Illinois Tech Career Services & Experiential Learning
What Are Elevate Experiences?
Elevate is for every Illinois Tech student, undergraduate and graduate — and the experiences are the steps, each one leaving evidence behind.
A complete catalog of the primary Elevate Experiences, what each one asks of you, and what you walk away holding. Updated August 2026.
Start here
The Short Answer
An Elevate Experience is anything structured enough to leave proof behind.
Elevate turns an Illinois Tech education into career capital through internships, research, competitions, study away, and more, paired with personal coaching and verified digital credentials that prove your skills to employers. It begins before enrollment and runs through graduation. The experiences below are what that actually consists of, one at a time.
They build two things at once: the durable skills that last a whole career — communication, collaboration, judgment, leadership — and the technical skills a specific job asks for right now. That pairing is what keeps you hirable for the job market you will meet in ten years, not only the one hiring this semester.
Three steps, that is the whole method
How to Actually Use This Page
You do not need a plan for four years. You need one thing, started this month.
Not five. Scan the catalog below, find the one that fills a gap in your own record, and start it this month. Everything here is open to you.
Save the certificate, the project file, the confirmation email, the photo. Evidence you cannot find later did not happen.
What it was, what you did, what changed. Those three lines become your reflection, your résumé bullet, and your interview answer.
Everything, on one screen
The Full Catalog at a Glance
Eighteen ways in. Tap any one to go straight to it, or read the sections below for what each involves.
1What Counts as an Elevate Experience
The definition, the skills it builds, and how the credentials work▾
An Elevate Experience is a structured activity with a defined scope, a real time commitment, and something at the end you can show someone. That last part is what separates it from an event you happened to attend. Elevate is the frame; the experiences are the individual things you complete inside it.
It has a shape
Defined hours, a defined outcome, and a start and end. A three-hour job simulation and a three-credit course are both Elevate Experiences — they differ in size, not in kind.
It produces evidence
A certificate, a badge, a portfolio piece, a sponsored project, a signed letter. Something an employer can look at rather than take on faith.
It is documented
You record what you did and reflect on it. The reflection is not paperwork — it is the first draft of the answer you will give in an interview six months later.
Some are required, some are elective
In the structured undergraduate program, certain experiences are required in a given year and others stack on top by choice. On the self-directed pathways, you choose all of them. Both count. See the optional ones
A coach who knows your name
Every Elevate student works with an Elevate Success Coach who helps sequence the experiences so they build on each other instead of piling up. Make an appointment
Credentials that travel
Elevate issues verified digital credentials, so the skills you build stay attached to your name after the semester ends and you can post them where employers look.
Where this fits
Elevate Is the Journey. Experiences Are the Steps.
If you are new to all of it, read these two pages first and come back to the catalog below.
Elevate, in full
The program overview — real experience, coaching, and verified credentials, for undergraduate and graduate students alike. Elevate: transform your education
First Year Elevate
What the first year looks like, and the experiences that come first. First Year Elevate
Career Pathway Courses
The for-credit end of the catalog, gathered in one place. Career Pathway Courses
What they build
Durable Skills and Technical Skills, Together
Employers screen on both, and most students arrive with only one. Every experience in the catalog is built to add to each column.
Durable skills
Communication, collaboration across difference, judgment under ambiguity, project ownership, and leadership. These transfer between roles, industries, and countries, and they do not expire when a tool does.
Technical skills
The specific, current competencies a role asks for — a cloud certification, a CRM platform, a data pipeline, a prototyping workflow. These get you shortlisted.
Built for the market ahead
Technical requirements turn over; the ability to learn the next one does not. Pairing the two is how you stay hirable for the job market you will meet in ten years, not only the one posting roles this semester.
Portable anywhere
Verified credentials, documented projects, and global experience travel across borders. Illinois Tech students take these into employers worldwide.
A useful test before you sign up for anything: can you finish this sentence afterward — “I did X, with Y, and the result was Z”? If yes, it is worth your semester. If not, pick a different one.
2Who Elevate Is For
Undergraduate and graduate — the structured program, and the self-directed pathways▾
Elevate is often described as the four-year undergraduate journey. That is one pathway within it, not the whole of it. Elevate serves undergraduate and graduate students across every college and discipline, and the catalog of experiences is the same for all of them. What differs is how much structure arrives with it.
