ResumeAdapter
Updated 2026-08-21

The Mastercard Way is three principles, not five values.
Each one, mapped to a resume bullet.

Why this matters

Mastercard's real framework is The Mastercard Way: three principles, Create value, Grow together, and Move fast, each with three behaviors, over the foundational values Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good. They sit under the statement, we do the right thing with our customers and each other. This page quotes them verbatim, then goes where careers.mastercard.com does not: it maps each principle to the resume and interview evidence that actually demonstrates it.

Free to scan3 principles, verbatimResume evidence mapped
By the numbers
What Mastercard publishes
3 x 3
The Mastercard Way: 3 principles, 9 behaviors
Foundational values
3 values
Decency, Inclusion, Force for good
Current vs stale
not 5
Listicles print a fake five-item set
Source
culture/values
Plus the hiring-process page
The three principles, in one line each

The Mastercard Way, three principles and nine behaviors.

Verbatim principle and behavior names from Mastercard, each principle shown with its three behaviors. They sit over the foundational values Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good, under the statement we do the right thing with our customers and each other. The real named framework is three principles, not the five-item core values list third parties still print.

01
Create value. Think big and bold, innovate with intention, and deliver scalable solutions.
02
Grow together. Say what you mean, bring in different perspectives, and help each other be great.
03
Move fast. Prioritize what matters, learn and pivot, and own the outcome.

Principle and behavior names from careers.mastercard.com/us/en/culture/values, accessed 2026-08-21. The three foundational values and the guiding statement are from the same page.

The quick answer

What are Mastercard's values?

Mastercard's named framework is The Mastercard Way: three principles, each with three behaviors. Create value (Think big and bold, Innovate with intention, Deliver scalable solutions), Grow together (Say what you mean, Bring in different perspectives, Help each other be great), and Move fast (Prioritize what matters, Learn and pivot, Own the outcome). These sit over the foundational values Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good, under the statement we do the right thing with our customers and each other. One correction: listicles that print a five-item core values set, inclusion, trust, innovation, partnership, and accountability, are quoting a marketing paraphrase, not the official framework. To prove the principles on a resume, map quantified outcomes to each, something you built and scaled, a teammate you developed, a pivot you owned, and mirror the exact posting, because Mastercard runs Workday behind a Phenom career site and a real parser reads your resume first. Scan your resume to see which of the values a recruiter would actually find. .

Mastercard publishes The Mastercard Way on its careers site: three principles, each with three behaviors. Create value (Think big and bold, Innovate with intention, Deliver scalable solutions), Grow together (Say what you mean, Bring in different perspectives, Help each other be great), and Move fast (Prioritize what matters, Learn and pivot, Own the outcome). They sit over the foundational values Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good, under the statement we do the right thing with our customers and each other. The real named framework is three principles and nine behaviors, not the five-item core values list some third-party sites still print.

Mastercard's three principles, Create value, Grow together, and Move fast, each carry three behaviors, and they sit over the foundational values Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good. They are real and firm-published, and this page quotes them verbatim rather than paraphrasing them into a five-item core values list.

Where this page goes further than careers.mastercard.com is the resume reading. The firm tells you what it values. It does not tell you which line on your resume proves it. That mapping, from each principle to the evidence a reviewer can actually read, is the wedge, and it is labeled throughout as ResumeAdapter editorial guidance, not a Mastercard claim.

The reading is the same for every principle: a reviewer indexes on the principle being visible in the bullet itself, not asserted as an adjective. A line that reads innovative, collaborative team player who thrives in a fast-paced environment fails, because it names all three principles instead of demonstrating any of them.

A line that reads scaled a fraud-scoring service from one product line to twelve markets, cutting false-positive declines 19 percent passes, because it shows Create value through a quantified outcome without ever using the phrase. The entries below give you that pattern for all three principles, each with its three behaviors, what Mastercard means by it, a show-this bullet, the anti-pattern, and the behavioral story to prepare.

The three principles, nine behaviors

Each principle, what it means,
and the evidence that proves it.

Create value, Grow together, and Move fast, with Mastercard's principle and behavior names quoted verbatim. The meaning and resume mapping below each is ResumeAdapter editorial guidance, not a Mastercard claim.

01
Principle 01

Create value

The three behaviors, verbatim
  • Think big and bold
  • Innovate with intention
  • Deliver scalable solutions
What Mastercard means by it

Create value is Mastercard's language for ambitious, intentional innovation that scales: think big and bold, innovate with intention, and deliver scalable solutions. The reviewer reads for a scaled, quantified result from something you built, not a claim that you are innovative.

