takes courage, and it’s the kind of environment where I do my best work.”

Notice what makes this answer effective. It’s specific, personal, and proves the value through action. The SOAR structure provides a natural narrative arc. The company connection feels genuine rather than forced. And it sounds conversational, not rehearsed.

Top 5 Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Even with good intentions, candidates stumble on this question. Here’s how to avoid the most common pitfalls.

Mistake #1: Listing Values Without Examples

The problem: “I value integrity, teamwork, and innovation.”

That sentence tells the interviewer nothing. These are corporate Mad Libs. Everyone claims these values because they sound universally positive.

Why it fails: Anyone can recite buzzwords. Without examples, your values are just noise. The interviewer has no way to assess whether you actually live these principles or just memorized them from their website.

The fix: Choose one value and prove it with a story. Detail matters more than breadth. One deeply explored value beats three superficial ones.

Better approach: “I value accountability, which meant owning a 15% drop in user engagement after my redesign launched rather than deflecting blame, then fixing the root cause.”

Mistake #2: Mirroring Company Values Too Perfectly

The problem: The company website lists innovation, collaboration, and customer focus. You list innovation, collaboration, and customer focus, using their exact language.

Why it fails: It sounds disingenuous and researched, not authentic. Interviewers know you read their careers page. They want to know if genuine overlap exists or if you’re just parroting keywords.

The fix: Find genuine overlap and add your unique interpretation. If they value collaboration and you genuinely do too, explain what collaboration means to you specifically and how you’ve practiced it.

Better approach: “I noticed your emphasis on collaboration. That resonates with me, though I define it as seeking diverse perspectives before deciding, not building consensus on everything. Let me share how that played out in my last role.”

Mistake #3: Choosing Values That Contradict Your Resume

The problem: You claim “stability” and “commitment” are core values, but your resume shows five jobs in three years. Or you emphasize “work-life balance” while describing 70-hour work weeks.

Why it fails: Creates obvious inconsistencies that destroy credibility. Your entire narrative falls apart when your stated values conflict with documented behavior.

The fix: Reconcile apparent contradictions or choose different values. If you job-hopped while valuing growth, explain how each move accelerated learning. Be honest about value evolution over time.

Better approach: “Earlier in my career, I prioritized rapid learning over stability, which explains my job changes. Now I value sustainable growth, which is why I’m looking for an environment where I can deepen expertise rather than constantly pivoting.”

This is particularly important when you’re walking through your resume. Your career narrative and your values statement need to support each other.

Mistake #4: Selecting Values Based on What Sounds Good

The problem: You pick “impressive” values you don’t actually practice because you think they’ll make you look good.

Why it fails: You can’t provide authentic examples under followup questions. When the interviewer probes deeper, your answers become vague or contradictory. Your body language shifts. The disconnect is obvious.

The fix: Do the introspective work before the interview. Identify values you’ve actually sacrificed for, not ones you wish you embodied.

Better approach: Choose values where you have multiple stories ready. If you claim you value something, you should be able to recall three times you demonstrated it without thinking hard.

Mistake #5: Making It All About You Without Company Connection

The problem: You launch into a philosophical monologue about your personal journey and values development without ever connecting to the role or organization.

Why it fails: Doesn’t show why you’re right for this specific position. Interviewers wonder if you’re just looking for any job or if you specifically want this one.

The fix: Research company culture and build bridges between your values and theirs. Show you understand what they stand for and why that matters to you.

Better approach: “One reason your company appeals to me is your commitment to sustainable practices. Environmental responsibility has guided my career choices, including turning down a higher offer last year from a company whose ESG record conflicted with my values.”

Tailoring Your Answer to Different Industries

Context matters. The values that resonate in one industry might raise eyebrows in another.

Corporate/Traditional Environments

In established corporations with formal hierarchies, emphasize values like integrity, accountability, and excellence. These organizations typically prize reliability, professionalism, and respect for processes.

Frame your answer around stability and proven track records. Highlight how your values have consistently guided ethical decision-making and long-term thinking. These environments want to know you’ll color within the lines while still delivering results.

Example values that resonate: Professional growth, quality over speed, collaborative problem-solving, respect for expertise, measured risk-taking.

Startups/Tech Companies

Fast-moving startups value adaptability, innovation, and a growth mindset. They want people who thrive in ambiguity and aren’t afraid to fail.

Frame your answer around learning and iteration. Emphasize how your values support rapid experimentation, pivoting based on feedback, and maintaining effectiveness amid constant change. These environments want to know you’ll move fast without asking for permission.

Example values that resonate: Continuous learning, user-centricity, bias toward action, intellectual curiosity, comfort with ambiguity, data-driven decision-making.