The structured undergraduate program
Undergraduates who join Elevate and accept its terms and conditions follow a structured initiative across four years: cohort programming, experiences sequenced year by year, an assigned Elevate Success Coach, and verified credentials earned at each stage. Cohort membership belongs to this pathway alone. It is the most guided route through Elevate, and the only one in which the order is designed for you rather than by you. Start with First Year Elevate
Graduate students, every major
Graduate students use Elevate to build the experience employers hire on. They are not enrolled in cohorts and follow no assigned sequence — this pathway is self-directed. You select the experiences, complete them on your own schedule, and work with a career coach to make sure the set adds up to a case an employer will recognize. Start by writing to elevate@illinoistech.edu.
Every other student
Students outside the structured undergraduate program — across colleges, disciplines, and levels — use the same catalog, also without cohorts. Chosen rather than assigned, and paired with a career coach who helps you pick the experiences that make you job-ready rather than merely busy.
What self-directed means in practice
Self-Directed Is Not Unsupported
The difference between the pathways is the sequencing, not the support. Coaching is available on all three.
You choose the experiences
Nothing is assigned. You read the catalog, pick what fills a gap in your own record, and start.
A coach helps you choose well
Bring two or three candidates to a career coach and leave with an order to do them in. Sequencing is where most of the value sits. Make an appointment
The credentials are identical
A verified credential does not record which pathway produced it. The evidence carries the same weight either way.
The catalog is one catalog
Sections 3 through 9 apply to every pathway. Where an experience is restricted by year or enrollment status, its own page says so.
The undergraduate program
Structure, cohorts, and the Elevate Commitment
The structured undergraduate program is the part of Elevate that comes with cohort programming and a designed four-year sequence. It is organized around the Elevate Commitment: Illinois Tech’s stated aim that participating undergraduates finish career-ready and launch into employment or graduate study within six months of graduation.
That aim is what the structure exists to serve — the required sequence, the coaching cadence, and the credentials at each stage are all built backward from it.
Graduate students and anyone outside the structured program can complete the same activities independently and with self-direction, and arrive just as career-ready. If you are unsure which pathway describes you, ask before you plan a semester around the wrong one — write to elevate@illinoistech.edu or book a coach.
3Career Pathway Courses
Braven, the Global Career Accelerator, Salesforce Foundations, and Virtual Internships — the for-credit end of the catalog▾
These are the experiences that carry academic credit. They cost you a course slot rather than a free evening, and in exchange they arrive on your transcript with a grade, a project, and in two cases an industry certification attached.
Braven Career Success
3 credits · Hybrid · Sophomores and juniors
BRVN 200, a three-credit course run with the national nonprofit Braven. Structured curriculum, small-group coaching from working professionals, and an employer capstone challenge. Open to sophomores and juniors in any major, transfer students included; hybrid, mostly virtual with three in-person sessions. Counts as a required or optional Elevate experience. Braven Partnership
Global Career Accelerator
3 credits · One semester · Five tracks
A semester-long program with Podium Education worth three credits, across five tracks: digital marketing, data analytics, web development, coding for data, and a career rotation. Students work real projects tied to partner brands and finish with industry certifications. careeraccelerator.iit.edu
Salesforce Foundations
For credit · Exam voucher included
Two Stuart School course options taught virtually by Camp4: BUS 495/595-04 Applied Admin, which preps the Salesforce Business Analyst certification, and BUS 495/595-03 Building Apps, which preps the Salesforce Administrator certification. Each includes one exam voucher and a study package, hands-on labs, and a capstone. Salesforce Foundations
Virtual Internships
Some carry a fee · Remote
Remote, project-based placements with companies worldwide. Check each listing — some Virtual Internship programs carry a fee, unlike most of the catalog. Browse virtual internships
Before you register for any of these, talk to your academic adviser about how the credits land against your degree requirements, and to your Elevate Success Coach about which year to take it in. The course is easier to fit than to unwind.
4Certifications Employers Recognize
AWS, the free industry certification list, Salesforce, and Quantum — Built in Chicago▾
A certification is the fastest way to put a name an employer already recognizes next to your own. Illinois Tech runs several at no cost, and none of them require you to be in the matching major.
