Most Prevalent Industries/Careers (Chicago, Rolling Meadows: neighborhoods, buying, floors)

[JerseyT]

I just got back from Atlanta, which I loved, but didn't seem like the right fit for me. I'm now learning a lot about different neighborhoods in Chicago as I'll be visiting at the end of October. The city intrigues me, I guess because I've never been. I'm interested in seeing what residents know about the biggest industries in Chicago, rather than just what I have read by Googling, "Chicago based companies". What are the most prevalent lines of work in this city? I have a Communication degree and can hold my own with Spanish. I have experience in Pharmaceuticals, Accounting, Sales, Public Relations and Media. I'll give ya my resume if you can get me in the door! haha

Any advice would be great! Thanks!

[ratatouille1281]

I am thinking of relocating back to Chicago. I grew up in Chicago and moved to Texas years ago.
After visiting Chicago on a trip, I miss the city and making plans to move back home.

[meatpuff]

There was a great article in The Atlantic earlier this year, that is great reading besides, that described Chicago's economy thusly:

Chicago has emerged as a center for industrial management and has rolled up many of the functions, such as finance and law, once performed in smaller midwestern centers.

Full article here How the Crash Will Reshape America - The Atlantic (March 2009)

The article describes elsewhere a little more what they mean. But I think if you're going to sum up the driving force, or key competitive advantage, of Chicago's economy in one sentence this is pretty good. Now, there's a bunch of stuff that grows up around that. For example, there's a lot of IT jobs, not as many as Cali, but a lot, that are needed to support those functions. There's lots of sales/marketing jobs needed to support those functions. There's plenty of other roles like this, that though Chicago is not a center for it, there's plenty of jobs. I.e. though Chicago is not a center for finance the way New York is a center for finance, it needs plenty of finance people. This applies for a lot of areas, there's a sprinkling of all kinds of white collar jobs to support Chicago's key functions, all the way down to the people who sweep the floors in all those offices. Then there are certain other fields where there's a sprinkling of jobs that moved here just to capitalize on the educated workforce/good business environment, for example engineering: there are few engineering jobs per capita in Illinois compared to the Bay Area, but yet you do have Northrop Grumman with a huge facility up in Rolling Meadows, Abbott Labs up north, etc.

In summary, you'll find a sprinkling of every kind of job in Chicagoland. But the closer you get to the core function of the Chicago economy ecompassed in that quote above, the more jobs you'll find.

[Lookout Kid]

^^Good post. I'll add that Chicago is a major center for advertising as well. In addition to hometown giants like Leo Burnett and smaller shops all over the city, a few Madison Avenue firms have their creative services in Chicago. Jobs in this industry include design, copy writing, production, account services, media buying, web development, etc. And of course, all of the support functions like IT and HR.

[JerseyT]

Originally Posted by meatpuff

There was a great article in The Atlantic earlier this year, that is great reading besides, that described Chicago's economy thusly:

Full article here How the Crash Will Reshape America - The Atlantic (March 2009)

there are few engineering jobs per capita in Illinois compared to the Bay Area, but yet you do have Northrop Grumman with a huge facility up in Rolling Meadows, Abbott Labs up north, etc.

In summary, you'll find a sprinkling of every kind of job in Chicagoland. But the closer you get to the core function of the Chicago economy ecompassed in that quote above, the more jobs you'll find.

Thanks Meatpuff! I appreciate the help - The article and the reminder that Abbott, one of my current company's biggest clients, is stationed in IL. I'll do more research and I can't wait to come visit in November! Thanks again!

[JerseyT]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Jobs in this industry include design, copy writing, production, account services, media buying, web development, etc. And of course, all of the support functions like IT and HR.

Thanks, LOK!