Apprenticeships are considered a great way for young people to acquire experience and qualifications within their desired working industry while getting paid at the same time.
Pretty much every industry in the world has some sort of apprenticeship program as companies will often benefit from having extra labor on hand, even if the apprentice comes to them with little or no experience.
However, apprenticeships aren’t exclusively given out to young people and there is no maximum age restriction for the majority of apprenticeships.
Of course, like with any profession, there will often be a minimum age requirement in place but this can vary massively between different countries and different industries.
In this article, we’ll be taking a closer look at how age restrictions are set (or not set) in various industries and see what all the fuss around these apprenticeship programs is all about!
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Can You Be Too Old For An Apprenticeship?
Theoretically, nobody is too old to be eligible for an apprenticeship program, though older candidates could be less likely to be hired in some cases.
From an employer’s perspective, some apprenticeship programs can be seen as a long-term investment and will often offer a full-time position to candidates who prove themselves worthy.
For this reason, older candidates could be overlooked because they may be seen as having less potential for growth.
Similarly, depending on the employer, older candidates may be less likely to be considered because they may be considered more difficult to train and to be ‘set in their ways’.
Of course, this is not the case with every person and it is the responsibility of the candidate to change an employer’s mind about hiring older apprentices.
Most Common Industries For Apprenticeships
Advanced Manufacturing
As the name suggests, employees who work in advanced manufacturing often need to have some pretty advanced skills and qualifications to be able to work effectively.
These roles often involve working with large-scale, industrial machinery in a factory environment, where improperly trained workers can cause serious accidents.
For this reason, the role often requires a lot of hands-on experience which can take the form of an apprenticeship.
Some apprenticeship roles in this industry could include aerospace engineer, machinist, CNC machine operator, plastics fabricator, and industrial maintenance engineer.
Construction
Similar to the previous industry, construction workers are often required to work with heavy machinery that has to be mastered through hands-on experience.
Construction work is often popular with apprenticeship programs because many of the necessary skills for roles are not taught in schools or universities, rather are taught on the job itself.
This is why plenty of construction firms will offer apprenticeship programs. Otherwise, they may struggle to find new workers who are willing to train at all.
Some common construction apprenticeship roles include bricklayer, carpenter, electrician, and plumber.
Financial Services
In an altogether different category to the previous two industries, financial service roles often require apprenticeship candidates to apply with prior qualifications or experience.
Financial service apprenticeships will often employ competency-based occupational frameworks (CBOFs) to accurately assess a person’s ability to perform a role.
Indeed, performance in these roles is much more difficult to accurately measure than a manual labor role.
Some financial service apprenticeship roles include bank teller, claims adjuster, and insurance underwriter.
Hospitality
This is another industry that often requires very little prior knowledge or qualification to get started in.
Most of the skills required have to be learned through experience so hospitality companies are often looking for apprentices to train with them to become fully adept in a variety of skills.
Hospitality is not restricted to food preparation and service, and can also include roles in hotels, holiday parks, and gyms.
Some common roles in hospitality apprenticeships include restaurant manager, chef, hotel associate, and nutrition care specialist.
Information Technology
As many people are aware, the IT industry is one of the fastest-growing and most essential industries for the future.
Workers in this industry require a very high level of technical knowledge and plenty of experience can be gained through education, without any need for qualifications.
For this reason, IT apprenticeships will often seek out candidates who have a high level of experience or education for their roles.
Some common IT apprenticeship roles include computer technician, software engineer, cybersecurity analyst, and web developer.
Is It A Good Idea To Become An Electrician At 40?
Many people are put off the idea of learning a new trade or profession because they think they are too old for it.
However, in the case of the electrician profession, there is no reason for somebody of any age to altogether rule out the prospect.
Electrician apprenticeships don’t have any maximum age requirement and companies will often seek out candidates who already have some level of experience.
Even if their experience is not necessarily related to electrical work, a candidate at the age of 40 is more likely to have some form of relevant experience than a much younger candidate.
Particularly in the case of electrical work, the skills learned in the profession are not only useful for performing a job role, but also for inheriting essential life skills. There’s definitely no age requirement for learning skills that will help you in other aspects of your own life.
Conclusion
What we’ve established here is that nobody is too old to be considered for an apprenticeship program.
Not to mention, there are even laws in place that prevent companies from discriminating against job candidates based on things like race, gender, and age. These laws also apply to apprenticeships, so a company should never turn a candidate away simply for being too old.
Regardless of your age, if you’re interested in acquiring a new skill set and learning about an industry you want to work in, you should do some research online and find out about any apprenticeship opportunities near you.
It will often take a long time to break through and find an employer who’s willing to give you a chance, so you’d better work hard and make the most of it when they do!
