About

Chicagoland Career Pathways is a starting point for Chicagoans who are looking for an onramp to a rewarding career. With this directory, you can find programs that:

• Fit your career interests
• Are located nearby
• Prioritize recruiting candidates like you
• Are free, or even provide a paycheck

CareerPathways currently focuses on programs available to individuals of approximate secondary school graduation age (18 years) or older, and serves as an excellent tool for young adults to plan for their future. However, this directory is always growing! Click here to be notified when we add programs for secondary school-aged individuals.

The intention of this directory isn’t to persuade anyone to pursue any educational or career pathway. Rather, it is meant to be one more tool to help you examine your options and make the most informed choice. If the best choice for you right now is to pursue a four-year degree, go for it!

CareerPathways is also not intended to be an exhaustive list of career opportunities. We do our very best to give you as many options as possible, but there are plenty of possibilities that have not yet been added to our directory. If you know of a program that should be included, please let us know here.

CareerPathways is a useful tool for many people, including:

• High school students in Chicagoland
• Young Chicagoans who are taking a break from school or haven’t decided which career they want to pursue
• Guidance counselors, admissions counselors, and other career advisers
• Staff members at nonprofits who frequently advise young people about their futures
• Caregivers, teachers, coaches, and others who may offer career advice
• Adult career-changers in Chicagoland, including those who are unemployed, underemployed, or interested in up-skilling

We also aim to connect individuals to programs that prioritize service to their communities, including but not limited to:

• Returning citizens, sometimes referred to as “formerly incarcerated individuals”
• Houseless individuals
• Youth in foster care
• Persons with disabilities / disabled persons
• Individuals who speak or are learning to speak English as a second language
• Undocumented citizens

All programs fill out an application to be included to the site. This includes an initial application, which can be found here, as well as a more in-depth application after that first round is accepted. We are in contact with programs throughout this application process.

All programs in the CareerPathways directory are individually vetted by the CareerPathways team to ensure quality and adherence to our main inclusion requirements. These requirements include the following:

• Individuals who are 18 or older can apply. (Some programs additionally allow individuals younger than 18 to enroll.)
• Programs are located in or near Cook County, or are 100% virtual.
• Programs are focused on employment. This can be through job training, career readiness training, or training for a particular industry.
• A bachelor’s degree or enrollment in a bachelor’s degree program is never required for admission.

Want to learn more? Click here to see more details about our program inclusion standards. 

There are many different ways to use CareerPathways! You can use the assessment tools at CareerOneStop to learn how your skills, interests, and values can contribute to various careers.

You can also check out our Hot Jobs page to see what careers are high-demand in Chicagoland right now, and discover programs that can lead you to those careers.

Or, you can jump right in and explore programs that fit your needs and interests.

If you want to make sure you’re up-to-date on upcoming opportunities, sign up for our monthly newsletter!

Chicagoland Career Pathways is guided by a community of professionals, including:

• Individuals who work with high school students and young adults
• Employers and staffing agencies
• Funders of education and workforce programs

Origami Works Foundation and Embarc Chicago are providing project leadership.

Click here to learn more about our sponsoring organizations.

Click here to get in touch with us.