Healthcare/Service Industries

Organizations focused on patient care or social services prioritize compassion, advocacy, and continuous learning to provide better care.

Frame your answer around impact on others. Highlight how your values center the people you serve and drive you to constantly improve your ability to help them. These environments want to know patient wellbeing comes before convenience or efficiency.

Example values that resonate: Empathy, patient advocacy, evidence-based practice, cultural competence, lifelong learning, holistic care.

Creative Industries

Agencies, studios, and creative organizations value authenticity, curiosity, and collaborative creativity. They want people who bring unique perspectives.

Frame your answer around originality and teamwork. Emphasize how your values support both individual creative expression and building on others’ ideas. These environments want to know you’ll contribute fresh thinking while playing well with other creatives.

Example values that resonate: Authenticity, intellectual curiosity, openness to feedback, respect for craft, collaborative ideation, embracing diverse perspectives.

What to Do When Your Values Don’t Align

Sometimes you’ll interview at a company and realize their values fundamentally conflict with yours. That’s valuable information.

Recognize the Red Flag

Not every job is the right fit, and that’s okay. Values misalignment is one of the leading causes of workplace burnout. When you constantly suppress your authentic values to fit a culture, the psychological toll accumulates.

Trust your instincts during the interview process. If something feels off when they describe their culture, pay attention to that feeling. Your gut is often processing information your conscious mind hasn’t articulated yet.

Find Common Ground

That said, perfect alignment is rare. Look for core values you genuinely share and focus on those in your answer.

Be thoughtful about differences that matter. A slight gap in priority doesn’t mean incompatibility. If they emphasize speed and you emphasize quality, maybe you can bring a balancing perspective rather than creating conflict.

Consider whether the misalignment is fundamental or situational. Are their stated values different from their practiced culture? Can you influence their direction, or will you be swimming upstream constantly?

Know When to Walk Away

Some gaps are too wide to bridge. If your core value is work-life balance and they explicitly celebrate 80-hour weeks, you’re setting yourself up for misery.

Better to discover this incompatibility during interviews than six months into a job you hate. Turning down an offer because of values misalignment isn’t failure. It’s wisdom.

Your values are non-negotiable for good reason. They represent who you are at your core. Compromising them for a paycheck or a title rarely ends well.

Interview Guys Tip: If you have to fake your values to get the job, you’re setting yourself up for misery. The best career moves happen when your authentic self aligns with the company’s genuine culture, not its marketing copy. A mismatch discovered during interviews saves you months or years of frustration later.

Handling Difficult Follow up Questions

Smart interviewers don’t stop at your initial answer. They probe to verify authenticity.

“Tell me about a time your values conflicted with your employer’s”

This question tests your diplomacy and integrity simultaneously. The key is answering honestly without badmouthing previous employers.

Frame it as a learning experience. Explain the situation, acknowledge different perspectives had validity, and describe how you navigated the tension professionally. Show you can disagree while remaining respectful and productive.

Example approach: “At my previous company, leadership prioritized hitting quarterly targets above all else. I value sustainable growth and worried about technical debt we were accumulating. I couldn’t change the broader strategy, but I documented the risks, proposed a compromise timeline for addressing debt, and focused on areas where I could maintain quality within the constraints. It taught me to advocate for my values while working within organizational realities.”

“Which of our company values resonates with you least?”

This is a trap question for people who claim perfect alignment. Don’t say “all of them resonate equally.” That’s not believable.

Be thoughtfully honest. Choose a value where you have a slightly different interpretation or priority, then explain your perspective. This demonstrates critical thinking and authenticity.

Example approach: “I appreciate all your stated values, though I interpret ‘move fast and break things’ slightly differently than some might. I believe in rapid iteration, but I think we should move fast and learn things, rather than accepting broken as collateral damage. It’s a subtle distinction, but it affects how I approach risk assessment.”

“What would you do if your manager asked you to violate your values?”

This tests your boundaries and conflict resolution skills. The answer needs to demonstrate integrity without coming across as inflexible or difficult.

Show that you’d first seek to understand the request fully, then communicate your concerns respectfully, and finally escalate appropriately if necessary. Balance standing firm on principles with recognizing you might be missing context.

Example approach: “I’d first make sure I fully understood what they were asking and why. Sometimes what seems like a values violation is actually a misunderstanding. If after discussion I still felt uncomfortable, I’d explain my specific concerns and try to find an alternative approach that achieves their goal without compromising ethics. If that wasn’t possible and it was truly a matter of principle, I’d escalate to HR or leadership as appropriate. I’ve never had to make that call, but I’d rather leave a job than violate my core values.”