AWS Cloud Certifications
Free · Self-paced · Any major
Free curriculum, free hands-on labs, and facilitated study groups, open to every program rather than computing alone. AWS Certifications
Other Industry Certifications
Free · Self-paced
The Career Services list of no-cost credentials across fields, kept current so you are not chasing offers that have already closed. Browse certifications
Salesforce certification track
Reached through the Salesforce Foundations courses in Section 3 — the Administrator credential is recognized by employers well outside sales. Salesforce Foundations
An emerging field with room in it
Quantum — Built in Chicago
Free professional development, training, and job resources in quantum technology, run with the Chicago Quantum Exchange and open to students across Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana.
You do not need to be a physics major
The field hires software engineers, hardware technicians, project managers, technical writers, and business roles alongside physicists.
Q-Ready programming
Employer spotlights and hiring insights, hands-on technical workshops, and industry panels from national labs and startups.
Free learning resources
IBM Quantum Learning with access to real quantum hardware, the open-source Qiskit SDK and textbook, and Microsoft Quantum Katas for self-paced practice.
Jobs and internships
The Chicago Quantum Exchange talent portal, internship listings, and job alerts, plus the quantum park Illinois Tech partners with. Quantum — Built in Chicago
5Try the Work Before You Commit
Job simulations, job shadows, and the internships they point toward▾
The cheapest career decision you can make is discovering early that you do not want a job. These two experiences exist so you can test a path in hours rather than in years.
Job Simulations
Free · 30 min – 5 hrs · No application
Real tasks published by real employers. Real tasks published by real employers, done on your own schedule. The lowest-friction Elevate Experience in the catalog and the right first one. Browse simulations
Job Shadows
Free · Half a day · Year-round
An afternoon beside someone doing the work you think you want. It beats a year of reading about it, and you should never pay to shadow. Browse job shadows
Internships and Co-ops
Varies · A term or more
The full-scale version, once a simulation or shadow has pointed you somewhere. Internships and co-ops
Sequence matters more than volume. A simulation, then a shadow, then an internship in the same field is a story. Three unrelated things in three fields is a list.
6Research, Competitions, and Leadership
Faculty and national-lab research, hackathons and design challenges, leadership roles, and the ELM tiers▾
This is where the evidence gets heaviest. Research, competitions, and leadership roles all produce work with your name attached — and all three are the answers graduate programs and employers ask about most directly.
Elevate Research Opportunities
Varies · A term or more
Faculty projects on campus and national-lab listings beyond it. The grad-school test, and interview weight in any field. Browse research
Competitions and External Courses
Mostly free · A weekend to a year
Hackathons, coding contests, design challenges, and disciplinary championships — IEEEXtreme, ICPC, Kaggle, Formula and Baja SAE, NASA RASC-AL, the Solar Decathlon, picoCTF, the National Cyber League, the Hult Prize, and more. The fastest way to turn a semester of theory into something you can show. Browse competitions
Leadership Opportunities
Free · An academic year
Five ways to qualify: an executive board seat, IPRO leadership, varsity athletics, peer mentoring, or an approved wild card. Many students already qualify and do not know it. Leadership Opportunities
Three stackable tiers
The Empowerment, Leadership, and Mentorship Program
ELM builds mentorship skill in order, and you do not have to mentor anyone to begin. Each tier is valid on its own and earns its own credential.
Tier 1 — ELM Foundations
Three to five hours on how to be an effective mentee: active listening, self-awareness, and taking feedback. Built for first- and second-year students.
Tier 2 — ELM Advanced
Eight to ten hours of specialized coaching on difficult conversations and professional settings such as internships.
Tier 3 — Certified Peer Mentor
Fifteen or more hours plus an oral exam, ending in formal certification and a signed letter of credentials. Open to sophomores and above. The ELM Program
7Study Away and Global Experiences
Four routes across six continents, and the scholarships that pay for them▾
Global fluency is one of the few things on a résumé that cannot be faked, and Illinois Tech runs four routes to it across six continents, all earning academic credit.
GE3 Engineering Exchange
Study at partner engineering schools abroad while paying your normal Illinois Tech tuition.
Semester and summer programs
A full term or a shorter one in architecture, business, design, engineering, and other fields. Named destinations include Hanyang International Summer School in South Korea, the University of Birmingham, ENSEA in France, ULACIT in Costa Rica, and ICAI Comillas in Spain.
Research and international internships
Field study or a professional placement abroad, with some fully funded options.
