An apprenticeship is a combination of on the job experience and job specific training. Apprenticeships have been around since the Middle Ages when a master craftsperson was entitled to employ a young person in exchange for providing food, lodging and formal training in the craft. Over the centuries apprenticeships have endured as a way for businesses to train new employees.
Today there are apprenticeships in a vast range of job roles. Businesses recruit and train apprentices often with support from their training provider and/or trade association, and the apprenticeship period tends to last between 1 and 4 years, ideally leading to long term employment with the host employer.
