Glossary of Terms

Today in Chicagoland, an apprenticeship is an on-ramp that helps individuals get started in a progressive career pathway. As of January 2019, there were over 400 registered apprenticeships in Illinois, which range from IT and healthcare to finance and logistics. Chicagoland Career Pathways can connect you to several of these programs.

The best part about the apprenticeships? You can get paid to learn your new career! In fact, all of the apprenticeships in this directory pay a percentage of the current wages in the related occupations! So you can learn a new career without ending up with a large amount of debt.

A career field is a general category of occupation. In Chicagoland CareerPathways, career fields correspond to “endorsement areas.”

Here are the seven career fields:

• Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
• Arts and Communication – including Arts (Performing and Visual) and Audio/Video Technology and Communications
• Finance and Business Services – including Business Management and Administration, Finance, Marketing, Hospitality and Tourism; and Logistics
• Human and Public Services – including Education and Training; Government and Public Administration; and Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security; and Human Services
• Health Sciences and Technology
• Information Technology
• Manufacturing, Engineering, Technology, and Trades – including Architecture and Construction; Manufacturing; STEM (particularly Engineering and Technology); Transportation / Distribution; and Energy

Not sure about which career you want to pursue? The Department of Labor’s online platform has a wide variety of resources about salaries, job openings, training, and other career-related resources. These resources include:

• Occupation profiles
• Videos about specific careers
• A tool for comparing occupations
• Specifics about local industries with the strongest job markets.

CareerOneStop also offers various kinds of assessments, which will show you how your skills, interests, and values will contribute to specific careers.  [3]

In order to earn a credential, young people must complete a certain number of hours of training and work experience.

The term “contact hours” refers to the total amount of time that each program will take to complete. For example, a program might last for 4 weeks and require participation of 40 hours per week. If so, it would take 160 contact hours to complete it. Or if a program lasts for 10 weeks and requires 20 hours of weekly participation, it would take 200 contact hours.

Throughout this directory, a “progressive pathway” (or ProPath) refers to a series of work experiences and training that empower you to make progress toward a rewarding career. Specifically, it could help you:

• Gradually take steps toward having a specific career.
• Make progress with your education while you’re working.
• Progressively make choices that will help you form an overall goal about the career you’re going to pursue.

Distance learning refers to a style of teaching and learning which does not require the participants to be in the same space.

Generally, individuals in a distance learning program will engage in virtual face-to-face communications (such as online lectures and webinars) and follow an instructor-led curriculum.

Participants in some programs can earn money during training. For example, an apprenticeship often involves part-time work and part-time learning. The students earns a paycheck, and benefits, while earning a credential. Other programs might pay a “stipend,” which is generally less than a paycheck but helps to cover living expenses while learning.

See a list of “Earn While I Learn” programs here.

eLearning refers to a style of teaching and learning which utilizes technology. eLearning can occur online or in a more traditional classroom setting.

Generally, individuals in an eLearning program will receive instruction from their teacher (either in person or over video), while all of their interactions will be mediated by technology (e.g., online tests, , etc.).

eLearning is often used to refer to self-paced programs which offer unlimited access to course materials.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a government program that processes applications for financial aid, including loans, grants, and work-study programs.

Before you can apply, you’ll need:

• A social security number or alien registration number
• Records to prove your income and investments (or your caregiver’s). These records could be tax documents or pay stubs.

For the 2020-21 school year, the window for completing the application is from October 1, 2019, until June, 2021. After you have all of this information on-hand, it should take you less than an hour to fill out the application. In fact, many of the programs in this directory could help you fill it out.

If you don’t quality to apply for financial aid with the FAFSA, but you are an Illinois resident, you may be able to apply for state aid under the RISE Act.

A license is legal permission, typically granted by a government agency, to allow an individual to perform certain regulated tasks or occupations. In Illinois, more than 70 occupations require a license. Examples include Acupuncturists, Architects, Athletic Trainers, and Barbers. 

A license can be obtained by meeting certain requirements, usually by completing a course of education and/or assessments. Once you receive a license, you might need to meet certain requirements every year or two in order to maintain the license.

Some of the programs in Chicagoland Career Pathways may help you obtain a license.

Throughout this directory, a “progressive career pathway” or “career pathway” refers to a series of work experiences and training that empower you to make progress toward a rewarding career.

Progressive career pathways allow individuals to alternate between and combine periods of education/training and employment, and progressively build toward college and career success over an extended period of time.

A pathway could help you

• Gradually take steps toward having a specific career
• Make progress with your education while you’re working
• Progressively make choices that will help you form an overall goal about the career you’re going to pursue

A stipend is a predetermined amount of money that is paid to trainees, interns, and students to help offset expenses. Stipends are often provided to those who are ineligible to receive a regular salary in exchange for the duties they perform. A stipend is generally lower pay than a salary.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is designed to help job seekers, particularly those with barriers to employment, secure the employment, education, training and support services necessary to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy.

The costs of some of the programs listed in the Chicagoland Career Pathways directory may be covered by WIOA funding. In order to receive this funding, you have to prove you’re eligible for it. To find out if you qualify for this funding, you should contact a Chicago Workforce Center.

WIOA also offers other valuable services. You can use the Illinois workNet Service Finder to find places where staff can help with job placement, career preparation, hiring assistance, labor market information, employee training and a whole lot more.