Greater Peoria Pathways is Greater Peoria’s resource hub for building a focused, experienced, and driven workforce from today’s students. As an educator, you can actively offer your students advantages today that will put them ahead of the pack tomorrow.
GP Pathways connects you with resources to help your students
- Research workforce data,
- Utilize career development tools,
- Find opportunities to gain work experience,
- Connect with professionals ready to invest in Greater Peoria’s young people.
If you’re not using Career Coach, you’re missing out on the most comprehensive career development & exploration tool out there.
Career Coach is a great way to get your students to start thinking about their future! Provided by Illinois Central College, Career Coach has all sorts of tools and information to help them prepare for the next chapter of their lives. With Career Coach, your students can:
- Take a career assessment – This provides them with information about their personality and which careers will fit them best. The assessment can either be six questions, if you’re in a rush, or it can be sixty questions, if you’re looking for deeper results.
- Browse through careers – Each career listing will say what a person in that job does, the average salary for the job, and the education required for the job. There are careers to look at for all levels of education, from a high school diploma, to doctoral degrees. In addition to learning about the education required for a position, they can also learn about what degree and certificate programs at ICC that will put them on the path towards the career they want.
- Build a resume – Career Coach’s Resume Builder makes creating a resume very easy. All your students have to do is create a profile, and then they’re ready to go! It does all the hard work for them.
Career Coach is an exciting new tool that can help you give your students the guidance they need! It’s a one stop shop for everything you need to provide career education. Just go to Career Coach and get started! Don’t forget to spread the word to other educators and the parents of your students about this great resource!
Know Greater Peoria’s hottest job markets
Sharing hiring trends and hot job markets with students creates a path to success. Here are the jobs in demand around our region.
- Registered Nurse
Average Salary: $68,030
Education: 4-year program - Licensed Practical Nurse
Average Salary:$44,870
Education: 2-year program - Certified Nurse Assistant
Average Salary: $25,260
Education: 1-semester program - Medical Assistant
Average Salary: $31,230
Education: 2-year program - Medical Lab Tech
Average Salary: $43,070
Education: 2-year program - Physical Therapy Assistant
Average Salary: $32,970
Education: 2-year program
- Engine and Machine Assemblers
Average Salary: $37,330 - Welder
Average Salary: $37,710
Education: 1-semester & 1-year certificate programs - CNC Machinist
Average Salary: $47,430
Education: 1.5-year degree program - Maintenance Technician
Average Salary: $48,180
Education: 1.5-year certificate & 2-year degree program - Process Engineer
Average Salary: $79,120
Education: 2 & 4-year degree programs - Mechanical Engineer
Average Salary: $84,420
Education: 2 & 4-year degree programs
- Computer Systems Analyst
Average Salary: $85,500
Education: 4-year degree program - Applications Software Developer
Average Salary: $85,740
Education: 4-year degree program - Database Administrators
Average Salary: $80,850
Education: 2 & 4-year degree programs - Network and Computer Systems Administrators
Average Salary: $77,520
Education: 1-year certificate, 2 & 4-year degree programs - Computer Programmers
Average Salary: $74,060
Education: 2-year certificate, 2 & 4-year degree programs
See a career you think you might like? Access your Career Cruising account to learn about area schools and programs where you can get the education or training you'll need. Don't have your Career Cruising account info? Ask you school counselor.
- Electricians
Average Salary: $69,940
Apprenticeship: 3 & 5-year paid - Boilmakers
Average Salary: $64,270
Apprenticeship: 4-year paid - Bricklayers
Average Salary: $70,910
Apprenticeship: 3.5-year paid - Elevator Constructors
Average Salary: $83,020
Apprenticeship: 5-year paid - Heat & Frost Insulators
Average Salary: $78,420
Apprenticeship: 5-year paid
- Cement Masons
Average Salary: $58,030
Apprenticeship: 3-year paid - Iron Workers
Average Salary: $79,600
Apprenticeship: 3-year paid - Painters
Average Salary: $57,020
Apprenticeship: 3-year paid - Plasterers
Average Salary: $76,620
Apprenticeship: 4-year paid - Plumbers, Steamfitters, & Sprinklerfitters
Average Salary: $71,810
Apprenticeship: 5-year paid
- Roofers
Average Salary: $46,440
Apprenticeship: 4-year paid - Sheet Metal Workers
Average Salary: $65,230
Apprenticeship: 4-year paid - Operating Engineers
Average Salary: $69,980
Apprenticeship: 4-year paid - Carpenters
Average Salary: $56,860
Apprenticeship: 4-year paid - Construction Laborers
Average Salary: $51,630
Apprenticeship: 3-year paid
Not every career requires a college degree. Here’s how to connect your students with the Building Trades.
Your students can step into the skilled labor force of the building trades right out of high school. Here’s where to start exploring the building trades.
Get Started with the Building Trades
For more information on the types of building trades careers and how to begin apprenticing, download the Union Building Trades Apprenticeship Programs booklet.
Want to bring employers directly into the classroom?
Contact your local Chamber of Commerce to connect with employers willing to bring their insights into your classroom.
Programs that bring real-world experience and success into schools and classrooms
Girls who Code
Only 18% of today’s computer science graduates are women, but Girls Who Code is out to change that! With a custom curriculum providing you all the training and materials you need to teach programming, web development, mobile app, or robotics, you have everything you need to start your own Girls Who Code club. Let’s put Peoria on the Girls who Code map!
SkillsUSA
SkillsUSA is a nationwide organization aimed at preparing students for success through engaging, competitive, and project-based Career & Technical education programming. SkillsUSA provides middle and high school students the opportunity to grow in what they love to do, from culinary arts to engineering, and more. Find out how to start a chapter or email IllinoisSkillsUSA Coordinator Eric Hill.
Junior Achievement
Highlight Greater Peoria careers and invite area professionals to teach your students. Junior Achievement connects professional volunteers with your classroom to expose your students to career opportunities while teaching them everything from soft skills, economics, entrepreneurism, and more! Request a Junior Achievement volunteer today! Learn more →
More Online Tools from Junior Achievement
JA My Way
Students can join JA My Way™ to get tips and tools to put your career on the express track. Take the Personality Quiz then visit My Career to find job matches. Explore buying a car and saving for college in My Money, create pro resumes at My Resume, or get tips to start a business at My Business.
JA Build Your Future
JA Build Your Future helps teens, their parents, and teachers break down the cost of achieving young people’s career goals. In JA Build Your Future, teens can assess more than 100 careers, see what levels of education are required, then calculate the cost of education. Teens can then adjust the level of money they and their parents may contribute, combined with student loans they may need to secure.
Event Calendar
Take advantage of these area career development events
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Employers want workers with soft skills. Teach the soft skills using edmettle.
Employers are experiencing a talent gap between the existing and the incoming workforce. They are ready and willing to hire new workers, and one quality they’re really looking for when hiring is an employable attitude.
An employable attitude demonstrates that a person has soft skills, skills related to working productively with others.
What’s the best way to teach soft skills?
Find ways to grow these skills in your students now, and they will be miles ahead when entering the workforce.
Equip your students for greater success and create an edmettle class at your school! Learn More→
What are the soft skills?
- A Strong Work Ethic…
- Positive Attitude…
- Good Communication Skills…
- Time Management Abilities…
- Problem-Solving Skills…
- Acting as a Team Player…
- Self-Confidence…
- Ability to Accept and Learn From Criticism…
