Apprenticeship Resources

We say apprenticeship is great for ANYONE ages 16-75 and we mean it. By providing structured career training and experienced mentorship, apprenticeship can enhance career opportunities for individuals in any generation. Let’s dig a little deeper and explore how apprenticeship looks for people of all ages.

High School Students

Apprenticeship is a great way for high school students to begin training for their career. Some students may choose to engage with apprenticeship while still in high school by taking early entry courses at Northeast and working part-time with a local employer to gain real-world experience.

High school seniors may also explore apprenticeship as a post-secondary pathway. For students planning to enter the workforce after graduation, apprenticeship provides opportunities for high-skill, high-wage jobs right out of high school. Not all students choose the traditional college track, and apprenticeship offers an alternative career training option for workforce-bound students.

Current Northeast Community College Students

Northeast students enrolled in a pathway that aligns with one of our apprenticeship occupations can participate in the apprenticeship program. Once connected to an employer, students can plan work hours around classes and other school commitments. Students will benefit by learning to apply classroom knowledge directly to on-the-job applications.

Many Northeast students are already required to complete an internship in their program, so what’s the difference? Truthfully, internship and apprenticeship have a lot in common. Both help provide valuable experience, but there are a few distinguishing features. Often, apprenticeship can align with required internships and provide additional value toward long-term employment.

Adult Job Seekers

For individuals who are unemployed, burned out at their current job, or simply looking for a higher paying opportunity to support their family, apprenticeship can be the pathway to a new career. Because apprenticeship includes a structured training plan, employers can hire individuals with little or no experience, develop them into capable employees, and provide opportunities for career growth in that industry.

Apprenticeship works because individuals can continue to earn an income while training for a new career. This helps maintain financial stability throughout the program.

If you’ve participated in recent workforce discussions, you may have heard mentions of apprenticeship. Apprenticeship programs are growing in popularity and have expanded beyond the traditional “union and trade” jobs. But could apprenticeship really be a good fit at your company? Here’s a look at what makes an apprenticeship program successful, as well as a guide to help determine if apprenticeship is the right workforce solution for your organization.

Apprenticeship is a Long-term Employment Solution

Apprenticeship programs are designed to promote long-term employment and employee retention. This is done by investing in employees through intentional mentorship, structured on-the-job training, and supplemental classroom instruction. Apprenticeship provides a pathway for entry-level staff to grow and develop valuable industry skills by working and learning simultaneously. Investing in your employees will help develop your own talent pipeline and increase company loyalty. Nationwide, apprenticeship programs are well worth the investment, with an average return of $1.40 for every $1 invested. You may choose to train newly hired staff or provide opportunities for your current employees to upskill. Either way, this provides a visible ladder of opportunity and will help you build traction in both recruitment and retention.

Apprenticeship is Centered Around Training and Development

The heart of an apprenticeship lies in the program structure. Apprentices will engage in classroom instruction and on-the-job training which help employees learn, practice, and apply industry-specific knowledge directly to real-work experience at your company. You’ll see immediate benefit with employees using your workplace procedures and equipment from the start. Apprentices also benefit from an experienced on-the-job mentor, and this allows company knowledge to pass from your veteran employees to new staff.

Apprenticeship Allows You to Cast a Wider Net

If you’re thinking “This sounds great, but I can’t even fill my open positions”, hang on for this last bit. Because you have a structured training program in place, you’re now able to cast a wider net when hiring. You no longer need to hunt for that trophy candidate and can place less emphasis on required education and experience because you know those will be developed through the apprenticeship program. Focus on hiring a culture fit at your company and allow the apprenticeship to take care of skill training. As an added benefit, this can help diversify your workforce as you consider more “non-traditional” candidates for your industry.

Apprenticeship isn’t a new workforce development model, however lots has changed in with modern day apprenticeship programs so there are many “myths” out there to debunk.

Apprenticeship is only for union jobs – Myth

Fact: The apprenticeship model began with unions, but since then other industries have seen it as an attractive and highly effective workforce development model. So much so that there are now over 1,300 apprenticeable occupations! Modern day apprenticeship programs range from IT, Business, Healthcare, Diesel Technology and so much more!

Apprenticeship programs are hard to develop and implement – Myth

Fact: Apprenticeship programs don’t have to be difficult. Work with the apprenticeship experts at Northeast Community College, and we will guide you through the entire process. Northeast Community College became a registered apprenticeship program sponsor so we can streamline the process for our employer partners. Northeast has gone through the rigor of developing the program with the on-the-job learning and the classroom instruction and employers can partner with us to reap the benefits of the program.

Apprenticeship is a form of an internship – Myth

Fact: Apprenticeship programs are a long-term workforce development strategy, where internships fill a short-term need without a long-term strategy for training and hiring.

Apprenticeship programs are a waste of valuable time – Myth

Fact: On average, employers see a 94% retention rate with apprentices 3 years post program completion. Retaining employees is way more cost effective than hiring and retraining constantly. Train once and retain them. And, apprenticeship programs promote the sharing of institutional knowledge when senior employees serve as mentors to new apprentices.

Apprenticeship has been the new buzzword for the last several years. By now I am sure you have been wondering with all this talk about apprenticeship; what does that mean for internships? What is the difference between internships and apprenticeships? While internships and apprenticeships are very similar they do have a couple of distinct uniqueness’s that are important to understand.

Length of Time: An apprenticeship program is meant to be a long-term strategic employment plan. When you are hiring on an apprentice you are hiring on a full-time employee that you intend on keeping for the long haul. Initially the apprentice may only be working part-time hours while they are attending school, but once they have completed their apprenticeship program, they will be a full-time employee for you. On the flip side an internship is typically shorter term and may only last a few months. There are scenarios where interns are later hired on as full-time employees, but that is not the intent at the start of the internship program. Typically interns come in to complete a certain length of time or project for an employer and then each party goes their separate ways.

