How a Teenager Finds a Registered Apprenticeship, Step by Step

Nobody mails a glossy brochure for an apprenticeship. There is no admissions fair in the gym, no banner on the guidance office wall, no sweatshirt. A college finds your teenager. A registered apprenticeship, for the most part, has to be found by your teenager, and that is the whole reason this post exists.

I like that about it, honestly. A young person who tracks down a sponsor, shows up for a test and asks good questions is already demonstrating the traits the job will demand. But a map helps. Here is one, in order, with the plain steps and no fluff. This is general information, and every state and trade runs a little differently, so treat it as a framework to check against the real programs in your area.

Step 1: Know what "registered" means

The word matters, because it is the difference between a real program and a job with a nice name.

A registered apprenticeship is a program recognised by the U.S. Department of Labor or by a state apprenticeship agency. The federal framework goes back to the National Apprenticeship Act of 1937, sometimes called the Fitzgerald Act, which authorised the federal government to promote and set standards for apprenticeship. Under the standards that grew from it, a registered program has these features:

1. A paid job. The apprentice is an employee, with wages, from the first day.
2. On-the-job learning. The apprentice works under experienced workers and builds skills on real work, tracked in hours.
3. Related technical instruction. Classroom or online learning tied to the trade, typically some hundred-plus hours a year, depending on the program.
4. Progressive wages. Pay rises in scheduled steps as the apprentice gains skill.
5. A recognised credential at the end. On completion the apprentice receives a certificate that is recognised across employers, usually the title of journeyworker.

Why does registration matter to a family? Because a registered program has standards on paper: a written schedule of work, a wage schedule, a ratio of apprentices to supervisors, and a record kept with the registering agency. An unregistered "apprenticeship" may be fine, but the family has no outside standard to check it against.

One more fact to know before you start. The federal standards for registered programs set an eligible starting age of not less than 16, many sponsors ask for 18, and work classed as hazardous carries its own legal age limits. That shapes the plan for younger teenagers, which brings us to the preapprenticeship step later.

Step 2: Choose a trade to look into, not a lifetime

Do not start with the program. Start with two or three trades that interest the teenager, and learn what the trade does day to day.

• Read the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook entry for each trade. It describes what workers do, the working conditions, the usual path in, median pay and the outlook for jobs.
• Ask whether the trade has an apprenticeship path. For the construction trades (electrician, plumber, pipefitter, carpenter, sheet metal worker, ironworker, operating engineer and others), apprenticeship is the standard route. For other fields, such as manufacturing, health care, information technology and public safety, registered apprenticeships exist but are less universal.
• Make a short list. Three trades is plenty.

Do not worry about getting it exactly right. Apprenticeship skills carry over: an apprentice in one trade learns work habits, safety discipline and technical literacy that matter in the next.

Step 3: Use the Department of Labor's apprenticeship finder

The Department of Labor runs a national apprenticeship website with a finder tool that searches registered programs and open apprenticeship positions by occupation and by location. Search by your state, then by the trades on your short list.

What to look for in the results:

1. The sponsor. This is the employer, union, association or training organisation that runs the program.
2. The occupation and length. How many years, how many hours.
3. The contact information and application window. Many programs only take applications in a certain month of the year.

Write down every program in a ten-mile or fifty-mile radius, depending on how far the teenager can travel. Then go to Step 4, because the finder is a starting point and not a complete list.

Step 4: Contact your state apprenticeship agency

Some states run their own apprenticeship agencies, which register programs under state authority. In other states, the federal Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship does the registering. Either way, there is an office whose job is to help people find programs.

Call or email it, and say, plainly: "The applicant is sixteen (or seventeen, or eighteen) and interested in electrical (or plumbing, or welding). Which registered programs take applicants, when do they accept them, and what are the entry requirements?" The staff often know local sponsors that the online finder misses, and they can tell you which programs are open now and which have waiting lists.

Also ask whether the state has youth apprenticeship programs that begin in high school. Several states have them, and they let a student start while still in school.

Step 5: Look at the three main kinds of sponsor

Registered programs fall mostly into three kinds. A family should understand the difference, because the application and the culture can be different.

Union joint apprenticeship training committees (JATCs). In the union sector, programs are run jointly by a union local and the employers who have agreements with it. The committee, often called a JATC, sets the standards, runs the classroom training, and dispatches apprentices to employers. A union apprenticeship is typically a long, structured program with a published wage schedule and a defined path to journeyworker. Call the local union's training center, which is usually listed on the union's local website.

Merit-shop and non-union programs. Contractor associations that operate outside union agreements run their own registered programs, as do individual employers. These include the training arms of the national contractor associations for open-shop construction. They tend to be organised around local chapters, with classes at a training center or a community college. For a family that wants to work outside a union, these are the main door.

Employer-sponsored programs. A single company, such as a manufacturer, a utility, a hospital or a large contractor, can register its own program and hire apprentices directly. These are found through the company's careers page, often under "apprenticeships," or through the finder.

There is no need to take a side in the union and open-shop argument to find a good apprenticeship. Look at the wage schedule, the training quality, the completion rate and the job placement, and choose on the merits. A conservative can support the right of workers to choose, and still tell a teenager to read the terms.

Step 6: Start with a preapprenticeship if the teenager is not yet ready

A preapprenticeship is a short program that prepares someone to qualify for a registered apprenticeship. It may teach basic trade math, blueprint reading, tool use and safety, and it often connects directly to sponsors who accept its graduates.

