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MAKING YOUR CAREER WORK
Apprenticeships:
Earn While You Learn a Skilled Trade
BY JESSICA JAFET
Hands-on, practical training allows students
and older job seekers to acquire real-world experience and be guided by experienced professionals while they master skills necessary for a specific trade. Throughout Westchester
County, there are a multitude of apprenticeships that serve as pathways to long-lasting, reliable employment.
Options range from a pre-apprenticeship that will prepare workers to succeed in a registered apprenticeship program to a paid, on-the-job position as a trainee. The arrangement is a win-win for employers and job seekers alike, as students become skilled workers who fill the
labor needs of companies, while benefiting from dynamic instruction that is not confined to the classroom.
The Workforce Development Institute (WDI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of working people throughout New York State by giving them access to tools for maximizing employment opportunities
(while helping companies and organizations grow and retain workers), according to Deryl Beasley, WDI’s Lower Hudson Valley regional director, who is a strong proponent of apprenticeships.
“BOCES provides a lot of the apprenticeship programming that happens in our region, but the larger issue from a WDI perspective is how do we recruit more folks into the trades, because we have a skills gap and a labor shortage gap,” says Beasley. “What we are focusing on now is trying to figure out how to do pre-apprenticeship training to get folks prepared to go into the trades and move into full-time apprenticeships.”
The organization’s recruitment effort aims to raise awareness of the opportunities afforded by a career in the trades, with an emphasis on reaching women and people of color, Beasley adds.
Apprenticeships Offer Transferable Skills
In fields like construction, electrical work, plumbing, carpentry, and bricklaying, among many others, he suggests that job seekers identify and connect with organizations that offer apprenticeships in those fields. “Skills in the trades are definitely a way to go,” Beasley points out. “You can get a great skill that is transferable and you could take it all over the globe if you want — you can work on any kind of project anywhere, and that makes you more valuable in the marketplace.”
What’s Hot. What’s Next. What’s Needed. 2023 SKILLS 45