olivia.sqI recently discovered Scandal, the TV show featuring Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, a fixer for the elite. Pope specializes in damage control, mending public images and keeping secrets from leaking out.

In the first episode, one of her employees asks a young lawyer whether she wants to be a gladiator in a suit. She does and goes on to join Pope’s top crisis management firm in Washington, DC.

This got me thinking. When you research different work worlds, it helps to consider whether you would fit in with the others. By “fit in,” I mean, would you complement them and be able to respond to their needs.

And most important, do share the same values?

Do you see yourself as a foot soldier in the battle to ensure compliance with tax laws? A warrior who defends and protects the weak, whether in social services, as a politician, or as a judge? A creative marketer who will devise a new way to use social media to build an audience? Perhaps you’d like a job like Dr. House’s, using a blend of intuitive and rational powers to diagnose medical mysteries. Or maybe a job where value is measured by sales made would appeal to you.

What do you value?