What apprenticeship programs are there in US and how are they recognized?
Posted by Relux92@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 32 comments
Hey guys, as a german citizen i often wondered, what kind of apprenticeships there are in the US. How long does a „normal“ apprenticeship last? Which kind of jobs are those?
I really don‘t know mich about your education system, but in films or series it often seems like, that every young person goes to college.
So, what is the reality?
And if you „only“ have a completed apprenticeship, what are ypur possibilities on the job market?
Thank you very much :)
DrBlankslate@reddit
There are no "systems" as such. People get a job and sometimes that comes with an apprenticeship. It's not like how it is in Germany at all.
RedditWidow@reddit
If you're really interested in a deep dive comparison of German vs US apprenticeships, you could check out: https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/104677/bridging-german-and-us-apprenticeship-models.pdf
LetterheadClassic306@reddit
apprenticeships here are mostly in trades like electrician, plumber, or carpenter. they usually last 2 to 4 years with paid on-the-job training and some classroom hours. college is pushed harder in media, but trade work pays well and doesn't leave you with debt. a lot of young people skip college for this. the job market respects a completed apprenticeship just fine.
superanth@reddit
Apprenticeships have mainly given way to internship programs that hire people after they finish as interns.
alaskawolfjoe@reddit
How many internship programs do that?
G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit
It varies a lot by location. In the state of North Carolina, there is an official apprenticeship program. It is part of the community college system. The system helps apprenticeship programs meet certain standards and matched applicants with them but it doesn't handle any of it as a middle man.
dystopiadattopia@reddit
We don't really have those outside of the trades, like welding and electrical. Also tattooing.
How long the apprenticeship lasts is usually defined by the respective trade union.
LinuxLinus@reddit
Some states have authorized a sort of limited return to the apprenticeship in legal fields. Which, as someone who went to law school and then became a criminal lawyer, I say I support. 90% of what I learned in law school is irrelevant to being a lawyer.
Weightmonster@reddit
I think Kim K did that?
shelwood46@reddit
Yes, a few states still let you "read the law" and do an apprenticeship rather than to go to law school, which she did. They still require you to pass the bar exam to practice law, which has not.
SheketBevakaSTFU@reddit
Amen. We should abolish the bar and have mandatory supervised practice.
Weightmonster@reddit
Also medical fields, but they are called residences, internships, practicums, etc.
sneezhousing@reddit
There used to be much more. Like my dad was an electrician and got his license through apprenticeship. But he born in the 30's. Now a days you go to trade school for a period then become an electrician. It's not college but it's also not an
There are some especially in blue collar fields. Less formal though often times you can't be licensed officially in that trade.
phreshveggies@reddit
I’m a union pipefitter in MN, our apprenticeship is 5 years/8700 hours of work and classroom time
gard3nwitch@reddit
Electrician, plumber, and similar skilled trades have apprenticeships.
TheBimpo@reddit
We're a nation of over 350,000,000 people. There are a vast variety of "apprenticeships" across a huge number of industries and trades. There's not a central organizing federal program for all of these things, they're generally organized by unions or simply positions that companies hire for.
1-4 years or so is "typical". Depends on the trade and what the trade organizations/unions/etc have decided. Maybe it's a few months to become a truck driver, maybe it's years to become an electrician. Depends on the trade/job.
Your possibilities are vast. From building trades to arts. Glass blowing, plumbing, carpentry, dance, restaurants...whatever.
Every young person does not go to college, about 60ish% of graduates go to college. Not all of those go to a 4 year college and not all of them complete a degree.
It's not really looked at as "only" here.
Relux92@reddit (OP)
Oh i didn‘t want to offend anyone with the word only. From the german view (which are generally based on series or films) it often looks like that going to college is the only way to get a good job in your country. Thats why i set it in quotstion marks. Anyways thank you for your answer. In Germany you have apprenticeships for nearly any job here. Nearly any of them is centralized in different chambers, like for commercial jobs, or trade jobs. In Germany it lasts between 2 years and 3.5 depending on what you are learning and which prior education you have got.
o93mink@reddit
Movies and tv shows are written by people who went to college about people who went to college. The only people in movies and tv shows who didn’t go to college are criminals and the poor.
If you reflected on this for a moment you’d realize this can’t be an accurate depiction of reality, as for example you’ve never seen a movie about an electrician.
No-Lunch4249@reddit
One huge difference I expect is that apprenticeships aren't centrally organized at the national level. They're usually organized by the labor unions of the relevant field.
Relux92@reddit (OP)
Yeah thats right. In Germany nearly every apprenticeship is centralized. Because of that there are also a lot of specialized fielda for every job. For example you can do an apprenticeship in IT for system integration, which learns you to do anything with computers and servers, networks and so on, but you don‘t learn a lot about the programming in the background. For that you habe to do an apprenticeship in IT Application Development. Same in apprenticeships for office professionals. There are many different programs, everything with their own specialization. On the one hand it is good go be a specialist in your field. On the other hand it can be hard if you search for another job.
