An Initiative of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership
Chicago Codes
Creating Career Opportunities Through Coding
Near West American Job Center participant makes more than $20/hr after earning a Commercial Driver’s Liscence, completing training. Now working as a driver for a trucking company, he credits The Partnership’s American Job Center stating “This program helped me get a career that will provide for myself and family. It allowed me to see the world…I got to meet a lot of cool people that I never would’ve met without it.”
Near West American Job Center Participant struggled finding a full time job when the economic recession was in full swing. With the program, the Participant was able to get the help needed to find a new IT career. “The real challenge for me was not knowing what to put into the resume. I had plenty of design and multimedia experience, so I had a great resume in that respect, but I got two certifications from IT Career Lab (ITCL) so I didn’t know how to build a whole resume just based on that.” This participant now makes more than $20/hr working as a Technical Support Engineer.
Chicago Magnesium is a metals manufacturer for the aviation industry located in the south suburbs. They have been a long-time partner of Opportunity Works partner since 2017. Chicago Magnesium provides company tours for interns and speakers for career exploration activities. This strong partnership has provided a path for ten former Opportunity Works interns to transition into full-time positions at Chicago Magnesium.
Montserrat was matched with Blue Lacuna 1647, a co-working space and business incubator in Pilsen. She taught computer game development to 8 – 12-year-olds for the Latina Girl’s Code. As a result of Montserrat’s hard work throughout the Opportunity Works program, Blue Lacuna offered her a position as a subcontractor at North Eastern Illinois University where she teaches classes in web design and development!