Apprenticeship 200

Students are enrolled in Apprenticeship 200, an 8-credit class that provides an overview of construction trades and safety requirements. The curriculum is modeled after the registered apprenticeship programs. Students get an introduction to construction work by doing hands-on projects that introduce them to construction materials, basic hand and power tool safety, blueprint reading.

Personal and Professional Development Workshop Series

What does it mean to be a professional? It’s defined as conduct, aims, or qualities that characterize or mark a profession or a professional. In the ETAP Personal and Professional Development (PPD) Workshops, the goal is to take into account how students conduct themselves, their aims and goals to reach the level of professional performance in the construction trades. ETAP offers a series of workshops to develop the personal and professional skills of each student. The PPD series covers:

PPD Workshops utilize guest speakers from the industry and role-playing to help students develop appropriate responses to situations they are likely to encounter on the worksite. Completion of assigned task enables participants to develop needed record keeping skills and develop a professional portfolio.

What we know about the construction trades is that no matter how good a worker’s hard skills are, it is his/her soft skills that will determine job security and job growth. PPD Workshops help participants understand the difference between and the importance of both types of skills and when and how to use them in the construction trades.

Peer Mentoring

ETAP offers a peer mentoring program to registered apprentices. First and second term apprentices are matched up with late term apprentices or journeypersons. Late term apprentices become the mentors for the early term apprentices. The objective is to help improve the success rates for early term apprentices and to reduce the fall out rates of new entrances into the trades. Pairing apprentices/journeypersons who are working in the same trade minimizes administrative complications and worksite pitfalls for the new apprentices. Late term apprentices/journeypersons who act as mentors build leadership skills.

Construction trade industry historical data indicates that it is not always the skills level of apprentices that causes failure, it is the lack of good record keeping and training follow-through that cause apprentices to be let go. Skills gained by participants in the peer mentoring program will eliminate costly mistakes and errors so that the industry keeps pace with the growing demand for trained workers.

Placement and Retention Follow-Up

Graduates of the program receive ETAP certification and placement and retention follow-up for one year. ETAP and its partners provide initial job placement assistance following successful program completion. In addition, retention services are provided to graduates once they are placed on a job. ETAP graduates also have access to various apprenticeship programs in the construction trades upon successful completion of the program, as well as PCC job placement resources, such as the Career Resource Center.