How to show it (ResumeAdapter editorial)

ResumeAdapter editorial guidance: lead with something you built or scaled and the number behind it. Show the ambition, the intent behind it rather than novelty for its own sake, and the scale you reached in users, markets, or volume. Frame yourself as someone who shipped scalable value, not someone who lists innovative as a trait.

Show this on the resume

Show something you built and scaled, with the reach and the number. Precision about the scale is the signal.

Designed a fraud-scoring service that scaled from one product line to twelve markets, cutting false-positive declines 19 percent while processing 40M transactions a day.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Naming innovation as a trait with no scaled outcome. Innovative problem-solver states the value Mastercard reads for instead of proving it.

Innovative, forward-thinking professional passionate about cutting-edge technology.

Interview prep

Behavioral story to prepare: a time you took a bold, intentional bet that scaled beyond its first use, what you built, and the measured result.

02
Principle 02

Grow together

The three behaviors, verbatim
  • Say what you mean
  • Bring in different perspectives
  • Help each other be great
What Mastercard means by it

Grow together is Mastercard's language for candor, inclusion of perspectives, and lifting others: say what you mean, bring in different perspectives, and help each other be great. The reviewer reads for a teammate you developed or a decision improved by a different perspective, with an outcome, not a claim that you are collaborative.

How to show it (ResumeAdapter editorial)

ResumeAdapter editorial guidance: show growth through people you developed and perspectives you brought in. Point to teammates you mentored or unblocked, or a decision you improved by pulling in a view others missed, and the result. The signal is that you made others and the work better, not that you called yourself a team player.

Show this on the resume

Show a person or team you elevated, or a perspective you brought in that changed a result, with your action named. Let the result for others carry the value.

Started a code-review guild that mentored five engineers, cutting their rework 30 percent and moving two to senior within a year.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Naming collaboration as a trait with no one developed and no outcome. Great communicator and team player states the value instead of proving it.

Collaborative team player and strong communicator who works well with everyone.

Interview prep

Behavioral story to prepare: a time you said the hard, honest thing, or brought in a perspective others missed, and how it changed the outcome for the team.

03
Principle 03

Move fast

The three behaviors, verbatim
  • Prioritize what matters
  • Learn and pivot
  • Own the outcome
What Mastercard means by it

Move fast is Mastercard's language for disciplined prioritization, learning and pivoting, and end-to-end ownership: prioritize what matters, learn and pivot, and own the outcome. The reviewer reads for a decision where you cut scope to what mattered, changed course on evidence, or owned a result end to end, quantified, not a claim that you are fast-paced.

How to show it (ResumeAdapter editorial)

ResumeAdapter editorial guidance: show speed as judgment, not motion. Point to a time you prioritized ruthlessly, pivoted on data, or owned an outcome others would have passed off, and the measured result. The signal is ownership and judgment, not that you thrive in fast-paced environments.

Show this on the resume

Show a prioritization or pivot you made and the outcome you owned, with the decision named. A precise before-and-after is the signal.

Cut a stalled roadmap to the two features driving 80 percent of activation, shipped in six weeks instead of two quarters, and owned the launch to a 24 percent lift in retained users.

Avoid this anti-pattern

Naming speed as a trait with no decision or ownership behind it. Thrives in a fast-paced environment states the value instead of showing it.

Fast-paced, results-driven self-starter who thrives under pressure.

Interview prep

Behavioral story to prepare: a time you cut scope to what mattered or pivoted on evidence, what you owned through to the result, and the outcome.

Principle and behavior names from careers.mastercard.com/us/en/culture/values, accessed 2026-08-21. The meaning, resume, and interview mapping is ResumeAdapter editorial guidance, not a Mastercard claim.

The Decency Quotient, or DQ, was coined by then-CEO Ajay Banga, who framed decency as being as important as IQ or EQ: the genuine desire to do the right thing. It is a leadership and culture philosophy, and on the careers site it shows up as the foundational value Decency and the trait, do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

DQ is also a hiring signal. Mastercard's departing Chief People Officer publicly said the company screens candidates on decency. Treat that as real, but bounded: DQ is a leadership philosophy and a cultural yardstick, not a formal per-applicant scorecard, and this page does not claim every applicant is graded against a decency number.

On a resume, you evidence decency the same way you evidence any principle here: with a decision, not an adjective. Show an integrity or control call you made under pressure, when a faster or more profitable path was available, and what it protected. Frame yourself as someone trusted with the call, not someone who lists integrity as a trait. Strong ethics and integrity states the value; halted a payment run after catching a control gap proves it.

What Mastercard looks for

Six candidate traits,
each a resume-mapping layer.

Mastercard's hiring-process page lists six candidate traits first-party. The trait wording is Mastercard's; the one-line mapping to a principle and to resume evidence is ResumeAdapter editorial guidance.

