Apprenticeship 101: The Modern Earn-and-Learn Model Expanding Far Beyond the Trades
David Polk, Director of Apprenticeship at Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
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Apprenticeship is no longer synonymous with the construction trades. Healthcare organizations are training medical assistants and registered nurses through apprenticeship. Schools are using the 
model to prepare teachers. Employers are applying it to occupations from arboriculture to human resources. At the same time, more high school students are using Youth Apprenticeship to begin building skills and gaining paid work experience before they graduate.
So what actually makes something an apprenticeship, and why are so many industries taking a fresh look at a model that has existed for more than a century?
David Polk, Director of Apprenticeship at the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, takes us inside the modern apprenticeship system. A third-generation apprentice who began his own career as a plumber, David now leads one of the country’s most established state apprenticeship systems and serves as president of the National Association of State and Territorial Apprenticeship Directors.
In this episode, we break down Registered Apprenticeship and Youth Apprenticeship, how the earn-and-learn model combines paid employment with structured education and mentorship, and what it takes for employers to participate. David also explains how apprenticeship is expanding into occupations that have never traditionally used the model, how states and the federal government shape apprenticeship policy and funding, and why earlier exposure to hands-on careers matters for the workforce pipeline.
In this episode:
- What separates Registered Apprenticeship, Youth Apprenticeship and other forms of work-based learning
- How earn-and-learn flips the traditional education-to-employment model
- Why apprenticeship is expanding into healthcare, education, HR and other occupations beyond the trades
- How employers can use Youth Apprenticeship to build an earlier connection with future talent
- How federal policy, state systems and funding influence apprenticeship growth
3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:
1. Apprenticeship integrates education and employment instead of treating them as separate stages.
Registered apprentices work in the occupation while completing related instruction and learning alongside experienced journey workers. That structure gives learners technical knowledge, practical experience and occupational mentorship at the same time, while employers develop talent around the skills their industry actually requires.
2. Apprenticeship is a workforce development model, not a category of trades careers.
Construction and manufacturing remain deeply rooted in apprenticeship, but the same earn-and-learn structure is increasingly being applied to healthcare, teaching, HR and other occupations. David argues that the opportunity is to stop asking which jobs are traditionally apprenticeships and start asking which occupations could benefit from developing people through structured work and education.
3. Building the workforce pipeline starts earlier than the point of hire.
David traces his own career back to childhood experiences tinkering in his grandfather’s plumbing shop and later receiving occupational training in high school. Youth Apprenticeship gives employers a modern way to create that exposure, allowing students to experience real work while giving companies an opportunity to build relationships with potential employees years before a traditional recruiting process would begin.
Resources in this Episode:
- Wisconsin Apprenticeships - Find more about registered, youth and certified pre-apprenticeship
- U.S. Department of Labor - Apprenticeships
- WisTRAIN grants
- Wisconsin Fast Forward grants
- HEART Grant for rural healthcare
- National Association of State and Territorial Apprenticeship Directors (NASTAD)
- Email the WI DWD Apprenticeship team
Connect with our guest online:
David Polk - LinkedIn | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
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