If you enjoy working with your hands and have the skill, patience, and temperament to become an expert mechanic, carpenter, electronics repairman, or computer maintenance person. If you would enjoy professions like these, and feel that college is not for you, then you should consider an occupation that requires vocational or apprenticeship training.
Apprenticeship demands hard work and has tough competition, so you've got to have the will to see it through. An apprenticeships is a program formally agreed upon between a work and an employer in which the employee learns a skilled trade through theoretical classroom work and practical on-the-job training. Apprenticeship programs vary in length, rate of pay, and intensity between the various trades.
One of the best possible ways of you to obtain the skills that will lead to a career in high-paying occupation is through a formal apprenticeship program. Apprenticeships provides structured on-the-job training under the supervision of a qualified craftsperson, technician, or professional.This training is supplemented by related classroom instruction conducted either by the sponsor or by an educational institution.
The advantages of apprenticeships are numerous. First and fore most, apprenticeships leads to a lasting lifetime skill. As a highly trained worker, you can take your skill anywhere.
Registration of an apprenticeships program with the Bureau of Apprenticeships and Training or with a state apprenticeships council is purely voluntary. Registration thus serves as an official stamp of approval. Virtually all apprenticeships in the construction industry are registered in printing, and utilities trades, one third to one half of these programs are registered. This does not mean, however, that nonregistered apprenticeships are not quality programs.
Person seeking an apprenticeships fills out what amounts to an application for employment. These applications may be available year-round or at certain times during the year. Because apprentice must be trained in an area where work actually exists and where a certain pay scale is guarantied upon completion of the program, the wait for application acceptance may be quite lengthy in areas of low employment. Federal regulations prohibit anyone under 16 from being considered as an apprentice. Some programs require that the individual has received a high school degree or has completed certain course work. Once the applicant has met the basic program entrance requirements, he or she is interviewed to determine interest in trade, to discover his or he attitude toward work in general, and to observe personal traits such as appearance, sincerity, character, and habits. Points as assigned for these items as well as as for any additional education and experience.
This material reproduced from Peterson's -- Get a JumP! Your Guide to College Planning and Career Exploration
Texas 2000 Edition, Copyright 1999
Peterson's, Princeton, N.J.
web address: http://www.petersons.com
