Page 14 - Careers & Stuff 2021

“It’s a great opportunity for young people to get into a career,” says
Ed Capodanno, president of ABC Delaware, an association of builders and contractors. “We’re experiencing a big-time shortage in our industry. The average age of a construction worker is 47 years. Apprenticeships help us replenish the worker shortage.”
Due to the high demand for skilled workers in the building trades, “employers are continually hiring motivated individuals wanting to become apprentices,” says Darren Nichols of the Delaware Department of Labor. It’s a system that helps companies find and train a qualified workforce and helps potential employees receive the training
they need to succeed. Nichols says he can’t see any downside to the program. “From their first day of work, apprentices receive a paycheck that is guaranteed to increase as their training progresses.”
The Other Four-Year Degree
Apprenticeships are often referred to as “the other four-year degree,” because that is generally how long the training runs. Most Registered Apprenticeships are four years in length, or 8,000 hours of on-the-job training. For each year of training,
a minimum of 144 hours of related instruction is required.
One of the big differences between a traditional four-year degree
and getting your journeyperson’s papers through apprenticeship:
an apprentice gets paid to learn. Galligan started at $10 an hour as an electrician’s helper. Pay raises are built into the program. Galligan quickly started moving up the pay scale to more than double his initial paycheck.
Upon completion of the required on-the-job training and related instruction, the Registered Apprentice is eligible for journeyperson papers. A journeyperson is nationally recognized as having a well-rounded ability in all aspects of his or her trade.
Galligan earned his journeyperson papers in June and is expecting another bump up in pay, he says. Plus he has a retirement plan
and other benefits through his employer. Fully proficient workers
who have completed a Registered Apprenticeship earn $50,000 per year on average, and over their careers, they will typically earn $300,000 more than non-apprenticeship workers, says Nichols.
Then, there are the less tangible benefits of completing the program, which are nonetheless important. “There are a lot of times when it’s going to feel too time-consuming and just making it to class is the hardest part. But graduating and the sense
of accomplishment when it’s finished is worth all the nights spent in a classroom,” says Truszcienski.
‘A Great Place to Pull Employees’
Apprenticeships are a win-win for job seekers and employers, says Bryan Horsey of the Delaware Technical Community College’s Office of Work- based Learning. They make students more competitive for jobs and give businesses a more direct pathway to job candidates.
Apprenticeships have proven so useful that several employers signed on to teach the class sector of the program.
“It’s proven to be a great place to pull employees,” says Eric Koelsch,
Peggy Del Fabbro, CEO of M. Davis & Sons, with Shawn Galligan, who is holding his Certificate of Completion of Apprenticeship.
12 CAREERS & STUFF | DelawareBusinessTimes.com
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