A Practical Resource For Workforce & Education Professionals
A pre-apprenticeship is a workforce preparation program designed to help individuals gain the skills, experience, and support they need to successfully enter and complete a Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
Think of it as an on-ramp. Pre-apprenticeship doesn’t replace apprenticeship—it prepares
people for it. Typical programs run somewhere between 6 and 20 weeks and serve cohorts of 10 to 25 participants, though this varies by sector and region.
This guide is designed for a broad range of partners who play complementary roles in
apprenticeship systems, including but not limited to:
- Educators & Education Agencies
- Employers & Apprenticeship Sponsors
- Intermediaries
- Workforce Development Boards (WDBs)
- Community-Based Organizations (CBOs)
You don’t need to be responsible for every aspect of a program to find it useful—look for the sections and tools most relevant to your role.
The guide below, aligned with the DOL Framework, is designed to be clear, practical, and approachable—whether you’re just learning about pre-apprenticeship for the first time or looking to strengthen a program that’s already underway. It’s written for workforce and
education professionals, not just apprenticeship specialists.
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