Combined career guidance methodology

What shapes the shortlist

We use the latest usable finished result of each of the six assessments owned by your session or account. Work interests and college-major preferences shape the career order. A component needs complete valid scales, a highest rating of at least 50/100 and a spread of at least 10 points to create a distinct pattern. Flat and low profiles are described without forcing a winner.

Interest similarity uses the existing cosine comparison with the six confirmed O*NET interest scores from the occupation’s current published release. The source range comes from that release. Major preferences use published occupation-to-CIP education crosswalks. A career’s study component is the highest rating among its mapped study families.

When both components are usable, ordering uses 65% interest similarity and 35% study-family rating. This puts work interests first while also considering the subjects you would like to study. Only careers with both required components are compared together. With one usable component, ordering uses that component alone and the page labels the missing contribution. Missing data is never a zero score.

The combined number is used internally to order the shortlist; we do not present it as a percentage of suitability. Exact ties use alphabetical order, then occupation ID. Education field ties also remain visible, with names used only for stable display order.

Connecting study families to real fields

The major quiz uses six broad families. StudyIndex groups six-digit CIP 2020 fields by their two-digit series: engineering/technology 11, 14, 15, 46–49; science/data 01, 03, 26, 27, 40, 41; arts/design 04, 09, 10, 50; health/helping 13, 19, 25, 31, 42, 44, 51; business 52; humanities/society 05, 16, 22–24, 38, 39, 43, 45, 54. Other series, including broad interdisciplinary programs, are left unmapped.

This family grouping is an editorial simplification. The named occupation-to-field connections come from the published source crosswalk, not this grouping. Links do not establish a required degree, admission eligibility, professional licensing or guaranteed employment. When no major quiz is available, study-family prompts inferred from broad interests are labeled editorial and do not affect the career order.

How the other four tests are used

Work values, social energy and work style produce questions about conditions to investigate in a role. They are not numerically matched to occupational interests. The current catalog has no verified work-value or work-setting scores, so StudyIndex does not claim that an occupation guarantees autonomy, balance or a certain social environment.

For work values, ratings of at least 50/100 at or above the second-highest position generate questions; ties are retained. Work-style ratings of at least 75/100 generate questions, otherwise the report suggests an experiment. Social-energy descriptions use the same editorial bands as the original test: below 40 quieter, above 60 more interaction, otherwise a balance.

Mechanical reasoning shows correct answers out of 70 and completion, including clearly marked partial attempts. Where the published occupation profile has a confirmed technical skill importance of at least 3 on the O*NET 1–5 scale, the explanation connects the practice experience with that skill. It does not convert the result into IQ, use population norms, modify the career ranking, or exclude a profession.

Privacy, history and changing evidence

The report is private, noindex and excluded from public sitemaps. A private snapshot link works only for its owner. A new completed test or changed published evidence creates a new snapshot; old snapshots keep the input result versions, method, source evidence, explanations and suggestions used at that time.

Snapshots are attached to the oldest input attempt and remain available with the completed results until you delete them. Deleting the profile or account deletes its reports. Registration and sign-in link this browser’s results to the account automatically. Withdrawn occupations and fields remain identifiable in historical text but are not linked as current options.