• High school career and technical education (CTE). Many high schools and regional career centers teach construction, electrical, welding and automotive courses, and some have formal agreements with local sponsors. Ask the guidance office for the CTE offerings and whether any lead to apprenticeship credit.
• Community college trade programs. Some offer courses that count toward related instruction.
• Workforce boards. Local workforce development boards, often called American Job Centers, can point to preapprenticeship programs and sometimes help with costs.
• Sponsor-run preapprenticeship. Several union and contractor organisations operate their own.

For a sixteen-year-old, this is the usual first step. It builds the résumé and, in many cases, helps meet the entry requirements.

Step 7: Meet the entry requirements

Programs differ, but most ask for some mix of these. Ask each sponsor for its list in writing.

1. Minimum age. Usually 18, and 16 for some programs.
2. High school diploma or equivalent. Many require one, and some accept a student who is on track to graduate.
3. Basic math and reading. Trades like electrical work use algebra and reading comprehension regularly. Many sponsors test both.
4. A valid driver's licence and reliable transportation. Job sites move.
5. A drug test and a background check. Common in construction and required by many employers.
6. Physical ability. Some trades have physical requirements, and a sponsor can say what they are.

If the teenager is a year or two away, treat this list as a to-do list. Take the algebra course. Get the licence. Keep the attendance record clean.

Step 8: Prepare for the application and the aptitude test

The application usually has a few parts.

• The form. Name, contact information, education, work history, and why you want the trade. Fill it out completely and neatly. Spelling counts.
• The aptitude test. Many sponsors use a written test of math, mechanical reasoning and reading. Ask the sponsor what it covers, whether there is a practice test and how scores are used. Brush up on algebra, fractions, and reading a technical passage and answering questions about it.
• The interview. Often with a committee of union and employer representatives or with a company supervisor. They want to know why the teenager wants the trade, whether he or she will show up on time, and whether he or she works well with others. A teenager who has read about the trade, visited a job site or shadowed a worker will stand out.
• Documents. Bring a copy of the diploma or transcript, a photo ID, a driver's licence, a Social Security card or other work-authorisation documents, and any certificates. Some sponsors ask for letters of reference, and a teacher, coach or employer can write them.

Apply early and apply broadly. A teenager can apply to several sponsors, and some have waiting lists. If the first application does not lead to a place, ask when the next window opens and what would improve the application.

Step 9: Ask the right questions about pay and structure

Once there is an offer, or even before it, ask the sponsor to put the answers in writing. These questions are fair, and a good sponsor will welcome them.

About pay

1. What is the wage schedule? Ask for the starting wage and each step, usually stated as a percentage of the journeyworker's wage.
2. What triggers a pay step: hours worked, classes passed, or time?
3. Are there fringe benefits during the apprenticeship: health insurance, retirement contributions, paid time off?
4. Who pays for tools, books and classes? In many programs the sponsor or employer covers the instruction, but the apprentice buys tools and some materials.

About the program

1. How long is the program, in years and in hours?
2. How many apprentices start each year, and how many finish? A completion rate tells you a great deal.
3. What happens if work slows? Ask how an apprentice is placed with another employer when a job ends.
4. Where is the classroom instruction held, and when? Evenings, weekends, or block weeks?
5. What credential does the apprentice receive on completion, and is it recognised by other employers and by the state?
6. Does any of the instruction carry college credit? Some programs partner with community colleges, which lets a graduate continue toward a degree without starting over. That can be a real advantage later.

About rights and safety

1. Who supervises the apprentice, and what is the ratio of apprentices to journeyworkers?
2. What safety training does the apprentice receive?
3. How are complaints handled, and which agency registered the program? If something goes wrong, the registering agency is the place to go.

Step 10: Compare, decide and keep options open

Put the offers in a simple table: sponsor, trade, length, starting wage, wage steps, benefits, completion rate, distance from home. Choose on the facts.

A few reminders for the family:

• Keep the high school diploma first. An apprenticeship is a strong path, but finishing school keeps every door open.
• An apprenticeship does not preclude college. Some graduates later study business, management or engineering technology, and many apprenticeship programs offer credit that helps.
• If the first choice does not work out, the skills and the work history still count.

A short note on why this matters

I argue in Four Years of Wages Versus Four Years of Debt, the Apprenticeship Math that the arithmetic favours the apprenticeship for many young people, and I should repeat that the numbers there are a labelled hypothetical. The point of this post is the practical side: even when the arithmetic favours the apprenticeship, the opening has to be found, and finding it takes a little work.

For the comparison with the systems that treat apprenticeship as a first-rank path, German and Swiss Apprenticeships Compared With the American Path is the place to start. And for the larger conservative case that a nation which lets its young people learn by working is a nation that trusts its families, Lincoln, Justin Morrill and the Land Grant That Built the State University shows how an earlier generation tried to put practical learning within reach of working families.

The case in brief

1. A registered apprenticeship is recognised by the Department of Labor or a state agency, rests on the National Apprenticeship Act of 1937, and combines a paid job, on-the-job learning, classroom instruction, rising pay and a credential.
2. Begin with a short list of trades, then use the Department of Labor's finder and the state apprenticeship agency to find programs near you.
3. Learn the three kinds of sponsor: union joint apprenticeship training committees, merit-shop programs and single employers, and judge each on its wage schedule, training and completion rate.
4. Use high school career programs and preapprenticeships to qualify, prepare for the aptitude test and interview, and apply early and widely.
5. Ask for pay steps, benefits, completion rates and the registering agency in writing before accepting an offer.

What you can do: this week, look up your state's apprenticeship agency, call or email it with one trade your teenager is curious about, and ask which registered programs are accepting applications.