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What is me3?
How does me3 work?
me3 Student FAQ's
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What if I don’t like either photo during the assessment?
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The first thing to remember is that the photos are intended to show interest areas, not specific careers. Maybe think about it as choosing the one that you dislike the least. The 60 photo selections will be combined to identify your interests.
- How does the tool work? Is there any scientific basis?
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By clicking on the photos that you like, you are identifying your interests. In this way, we are narrowing down your career interests using the “Holland” RIASEC career model. The RIASEC model has been studied for almost 60 years and has more empirical support than any other career theory. A match between one’s RIASEC interest code and one’s O*Net career code (also known as person-environment fit) has been linked to greater career stability and job satisfaction. The images that you see in me3® have been calibrated against results from validated assessments such as the Strong Inventory Assessment.
- What if I don’t like the career choices that the tool gave me?
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Although Career Assessments aren’t able to perfectly predict your one best career match, they are powerful tools designed to help facilitate a successful career exploration process. You will be shown three careers that most closely align with your RIASEC code. You can choose to remove a career from the list by clicking on the “x”. Even if you don’t immediately connect with the career choices you are given, we encourage you to look at what those careers have in common and look at other suggested careers. Remember that this tool is intended to start the exploration process, kicking off some conversations, not to be able to see the future.
- How were the career choices determined? Did Pitt make up those results?
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me3® uses a sophisticated Euclidean distance matching algorithm. Based on your image selections you receive a score in each of the 6 RIASEC categories; me3® then compares your scores to those of more than 500 careers based on data provided by the U.S. Department of Labor. The results you see are the careers with scores that are most similar to your individual results across each of the 6 categories.
- Okay, I am ready to declare or change my major. Now what?
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If you have identified that you want to declare or change your major, the first thing we suggest is that you contact your academic advisor. They can help to set you on the path to declare or change your major
Download me3 Student FAQ's (PDF)
me3 Advisor FAQ's
me3® is a career inventory and assessment tool that uses the empirically-supported Holland RIASEC model to help students identify their interests and map those interests to careers and Pitt majors. The goal of the tool is to provide a scaled resource to encourage the career exploration process for students.
- How does the tool work? Is there any scientific basis?
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By clicking on the photos that the user likes, they are identifying their interests. In this way, we are narrowing down career interests using the RIASEC career model. The RIASEC model has been studied for almost 60 years and has more empirical support than any other career theory. A match between one’s RIASEC interest code and one’s O*Net career code (also known as person- environment fit) has been linked to greater career stability and job satisfaction. The images seen in me3® have been calibrated against results from validated assessments such as the Strong Inventory Assessment.
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What if students don’t like the career choices that the tool gave?
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The purpose and strength of any career assessment is to facilitate an exploration process. In me3®, students are shown three careers that most closely align with their RIASEC code. They can choose to remove a career from the list by clicking on the “x” in their career list. Even if students don’t immediately connect with the career choices given, we can encourage students to look at what those careers have in common *and continue to explore other careers that match their RIASEC code. This tool is intended to start the exploration process, kicking off some conversations, not to be able to see the future.
- How were the career choices determined? Did Pitt make up those results?
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me3® uses a sophisticated Euclidean distance matching algorithm. Based on image selections, users receive a score in each of the 6 RIASEC categories; me3® then compares the scores to those of more than 500 careers based on data provided by the U.S. Department of Labor. The results seen are the careers with scores that are most similar to the user’s results across each of the 6 categories.
In the implementation of me3®, each academic unit/school was tasked with mapping up to 10 careers for each major offered by the school. These careers are reviewed on an annual basis, and as majors are newly approved or terminated, the tool is updated accordingly.
- How can or should advisors incorporate this tool into academic advising conversations?
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Academic advisors regularly have conversations with students that delve into career exploration, and me3® can be a useful tool for helping students explore or clarify options related to their plan of study. Academic advisors can use me3® as an additional tool to help students better understand the range of available career options to prepare for more guided conversations with a career counselor as part of a follow-up appointment.
- Career-related Guidance and Questions
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For career-related guidance and questions, students can be guided to the Career Center’s Virtual Front Desk, call 412-383-4473, or email careers@pitt.edu.
For questions about the University of Pittsburgh’s instance of me3®, contact studentsuccess@pitt.edu.
- Supporting resources
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Donohue, R. (2006). Person-environment congruence in relation to career change and career persistence. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(3), 504-515.
Donnay, D. A. (2005). Strong Interest Inventory manual: Research, development, and strategies for interpretation. CPP.
Hirschi, A., Niles, S. G., & Akos, P. (2011). Engagement in adolescent career preparation: Social support, personality and the development of choice decidedness and congruence. Journal of Adolescence, 34(1), 173-182.
Hooley, T., Marriott, J. & Sampson, J.P. (2011). Fostering college and career readiness: How career development activities in schools impact on graduation rates and students' life success. Derby: International Centre for Guidance Studies, University of Derby.
Hull-Blanks, E., Kurpius, S. E. R., Befort, C., Sollenberger, S., Nicpon, M. F., & Huser, L. (2005). Career goals and retention-related factors among college freshmen. Journal of Career Development, 32(1), 16- 30.
O*Net Online. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.onetonline.org/
Perdue, S., Reardon, R., & Peterson, G. (2007). Person-environment congruence, self-efficacy, and environmental identity in relation to job satisfaction: A career decision theory perspective. Journal of Employment Counseling, 44(1), 29-39.
Petrides, K. V., & McManus, I. C. (2004). Mapping medical careers: Questionnaire assessment of career preferences in medical school applicants and final-year students. BMC Medical Education, 4(1), 18.
Ryan, J. M., Tracey, T. J. G., & Rounds, J. (1996). Generalizability of Holland's structure of vocational interests across ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43(3), 330-337.
Spokane, A. R., & Cruza-Guet, M. C. (2005). Holland’s theory of vocational personalities in work environments. Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work, 24-41.
Tracey, T. J. G. (2008). Adherence to RIASEC structure as a key career decision construct. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 55(2), 146-157.
Tracey, T. J. G., & Rounds, J. (1996). The spherical representation of vocational interests. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 48(1), 3-41.