No-Lunch4249@reddit
Yeah we have some apprenticeships in what we call "white collar" fields like IT which might be run by a state government or a non-profit, but the barrier to entry for a lot of, if not most, office-type jobs is having a college degree
SabresBills69@reddit
as for going to college…..
back in the 60s not many went to college. those that did were in special fields like sciences, engineering, medicine, lawyers, teachers. office and retail jobs didn’t require any degree.
starting in the 70s things changed…..
you had the post WW2 baby boomer generation surge reach 18+ and enter workforce
the immigration reform of the mid 1960s saw a surge in immigrants and they brought young kids with them who also entered the workforce for e
women wanted to work on their own and have careers
these 3 factors created a log jam of job applicants for many jobs. many companies in response started to weed out applicants by requiring a 4 yr degree.
the college system wasn’t constructed for this surge. thus resulted in states building more stste university and community college campuses. this cost was thrn passed onto the students in the form of tuition hikes.
in te ent years there has been a bit of a backlash against colleges given their cost vs jobs thry get.
most careers really don’t require 4 yr degrees.
most jobs do require some form on education beyond high school that is tailored to the field that could be done in a 2 yr program.
there are some trades you don’t need a 2 yr college degree for, in those you do need some form of apprenticeship or on the job training program
dhrisc@reddit
An additional concept we have are "internships" and "practicums" im not sure how it translates and compares to your concept of apprenticeship. Its very common for a soon to graduate or recently graduated college student to do an internship with a company in their field, maybe over summer or up to a year, these may be paid or unpaid and are supposed to provide the professional experience to compliment the education. This could be any and every field from publishing to statistics to engineering.
In our medical education we have "recedencies" which I believe are common across the world.
Relux92@reddit (OP)
Oh yeah we have those kinde of jobs too. Mostly it is called a „Trainee“ or „Praktikum“ here. Bogh of the models are paid, but the Praktikum is paid very bad, way under the minimum wage. The Trainee is paid better and your salary grows over 2-3 years till you reach your typical salary.
gruntharvester92@reddit
I work in the suto industry, in Michigan. To my knowledge, there are two types of formal apprenticeship. DOL (department of labor) approved apprenticeship and union apprenticeship. Both are recognized nationally. The more common, unofficial apprenticeship are just on the job training with no formal training for x amount of years.
Tool and die maker. A lot of shops are small mom and pop shops. Some put you through a DOL apprenticeship. Many don't. So you either do the 4 year DOL and get your journeyman card, or you work 8 years in the trade, and you are a bona fide journeyman. Union apprenticeships are less common but do exist. Many union shops don't like training or going through the formal apprenticeship process, so they will generally only hire on journeymen or people with a decade or more of experience.
I got accepted into the Millwrights. A union trade apprenticeship. 1400 applications, only a hundred or so slots. They will put me through formal training as well as on the job training. In 4 years, you will get a journeyman card. The competition it a lot more.
Of the two types of apprenticeships, both are valid and good. Of the more common unoffical apprenticeship, this is the more common of the lot.
A lot of shops do not want to train or often say they will train you on job and, but nevee fully do. At best, they teach you what you need to know to do the job, then pigeon hole your happy ass till you quit. I've been there and done that. In summary: long hours, low pay, and a lot of broken promises. This is very common in the auto industry.
SabresBills69@reddit
there are very few formal apprenticeship programs. instead there are some trade schools and community colleges/2 yr colleges that do associates for some career fields
somebloval businesses might have them and bring in a few each year at their company. your dad runs a trade business and the kids are trained in the practice and they take it over.
Main_Insect_3144@reddit
Completing an apprenticeship in the trades (electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc.) can lead to a very lucrative career here. There seems to be plenty of jobs for the trades, as so many are going to a University instead of going into the trades. I don't know specifics, however, as long as you are competent you shouldn't have a problem finding a job.
LABELyourPHOTOS@reddit
I know someone who has been trying to get into a electrical union apprenticeship. It's like trying to get into a elite college and now with the tariffs/unstable economy apprenticeships are closed. Depending on the area you have like a 5%-50% percent of getting one.
Right now the advice is just take a job on site and do stuff like dig ditches and organize wire for a couple years and work overtime, etc. Work your ass off at minimum wage to try to get a foot in.
manicpixidreamgirl04@reddit
The federal government creates the standards, and each state chooses which apprenticeships to have from a long list, and registers them. We have them for a lot of different jobs, but they're only popular for certain professions like electricians, and plumbers. There are apprenticeships for teachers, bartenders, marketing coordinators, police, and many other careers, but most people don't even realize they exist. They can be between 12-60 months long on average, and some are based on competency rather than length of time.
chris-hatch@reddit
formal apprenticeships pretty much only exist in the construction crafts for practical reasons (your retirement and health/welfare follows you job to job. For the most part tradespeople go into it because a parent was in the trades and the parent essentially lines em up years before they turn 18. Culturally it’s a conservative adjacenct job so it attracts a crowd who already weren’t interested in a 4 year degree anyway so they just start applying to different halls until one calls em back for an interview. Typically they require a HS Degree and a drivers license. You go before a “panel” who will decide to move forward with your apprenticeship. It’s a 4 year process to become a journey level professional and if you’re a plumber or electrician you have to take state board exams - not for carpentry or glazing, brick layer etc but many of those crafts people will elect to become a licensed contractor if they plan to one day hang out their own shingle outside of the union. Apprentices work typically day 1 at a reduced hourly wage that incrementally increases based on hourly metrics. While there is a shortage of trades people it’s sort of a side effect of the rampant gate keeping that goes on from the union level - like elevator techs and crane operators might as well just be a dynasty because it’s father son churn and their apprenticeships never open up. Lot of boomers aren’t interested in teaching new combers and if they are it’s a lot of unnecessary hazing that happens where the smarter individuals drop out early and go to work in an office
Meowmeowmeow31@reddit
There’s a lot of variation depending on the trade. The vo-tech school district in my county has a pretty thorough overview of which jobs you can get in each field with just a high school diploma and which require an apprenticeship or other additional education. I’ve looked at it with some of my middle school students who were considering applying to a go-tech high school.
Overall_Occasion_175@reddit
While apprenticeship programs exist in some trades, but they're not really common enough that a "typical" one could be defined. They're going to be highly individualized.