Mentorship: As part of the apprenticeship model, apprentices are paired up with a one-on-one mentor who guides them through the entire process. This mentor is the one who will work with the apprentice to master new on the job skills as well as be the go-to person when the apprentice has a question. Interns may have a one-on-one mentor throughout their internship, but the relationship is likely not as structured as you would see with an apprenticeship program.

Pay: Since we mentioned earlier that apprentices are full-time employees; they earn a salary from day one. This salary is likely lower when they start and will progress as their skills gains increase over the duration of the apprenticeship program. Internships do not have to be paid; however, we highly encourage that you do invest in paid experiences as it will increase the talent pool you have to choose from.

Credential: If your business decided to register your apprenticeship program with the United States Department of Labor, the apprentice will receive a nationally recognized credential upon completion of the program. The apprenticeship program can also be built so the apprentice receives industry recognized credentials throughout the program. Typically, with an internship the student is not receiving any type of credential. The student may receive a credential as part of a larger education plan they are on, but typically an internship alone will not be enough to obtain a credential of any sort.

College Credit: A majority of apprenticeship programs are built so the apprentice will receive credit towards a degree of study. With internships there is a huge variety when it comes to if the experience will lead to credit towards a degree. Some programs of study require a student to complete an internship prior to completing their college program while others do not.

While apprenticeship may seem like a buzzword today it is the way of the future. Hopefully now you have a better understanding of what makes an internship program an apprenticeship program and vice versa. (Yes, there are currently apprenticeship programs happening in businesses and they don’t even realize it is an apprenticeship program versus an internship.)

What if I told you that for every $1 your business invests in our youth you will receive a $1.40 in return? Sounds like a pretty good investment to me! Not to mention, that if you don’t invest in our youth you likely will not be able to recruit the necessary talent pool necessary to grow your business in the coming years. This may sound a little doom and gloom, but stick with me for a second. We all realize that our rural communities are shrinking as our young people move to the cities for better opportunities. If this continues over the next 10-20 years how will your business survive? How will you retain and recruit the necessary workforce to run your business?

It is in these scenarios that investing in various work-based learning opportunities such as apprenticeships and internships that your business can shine and showcase to students what your local business has to offer. Many times our students don’t realize the opportunities available to them in their backyard unless we show them. The youth of today don’t necessarily want to leave their small communities however they feel to have a successful career they need to. That simply isn’t the case, but we need to take time to educate our youth on the opportunities available to them and spend some time and money investing in them to mold them into our future employees.

Apprenticeship is an industry-driven, high quality career pathway where your business can develop and prepare your future workforce and individuals can obtain paid work experience along with classroom instruction. If the program is registered with the United States Department of Labor individuals will receive a nationally recognized credential upon completion of the program.

Apprenticeship is a flexible training strategy that can be customized to meet the needs of your business. It can be integrated into current training and human resource development strategies.

Apprentices can be new hires – or your business can select current employees to join the apprenticeship program. Apprenticeships are a good way to reward high-performing entry-level employees and move them up the career ladder within your business.

Not only does investing $1 in an apprenticeship program yield a $1.40 return you will also realize these amazing benefits:

• establish job training standards and expectations
• develop loyal, skilled employees who value company culture
• nurture your own pipeline of talent for hard-to-fill positions
• the cultivation of a well-trained, talented workforce that is productive from the start
• the opportunity to train workers using the exact pieces of equipment, protocols and procedures that are relevant to your business
• an opportunity to maintain institutional knowledge when soon-to-retire workers and recent retirees serve as instructors and mentors to new workers

Apprenticeship programs are on the rise across the United States. The apprenticeship model is nothing new however it has been expanded in recent years to include more non-traditional career pathways such as healthcare, information technology, drafting, engineering and more. As apprenticeship has expanded there have been more and more opportunities to receive federal grant funding to expand apprenticeship programs locally. In 2018 Nebraska Department of Education in partnership with Northeast Community College, Pathways 2 Tomorrow, Wayne State College, Nebraska Department of Labor and Nebraska Department of Education received a grant to expand youth apprenticeships in the STEM area throughout the state of the Nebraska.

Since receiving this grant a team of individuals was formed to expand youth apprenticeships in Nebraska. So what has this team been working on over the last few years to build a strong talent pipeline for your business? One of the most important collaborations that has been advanced is the collaboration between our high schools and the colleges in the area: Northeast Community College and Wayne State College. These collaborations have provided high schools with even more opportunities to offer dual-credit courses to high school students. With Northeast Nebraska being full of rural communities it can sometimes be hard for individual schools to offer a wide variety of classes as well as more advanced levels of basic classes they currently offer.

Through these partnerships we have seen more and more rural schools be able to offer some sort of career pathway program to better prepare their students for life after high school whether that be work or pursue a college education. In the West Point area, a consortium of 7 area high schools have come together to form what is known as Pathways 2 Tomorrow or P2T. P2T offers 5 career pathways to students that these schools would not be able to offer on their own. This allows students to explore various career paths while still in high school to determine if that is the right fit for them. Some of the pathways even offer seniors the opportunity to participate in an internship or apprenticeship program during their second semester.

We are continuously reviewing our curriculum offered at all levels to ensure we are providing students with the necessary skills and knowledge base to be successful on the job. This includes partnering with businesses in the area to provide more work-based learning opportunities for our students. Work-based learning in the form of internships and apprenticeships provide an invaluable learning experience for our youth and give our businesses the opportunity to mold these individuals into a future employee. It truly is a win-win for everyone involved.