Apprenticeships

What better way to learn a craft or specific skill than by working with an expert? Being an apprentice is an opportunity to learn from a master the skills, pitfalls, and ins and outs of a skilled trade. If you want to be a carpenter or cabinetmaker, the best way for you to learn is to observe, shadow, and work with a master carpenter or cabinetmaker.

While an apprentice, you will get supervision on the job as well as classroom-type instruction. Apprenticeship programs usually conform to state standards, although your aptitude and previous experience can affect the length of your apprenticeship. Specifically, apprentices are often sponsored by a company, labor organization, trade association, education trust, or a combination of thereof.

Again, apprenticeships come in all shapes and sizes. As an apprentice, you actually work full-time for your sponsor, but at the end of your tenure, you'll receive a Certificate of Completion, a nationally recognized credential. An apprenticeship is an self-contained education for your future.

 What It Is
 What You Get
 What It Can Cost
 Advantages
 Disadvantages
 More Info



What It Is

What better way to learn a craft or specific skill than by working with an expert? Being an apprentice is an opportunity to learn from a master the skills, pitfalls, and ins and outs of a skilled trade. If you want to be a carpenter or cabinetmaker, the best way for you to learn is to observe, shadow, and work with a master carpenter or cabinetmaker.

While an apprentice, you will get supervision on the job as well as classroom-type instruction. Apprenticeship programs usually conform to state standards, although your aptitude and previous experience can affect the length of your apprenticeship. Specifically, apprentices are often sponsored by a company, labor organization, trade association, education trust, or a combination of thereof.

Again, apprenticeships come in all shapes and sizes. As an apprentice, you actually work full-time for your sponsor, but at the end of your tenure, you'll receive a Certificate of Completion, a nationally recognized credential. An apprenticeship is an self-contained education for your future.

  

What You Get

Experience, skills, a specialized education. An open door to the future. All you have to do is put in the time, the work, the openness to learn, and the devotion.

  

What It Can Cost

Guess what? Nine times out of 10, you won't have to pay for your apprenticeship! That's great news. Usually the sponsor pays for 100 percent of an apprenticeship program cost — a chunk of change since we're talking up to 8,000 hours (four years) of on-the-job training.

Only rarely will the student be asked to pick up the cost, but it can happen, so make sure you read the fine print before you sign any agreements. Sometimes you may be asked to purchase certain books, tools, or other incidental items, but no doubt you will want to have these anyway.

If you leave the program early, you may have to agree (in writing) that you will repay the employer's cost. But all in all, you work hard, learn hard, and devote yourself, and they pay for this rigorous and valuable training.

  

Advantages

As an apprentice, you get to learn to do something that interests you cost-free and be coached by a master. The catch is simply that you have to work hard. That's it, no tricks. Unlike school, where much of the learning involves reading and homework on your own, as an apprentice your learning will take place in the actual work environment.

And here's some more good news — you can become an apprentice right after high school, though some states do require that you be 18 to start. And you actually get paid to learn! Okay, you will typically only earn approximately 40 percent of the skilled-worker rate, but it's something. By the end of the program, you'll be totally qualified to make a decent living in your chosen field.

  

Disadvantages

Apprenticeship programs in the United States can be very localized, so it may be difficult to find a program near you with the training in your field of interest. But if you are passionate about what you want to do, relocating for a while may seem more like an adventure than a hardship. There are over 800 skilled fields that could have apprenticeship programs, but only about 20 fields support two-thirds of all apprenticeships—these being in construction and the metal trades, primarily.

To find a program, start with a Web search engine, using "apprenticeship programs" as your search phrase (vary the terms to get best results). The links you find will have addresses, telephone numbers, printable applications, and any other information you will need to get started.

State labor departments are also great information sources, as are state vocational associations, the trade unions themselves, and sponsoring companies. Some local libraries might also have reference books with the appropriate telephone numbers, addresses, or other key information.

  

More Info

If you think an apprenticeship is for you, ask the guidance counselors in your high school's School-To-Work (STW) or School-To-Career (STC) programs. Many of these programs know local employers and can give you a better idea of what's out there. The people at STW and STC may also be able to put you in contact with a recent graduate who is now in an apprenticeship program you're interested in or who has just completed it.

About.com's Apprenticeships Area
Comprehensive information about apprenticeships, finding them, and more

NASTAD: State/Territorial Apprenticeship Directors
Find contacts in your state

Dept. of Labor Apprenticeship Info
Information from the U.S. Department of Labor on Apprenticeship programs

State Labor Departments
State-by-state listings from the U.S. Department of Labor