Memos and Random Facts
Ann thought that I did a great job with the memo and asked if I could also help with another project that she was working on, which I happily agreed to do. She was in the process of drafting an Apprenticeship Engagement Strategy paper for the US Department of Labor, reporting on the findings and progress that the ECD had made using a grant from the DOL. I helped add in a few pieces of information from my memo and made edits to a few sections of the paper.
I was incredibly motivated when I realized who our intended audience was, and it was rewarding to finally put my research and writing skills that I’ve developed during my time in college to use in the workplace. The potential implications of this paper are significant in that this can help jumpstart the further development of apprenticeship programs in Tennessee. Ann also told me that she was going to put my name on the paper, which definitely felt empowering. It also motivated me to double check for any grammar or spelling mistakes.
So far, I have been able to learn a lot about apprenticeship programs through my work. While there is still a lot to learn about these programs and I have only had a limited exposure to them in that I have been reading paper and data sets about them, I certainly feel more confident in what they are. I am looking forward to see how efforts to expand apprenticeships in Tennessee develop over these next few weeks. I want to list a few interesting facts about apprenticeships that have stuck with me during my time here:
- 91 percent of apprentices are employed after completing their programs, and the average starting salary for someone coming out of an apprenticeship program is over $60,000
- Apprentices finish their program with zero student loan debt, compared to an average of $30,000 for today’s college students.
In addition, I was tasked with analyzing some data regarding apprenticeship in Tennessee. After organizing the datasets in Excel, I created a few graphs and made note of any trends that I noticed. I was surprised to learn that a majority of federally registered programs in the state of Tennesse had 0 active apprentices and that less than ten occupations account for more than three-quarters of apprenticeship programs in the state. This highlights two areas of opportunity for the department to focus its efforts on. There appears to be a basic existing infrastructure for apprenticeship in the state, but the ECD can improve upon this it by engaging communities and bringing higher education and industry together to the table.
I believe that apprenticeship programs are an untapped area for workforce development that, if scaled, could significantly benefit the people of Tennessee. Apprenticeships are a unique path that people can leverage to develop their careers without getting into debt and can also benefit companies looking for skilled workers who are able to make significant contributions in the workplace. I am looking forward to continuing to learn more about how workforce development programs at the state level are having an impact in the communities of Tennessee.
From the US DOL website – an explanation of what a registered apprenticeship consists of.