Stuck, and choosing to explore
You get this result when you tell the quiz you are stuck or unemployed and going in circles, and you pick “explore creative/passion projects part-time” for the next 6 months. 454 takers have it, 1 in 29. They are younger than most people who feel stuck: 20.8% are 18 to 24, against 14.4% of the other 2,100 stuck or unemployed takers, and 32.8% have 8+ years of work experience, against 42.3%.
Ideas first
Asked what work gave them the most energy before things got difficult, 35.9% of Values Explorers chose thinking and creating through ideas or writing, against 23.8% of their group, and fewer chose solving problems (24.1% against 29.8%). People come to them for ideas or a creative angle more than to any other archetype the quiz assigns: 23.7%, against 15.5% of their group.
| Answer | Share |
|---|---|
| Ideas or writing | 35.9% |
| Solving problems | 24.1% |
| Helping or teaching people | 21.2% |
| Making a product or system | 11.1% |
| Building momentum and hitting targets | 7.7% |
Purpose is the core value for 30.5%, against 24.8%, and stability for only 6%, against 19.8%. Going deep on a topic is a less common flow moment for them (20.8% against 26.6%), which fits people whose energy points to generating ideas. Each gap on this page passes a two-proportion z-test against the other 3 archetypes of the stuck or unemployed group (p < 0.05).
Explore through volunteering
For someone stuck who wants to try out what they value, unpaid projects with a cause are a natural first test, and the data on them is encouraging. A US government analysis of 10 years of Census data on more than 70,000 job seekers found that unemployed people who volunteered had 27% higher odds of finding work than those who did not (Corporation for National and Community Service, 2013). The authors note the link may partly reflect motivation, and they point to the contacts and skills volunteering builds.
A Values Explorer can use each project as a test of a value: does work for this cause still feel right after the fourth week? The list of careers aligned with your values turns the values that pass into job options.