Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship prepares an individual for an occupation in the skilled trades and crafts.
Apprenticeship programs combine on-the-job training (OJT) with related classroom instruction to produce a qualified journeyperson that has no equal. Other workforce training programs try, but none are as successful as the system of apprenticeship that exists today for the unionized construction industry.
Apprenticeship represents the best avenue for obtaining on-the-job training for a high-paying career in construction. This industry offers opportunities to young people who are not college-bound, women, veterans, and people who have been incarcerated or are at risk.
More than 63,000 wage-earning, taxpaying apprentices are on the job in California today, working in more than 200 different professions – from construction workers on the site of a high rise or rebuilding the state’s infrastructure to firefighters on the front lines, apprentices are building skills for tomorrow as they build our state today.
Click here to view the steps an applicant should take when applying to an apprenticeship programFind an apprenticeship program
Every union construction craft has apprenticeship training centers in California. Some, like Electricians and Plumbers, have centers peppered across many counties; others, like the Insulators and Laborers, have a few large centers for Northern and Southern California. While there are a few programs in the very northern and eastern parts of the state, most are located in medium to large cities. Some programs offer classes on weeknights while others have apprentices come to the center for a week every three months.