01 / Trait

Are curious and always learning

Maps to Create value and a growth mindset. Show a skill you taught yourself and then shipped with, not a line that says fast learner.

02 / Trait

Build strong relationships and collaborate with intention

Maps to Grow together. Show a partnership across a real team boundary and the shared result, with the partner named.

03 / Trait

Adapt quickly when priorities shift

Maps to Move fast. Show a pivot you made on evidence and what you owned after it, not a claim of being adaptable.

04 / Trait

Do the right thing, even when no one is watching

Maps to Decency. Show an integrity or control call you made under pressure and what it protected, not a stated commitment to ethics.

05 / Trait

Think critically and bring structure to complexity

Maps to Create value and Move fast. Show a messy problem you structured and the decision that structure enabled.

06 / Trait

Have a growth mindset

Maps across the framework. Show feedback you acted on, or a failure you turned into a measurable improvement.

Trait wording from careers.mastercard.com/us/en/mastercards-hiring-process, accessed 2026-08-21. The principle mapping is ResumeAdapter editorial guidance.

Comparably and similar SEO pages assert Mastercard core values such as inclusion, trust, innovation, partnership, and accountability, or slogans like connecting everyone to priceless possibilities. These are marketing paraphrases, not the official framework.

The real named framework is The Mastercard Way: three principles, Create value, Grow together, and Move fast, each with three behaviors, over the foundational values Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good. Getting the triad and the count right, three principles and nine behaviors rather than a five-item core values list, is the credibility signal.

Quoting the five-item listicle in an interview signals you read a summary rather than Mastercard's own current culture page. Prepare against the three principles and nine behaviors, and let the foundational values and the Decency Quotient sit behind them as the character layer.

Under the three principles, Mastercard names three foundational values, Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good, and the guiding statement, we do the right thing with our customers and each other. The principles are how the work gets done; the values are the character it is done with.

On a resume, that means the bullet that made an integrity call, widened access to a product, or served people beyond the immediate quarter reads as on-culture for Mastercard. Let Decency carry the integrity story, Inclusion the perspective you brought in under Grow together, and Force for good the durable impact behind a Create value result. The strongest interview answers connect the principle back to doing the right thing for customers, not only to your own performance.

How to show The Mastercard Way

Five moves from
generic resume to Mastercard-true.

01
Step 01

Show Create value with a scaled number

Create value rewards thinking big and bold, innovating with intention, and delivering scalable solutions. Show something you built and scaled, with the markets, users, or volume it reached and the quantified gain, rather than stating that you are innovative.

02
Step 02

Show Grow together through people and perspectives

Grow together rewards candor, bringing in different perspectives, and helping each other be great. Replace team player with a teammate you developed or a perspective you pulled in that changed a result, each with a measured outcome.

03
Step 03

Show Move fast as judgment and ownership

Move fast rewards prioritizing what matters, learning and pivoting, and owning the outcome. Show a decision where you cut scope to what mattered or pivoted on evidence, and the result you owned end to end, not a claim that you thrive in a fast-paced environment.

04
Step 04

Evidence Decency, not ethics as an adjective

Decency, and the Decency Quotient behind it, rewards doing the right thing even when no one is watching. Show an integrity or control call you made under pressure and what it protected, rather than listing integrity as a trait.

05
Step 05

Mirror the posting and scan against it

Mastercard runs Workday behind a Phenom career site, so a real parser reads your resume first. Upload to ResumeAdapter against a specific Mastercard posting so your quantified outcomes mirror the posting language the parser reads, and iterate until the principles are visible in the work rather than named as adjectives.

For most candidates the move is simple: build a small set of bullets that each prove one principle. One that shows something you built and scaled for Create value, one that shows a teammate you developed or a perspective you brought in for Grow together, and one that shows a prioritization or pivot you owned for Move fast. Add one integrity call for Decency. None of them name the principle as an adjective.

Keep the guiding statement in mind: we do the right thing with our customers and each other. Let your bullets read as work that scaled value and served customers, and connect each back to the customer rather than to your own resume. The foundational values earn the same treatment: an integrity call for Decency, a perspective you drew in for Inclusion, a durable impact for Force for good.

You do not need to name a single principle on the page. You need bullets where innovation at scale, collaboration, ownership, and decency are visible in the outcomes themselves. See the Mastercard job levels spoke for how the bar shifts across the title ladder, and the Mastercard interview process spoke for how these principles surface across the loop.

Quotes are from careers.mastercard.com/us/en/culture/values and the hiring-process page, accessed 2026-08-21. The resume mappings are an editorial distillation, not Mastercard's words.

FAQ

Mastercard values, FAQ

The questions candidates surface about what Mastercard actually screens for, after they have read the pillar. Answers are byte-identical to the FAQPage JSON-LD, because AI engines that extract HTML and AI engines that extract JSON-LD should not see different text.

