On this page, you can select a career field by selecting the name of the career field you are interested in. Clicking the button labeled Click to explore this field will open the Chicagoland CareerPathways search page, showing all of the career training programs in that career field.

Career fields are a way of categorizing jobs. For example, we might say that teachers and principals work in education, while farmers and chefs work in food and agriculture.

In real life, many career fields connect to and overlap each other. In the Pathway Builder, you won’t be able to move between career fields, but you can always come back to the beginning and explore a new career field any time you like!

On this page, you can select a career path by selecting the name of the career path you are interested in.

Career paths are ways that people can move through and advance in a career field. Some career paths feel straightforward to many of us, like going to law school to become a lawyer (a path we might label Law), while others may be less well-known or seem more complicated.

Everyone has their own unique path, and the career paths that we show you are just one way of thinking about your career. In real life, many career paths connect to and overlap each other. In the Pathway Builder, you won’t be able to move between career paths, but you can always come back and explore a new career path any time you like!

Each career path has a description with a brief overview of the tasks and activities often associated with this path, a median salary range estimating how much you may earn on this path, and a future outlook describing the expected growth of this path.

Salary information comes from ONet Online, which pulls information from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2020 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region.

Future outlook comes from ONet Online, which pulls information from the Projections Managing Partnership (PMP) data for the state of Illinois. A path’s future outlook is considered “Excellent” if the jobs along the pathway are on average growing at a rate considered “Much faster than average” (8% or higher) by ONet Online; “Good” if growing at a “Faster than average” (5% – 7%) rate; “Average” if growing at an “Average” (3% – 4%) rate; “Below Average” if growing at a “Slower than average” (1% – 2%) rate; and “Poor” if growing at a “Decline” (-1% or lower) or “Little or no change” (0%) rate.

On this page, you can select a job title by selecting the name of the job you are interested in. Clicking the button labeled Click to learn more about this job will open a page on CareerOneStop.org with plenty of information, including the future of this job, daily activities, skills and abilities that may help you perform well in this job, and more detailed wage information.

You’ll notice that for each job, we included the entry wage, median (or middle) wage, and experienced wage. Entry wage is the pay per hour that you can expect to earn when you first start working. Moving from entry wage to median wage or from median wage to experienced wage can be a result of increased experience, higher education and training, promotions and raises in the workplace, employment at better-paying companies, or combination of these factors.

For example, a computer programmer who has worked as a programmer for 8 years, has worked on very big coding projects, and/or has a Bachelor’s degree will probably be paid more than a computer programmer who has worked as a programmer for 1 year, has only worked on very small coding projects, and/or is self-taught with no credentials.

Remember that this is only a guideline, and as with everything, your experience may vary!

Wage information comes from ONet Online, which pulls information from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2020 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region. Entry-level wage corresponds to the 10th percentile, while experienced wage corresponds to the 75th percentile.

On this page, you can select a program by selecting the name of the program you are interested in. Clicking the button labeled Click to explore programs like this one will open the Chicagoland CareerPathways search page, showing all of the career training programs of that program type.

Most of the programs listed in the Pathway Builder are Progressive Pathway Programs. Progressive Pathway programs are career on-ramps that allow you to alternate between training or education and work experience. You might choose to include a Bachelor’s degree in your path, or you might not. It’s your choice!

You will notice that each program has three main pieces of information to help you learn about that option. The description is a quick overview of what the program is, what you may learn in the program, and/or the benefits and drawbacks of that program option.

The estimated length is data taken from the programs in our directory. It shows a range, from minimum to maximum program lengths, so you can get an idea of how long it may take to complete that program from start to finish.

The estimated tuition is data taken from the programs in our directory. It shows a range, from minimum to maximum tuition rates (not including any equipment costs or other fees), so you can get an idea of how much money it may cost to participate in that program. Keep in mind that many programs offer robust financial aid options not shown here.

On this screen, you can review the pathway you built. This includes an overview of all your selected programs and job titles, as well as overall Pathway Stats. Pathway Stats show you how much time and money we estimate your pathway to involve, as well as your estimated final wage range.Clicking the Save my results button will save this page to your computer as a PDF. You can reference this pathway on your own later on or share it with a guide or mentor as you explore your career training options.

Keep in mind that there is a great deal of variance within the final wage range. Depending on your level of education, value of your credentials, and degree of experience, your wage may be on the higher or lower end of this range.

Wage information comes from ONet Online, which pulls information from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2020 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin region. Entry-level wage corresponds to the 10th percentile, while experienced wage corresponds to the 75th percentile.

The estimated length and cost of career training programs comes from the information in our directory. While we have a robust catalog of programs, we do not have every available program in these categories, and so the length and cost presented here may not be fully accurate or representative of options available. Programs you selected may cost more or less, or take more or less time to complete, if you choose to enroll.