According to Workable’s guide on values-based interview questions, interviewers look for candidates who can demonstrate how they’ve handled ethical dilemmas in the past. Your ability to navigate these hypotheticals with nuance and integrity signals how you’ll handle real situations.

Common Core Values and What They Mean

Understanding common values helps you articulate yours more precisely. Here are values frequently mentioned in interviews and what they actually mean in professional contexts.

Integrity means doing the right thing even when no one’s watching, maintaining consistency between your words and actions, and being honest even when it’s uncomfortable.

Accountability means owning outcomes rather than making excuses, proactively communicating about problems, and learning from mistakes rather than repeating them.

Excellence means consistently delivering high-quality work, sweating the details that others overlook, and taking pride in your craft regardless of external recognition.

Innovation means seeking better ways to solve problems, questioning the status quo constructively, and being willing to fail in pursuit of improvement.

Collaboration means seeking diverse perspectives before deciding, sharing credit generously, and prioritizing team success over individual glory.

Growth means viewing challenges as learning opportunities, actively seeking feedback, and continuously developing new capabilities.

Respect means honoring others’ time and contributions, listening to understand rather than just respond, and treating everyone with dignity regardless of their role or background.

Transparency means communicating openly even when it’s awkward, admitting what you don’t know, and keeping stakeholders informed proactively.

For a comprehensive exploration of values, Indeed’s guide on values interview questions provides additional context on how interviewers interpret different values and what they’re looking for in your responses.

Practice Makes Authentic

The goal isn’t to memorize a script. It’s to become so familiar with your values and examples that you can discuss them naturally.

Practice your answer out loud multiple times. Not to nail exact wording, but to find your natural phrasing. Record yourself and listen back. Does it sound like you talking, or like you performing?

Test your answer with trusted friends or mentors. Do they recognize the values you’re describing as authentic to who you are? Can they recall examples of you demonstrating these values? If not, you might be describing aspirational values rather than actual ones.

Prepare multiple examples for each core value. If an interviewer follows up with “Can you give me another example?” you should have one ready without scrambling. The depth of your examples proves the authenticity of your values.

Consider edge cases where your values conflict with each other. What happens when your value of transparency conflicts with your value of loyalty? When quality conflicts with efficiency? Thinking through these tensions helps you articulate nuanced answers rather than simplistic ones.

Your Values Are Your Competitive Advantage

In a job market where AI and automation increasingly handle technical tasks, your values become your differentiator.

Technical skills can be learned. Values run deeper. They determine how you’ll handle the situations not covered in any employee handbook. They predict whether you’ll build up your team or tear them down. They reveal whether you’ll still be there and thriving in three years or burning out in six months.

Companies increasingly recognize that cultural fit predicts success better than resume credentials. According to research on organizational behavior, employees whose values align with company culture show higher job satisfaction, better performance, and longer tenure.

Your answer to this question is your opportunity to show interviewers not just what you can do, but who you are. In competitive hiring situations where multiple candidates have similar qualifications, values alignment often makes the difference.

Don’t underestimate this question or treat it as filler between “real” technical questions. The candidate who can authentically articulate their core values and connect them to the role often gets the offer over the candidate with slightly better technical skills but unclear cultural fit.

Conclusion

The “What are your core values?” question reveals more about you than almost any other interview question. It tests self-awareness, authenticity, and cultural alignment simultaneously.

But here’s the truth: This question is an opportunity, not a trap. It’s your chance to show interviewers who you really are beyond your resume bullet points. It’s where you demonstrate the principles that guide your decisions and the character that shapes your behavior.

The key is doing the introspective work before the interview. You can’t articulate values you haven’t identified. Spend time reflecting on peak moments, examining your frustrations, and reviewing your past decisions. Identify the 2-3 principles that genuinely guide your professional life.

Then structure your answer using concrete examples that prove your values through action. Use the SOAR Method to tell stories that demonstrate your values under pressure. Connect authentically to the company’s culture when genuine alignment exists.

Remember, your authentic answer matters more than a perfect one. Interviewers can spot rehearsed responses. What they’re looking for is the real you, the person who’ll bring their whole self to work and thrive in their environment.

Your core values aren’t just interview talking points. They’re the foundation of long-term career satisfaction. When you choose roles that align with your authentic values, work becomes more fulfilling, less exhausting, and genuinely meaningful.

So before your next interview, invest the time to truly understand what you value and why. That investment will pay dividends not just in landing the job, but in building a career you actually want to have.

To help you prepare even further, we’ve created a resource with proven answers to the top questions interviewers are asking right now. Check out our interview answers cheat sheet:

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