Apprenticeship is the period of time a person normally called an apprentice works for an employer in order to master the skills needed in the career. Most of the apprenticeship programs are sponsored by an employer. There are also some apprenticeship programs that are sponsored by a group of employers. Whatever be the case every apprenticeship program is geared towards training of workers according to the industrial standard of the employer or group of employers in order to increase productivity.

During this program, the apprentices are given some classroom related instructions, on-the-job training and also guaranteed wage structures. The above are means of attracting potential workers in order to train them and retain them. In other words, apprenticeship helps employers to increase productivity by working with employees trained according to their industrial standard, vision and mission statements. One good thing about apprenticeship program is that at the end of the program, apprentice who are able to complete the program successfully are given certification to show that they have been trained in the field they registered for. The good news is that the certificates they are given are widely accepted. It is therefore a plus to the apprentice.

In the apprenticeship program, the skills to be learned are determined by the industrial standard set by the employers or the sponsors of the program. The selections process as well as the duration of the program is determined by the industrial standards set by the employers.  During the program the apprentices are given some stipends throughout the duration of the program because they apprentices are also doing some work as they are learning. This is why it also referred to as on-the-job training by some people. The wages to be earned is determined by the sponsor’s industrial standard. The duration of classroom instructions given are also determined by the industrial standard of the sponsor or sponsors as the case may be.

There are some sponsors that provide the classroom instruction using their private paid instructors. There is also another option in that regard. Some sponsors liaise with some state sponsored colleges to provide classroom instructions to their apprentices. There is no stipulated duration for the program. What determines how long the program is going to last is the nature of the work the apprentices are learning and also the training requirements of the sponsors’ organisations. So, while some apprenticeship program may last up to five years, some will not last more than one year. It is good for the apprentice to be aware of the duration of the program he or she is undertaking before he/she enrols for the program.

Apprenticeship programs cover so many works of life. It is left for the apprentice to decide on which field to enrol in or for the employers to decide on which aspect of their firm to train apprentice on. There are apprenticeship programs for people who want to train in electrical wiring, plumbing, appliances maintenance and repair and installation, bricklaying, pipefitting and automobile repair. Other areas include childcare workers, chefs, information and communication specialists and others. In fact there are as many apprenticeship programs as there are many fields of human endeavours.