Faculty-led short programs
One to four weeks during breaks — the route that actually works for athletes, commuters, and transfer students.
Paying for it
The Money Is Usually Someone Else’s
Programs generally cost about what an on-campus semester costs, and federal aid typically travels with you. On top of that:
Named scholarships
The Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship for Pell Grant recipients, Boren Awards for language study, the Critical Language Scholarship, Fulbright, and Freeman-ASIA, plus regional awards for Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Deadlines land months ahead of departure, so read them in year one. Study Away and Global Experiences
International students, check first
Before accepting any internship or placement abroad or at home, confirm the work-authorization sequence with the Office of Global Services, then bring it to your coach.
8Professional Development and the Events Calendar
The two entries that are a standing supply rather than a single experience▾
Two entries in the menu are less a single experience than a standing supply of them. Both are worth a bookmark rather than a one-time visit.
Professional Development Opportunities
Free skills, free experience, and interview-ready proof built in one semester at no cost — certifications, Chicago volunteering, the innovation ecosystem, and where the city posts its events. Professional Development
Events Calendar
Everything Career Services and Experiential Learning is running, in one list: workshops, employer sessions, fairs, and Elevate programming. Elevate events
Attending is not the experience. Writing three lines the same night — what it was, who you met, and what you would tell an interviewer about it — is what turns an hour in a room into something you can use.
9Optional Elevate Experiences (Elevate Cohorts)
Ideas that build portfolio projects, satisfy undergraduate Elevate electives, and can be run independently by anyone▾
Optional Elevate Experiences — also called Elevate Cohorts — are ideas and suggestions rather than assignments. Each one is a route to stronger career readiness, professional development, leadership skill, and the thing students underestimate most: a portfolio project substantial enough to walk someone through.
For undergraduates in the structured Elevate initiative, these can be used to satisfy Elevate electives. The ideas themselves, though, are not restricted to that pathway. Graduate students and students across every discipline and college run the same experiences independently, because the skill being built — showing your work — does not belong to any one major or degree level.
They build portfolio projects
The reason to pick one is the artifact at the end: a designed thing, an analysis, a portfolio site, a negotiated outcome, a recorded interview. A résumé asserts. A portfolio demonstrates, and it keeps demonstrating after you leave the room.
They satisfy Elevate electives
Undergraduates in the structured Elevate initiative can count them toward the elective side of the requirement. Confirm which ones apply to your year with your Elevate Success Coach before you start.
Cohorts are undergraduate only
Elevate cohorts are limited to undergraduates who have joined Elevate and accepted its terms and conditions. Graduate students are not enrolled in them.
Graduate students run the same ideas independently
The experiences are not gated. Take the idea, run it on your own schedule, and bring the result to a career coach — negotiation preparation, portfolio creation, and professional productivity translate directly to a graduate job search. Write to elevate@illinoistech.edu to get started.
Every discipline, every college
Business students take on the design ideas; engineers take on the negotiation ones. The cross-disciplinary choice is usually the more interesting résumé line, because it shows range.
Grouped by where you are
Cohorts by Year and Situation
The catalog is organized for pre-college, first-year, sophomore, junior, transfer, and commuter students, so the list you see is already filtered to your position.
First year and sophomore
Tech+ Integration Specialist, Global Business Navigator, Stuart Investments Member, and Entrepreneurial Venture Development.
Junior
Salary Research and Negotiation Preparation, Game Design Foundations, and Professional Portfolio Creation.
Commuter students
Industry Podcast Learning Series, the Virtual Informational Interview Challenge, and AI Tools for Professional Productivity — built to work without a second trip to campus.
How to pick one
Choose the gap, not the interest
The optional catalog is large enough that browsing it is a trap. Work backward instead: name the interview question you currently cannot answer — a project with a real client, managing several commitments, working across differences, negotiating — and pick the experience that would produce that answer, with an artifact attached.
If two look equally good, take the one that recurs. An experience you repeat becomes a relationship, and relationships are what actually produce referrals.
Browse Optional Elevate Experiences →Optional does not mean lightweight. Several of these carry the same credential weight as required experiences — the difference is that you chose them, which is itself worth saying out loud in an interview.
You do not have to choose well on your own. Bring the two or three that interest you to a coach, and leave with an order to do them in — that sequencing is most of the value.
Career Services and Experiential Learning · MTCC Room 106 · elevate@illinoistech.edu