What are Mastercard's values?

Mastercard's named framework is The Mastercard Way, published first-party on careers.mastercard.com/us/en/culture/values. It is three principles, each with three behaviors: Create value (Think big and bold, Innovate with intention, Deliver scalable solutions), Grow together (Say what you mean, Bring in different perspectives, Help each other be great), and Move fast (Prioritize what matters, Learn and pivot, Own the outcome). These sit over three foundational values, Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good, under the guiding statement We do the right thing with our customers and each other. Some third-party sites print a five-item core values set instead; that is a marketing paraphrase, not the official framework.

What is The Mastercard Way?

The Mastercard Way is Mastercard's official culture framework, three principles each carrying three behaviors. Create value: Think big and bold, Innovate with intention, Deliver scalable solutions. Grow together: Say what you mean, Bring in different perspectives, Help each other be great. Move fast: Prioritize what matters, Learn and pivot, Own the outcome. It sits over the foundational values Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good, under the statement We do the right thing with our customers and each other. When a job description or interview references Mastercard's values, prepare against these three principles and nine behaviors, not a summarized listicle.

What is the Decency Quotient at Mastercard?

The Decency Quotient, or DQ, is a leadership and culture philosophy coined by then-CEO Ajay Banga, who framed decency as being as important as IQ or EQ: the genuine desire to do the right thing. Mastercard applies it in hiring, and its departing Chief People Officer publicly said the company screens candidates on decency. On the careers site it shows up as the foundational value Decency and the trait do the right thing, even when no one is watching. Treat DQ as a real hiring signal and culture philosophy, not a formal per-applicant scorecard. On a resume, evidence it with an integrity or control decision you made under pressure, not a stated commitment to ethics.

What are Mastercard's core values?

This is the accuracy wedge. Sites like Comparably assert Mastercard core values such as inclusion, trust, innovation, partnership, and accountability, or slogans like connecting everyone to priceless possibilities. Those are marketing paraphrases, not the official framework. The real named framework is The Mastercard Way: three principles, Create value, Grow together, and Move fast, each with three behaviors, over the foundational values Decency, Inclusion, and Force for good. Getting the triad and the count right, three principles and nine behaviors rather than a five-item core values list, is the credibility signal in an interview.

What does Mastercard look for in candidates?

Mastercard's hiring-process page lists six candidate traits first-party: are curious and always learning; build strong relationships and collaborate with intention; adapt quickly when priorities shift; do the right thing, even when no one is watching; think critically and bring structure to complexity; and have a growth mindset. These map cleanly onto The Mastercard Way: curiosity and a growth mindset to Create value, collaboration to Grow together, adaptability to Move fast, and doing the right thing to Decency. Prepare one quantified story per trait, told so the trait shows in the outcome rather than being named.

How do I show Mastercard's values on my resume?

Demonstrate each principle through a quantified outcome rather than naming it. For Create value, show something you built and scaled with the number behind it. For Grow together, show a teammate you developed or a perspective you brought in that changed a result. For Move fast, show a prioritization or pivot and the outcome you owned. For Decency, show an integrity call you made under pressure. Then mirror the exact posting language, because Mastercard runs Workday behind a Phenom career site, so a real parser reads your resume first and rewards keyword-matched, quantified bullets over a values statement. This resume mapping is ResumeAdapter editorial guidance; the principle names are Mastercard's. Scan your resume to see which of the values a recruiter would actually find.

Continue

The rest of the Mastercard
resume cluster.

01 / Pillar

How to get a job at Mastercard

The pillar covering Mastercard's application process, The Mastercard Way in summary, the title ladder, and the interview loop.

Read
02 / Spoke

Mastercard job levels

The Software Engineer to Principal title ladder, the rare Distinguished Engineer appointment, and how the bar shifts from execution to scope by level.

Read
03 / Spoke

The Mastercard interview process

The first-party five-stage process, the behavioral and problem-solving components, and how The Mastercard Way surfaces across the loop.

Read
04 / Resume example

Software engineer resume example

A worked example of the quantified, scaled-outcome bullets The Mastercard Way rewards, for an engineering role.

Read
Related

ATS Statistics

The dataset behind the editorial findings on this page, including the median pre-edit resume score.

Read
Related

All company guides

The full index of company resume hubs, each with its hiring bar mapped to resume language.

Read
Engineer your Mastercard resume

Run your resume against
a Mastercard job description.

Get your match score against the Mastercard posting, the principles your bullets state as adjectives instead of demonstrating, the generic phrasing that hides your scaled and team impact, and a rewrite plan. Free to scan; no signup to see the score.

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