Back to school is in full swing.
For some, that means going to or returning to a life of theory-based lectures, reading dry textbooks, writing countless term papers, taking pop quizzes, and paying big tuition bills.
For apprentices in the building trades, it means continuing hands-on learning, deep mentorship, earning an income, and honing invaluable skills.
Apprenticeship is a unique style of education and is just that: an education. The learning is deep, focused, and hands-on. And just like a college education, most apprenticeship programs take 4 to 5 years to complete!
What Do You Learn in an Apprenticeship?
Apprenticeships provide all the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to work and succeed in a chosen craft.
You’ll learn the technical skills: how to use tools and equipment, how to work safely in a specific jobsite, how to interpret and understand construction blueprints and plans, how to work with different materials, and more. Essentially, you’ll learn how to do all of the physical aspects of the job.
Imagine this: over the course of 4-5 years, an electrical worker learns such things as:
- How to read blueprints, electrical diagrams, and other technical documents
- How to install building wiring systems
- How to install conduits between electrical devices
- How to configure electrical-based safety systems, such as fire and security systems
- How to install solar panels on a building or roof, including homes, office buildings and factories
- How to troubleshoot electrical malfunctions
- How to wire and install smart building systems
- How to install fiber optic cables
- And so much more!
You’ll also learn invaluable skills that will set you up for success both on and off the job site. Skills such as effective communication, scheduling, budgeting, teamwork, problem-solving, critical thinking, and so much more.
How Do You Learn All of This?
In an apprenticeship, you’ll learn all the needed skills for your craft through a combination of hands-on, on-the-job experience, classroom instruction, and mentorship.
In an apprenticeship, you learn by doing, with mentors to guide you, rather than only learning from textbooks. Yes, there is classroom learning, and that’s important too, but in apprenticeship, you can put that knowledge to work the very next day on a job site!
You Get Paid to Learn
One of the best parts about an apprenticeship is that you get paid to learn. You might spend 2 days learning in a classroom, and the other 3 learning on the job, and the work on the job site is paid!
Ready to dive into an apprenticeship and learn everything you can learn about your chosen craft? Get started today!
