Skills / Apply for apprenticeships
Apply for apprenticeships
Get the person into a trade through a real apprenticeship. Finds programs and unions near them, checks prerequisites, and gets applications in. Use when they say "I want to learn a trade", "how do I become an electrician", or ask about getting paid to learn.
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Don't have an agent? · Raw file: skills/apply-for-apprenticeships.md
Watch the first two minutes
This is how a session goes for someone who suspects college is not their road. Click through it.
Scripted example of a real session.
Nobody ever explained this system to you?
That is the normal condition; the trades run on prerequisites, ranked intakes, and application windows that no one lays out for an eighteen-year-old. The skill checks the official registry and the actual programs for your region before telling you anything, links every wage and requirement it states, and presents the trade-offs flatly: years to journeyman, physical demands, waitlists. The decision stays yours, made with real numbers.
What you end up with
A verified short list of local programs, and for each one a gap list: every prerequisite marked met or scheduled. Here is what the gap list looks like for one shortlisted program.
- Every fact has a source link. Wages, windows, and requirements were pulled from the program's own pages this week, because these change and a stale number wastes your planning.
- Gaps become scheduled fixes. Not met is fine; unaddressed is the problem. Each gap gets a concrete step with a date attached.
- The boring prerequisites are the real gatekeepers. A license appointment booked in July beats a panic in September.
- The aptitude test is practiceable. Most trades test basic math and reading. One practice run removes the fear and shows exactly what to drill.
Questions people actually ask
Is this free?
The skill is free, no account, no catch. The agent you paste it into may or may not be: Gemini has the widest free tier, Copilot's free tier is enough to try it, ChatGPT and Claude free plans can also run it in a chat.
Do I need college for a trade?
No. Apprenticeships are the standard route: you earn a wage while you train, and the classroom part is built in. The session maps the registered programs, union and non-union, that exist where you actually live.
Which trade pays best?
The skill refuses to answer that from memory, because wages are regional and change. It pulls current posted figures for the trades in your area, shows starting wage next to finished wage, and links the sources so you can verify every number.
What is a pre-apprenticeship?
A shorter preparation program that makes you competitive for the real intake: basic skills, safety credentials, sometimes a direct pipeline into a program. It is the honest on-ramp when your application would not rank yet, and the session checks which ones run near you.
What is the aptitude test like?
Most trades test basic math and reading comprehension. The session includes a practice run, because a rehearsed test stops being scary, and union interviews get prepped too, aimed at the two things panels actually score: reliability and willingness to learn.
Where to go from here
Working the applications:
Once the paychecks start:
Curious? Read the full skill — the exact instructions your agent gets
--- name: apply-for-apprenticeships category: get-hired description: Get the person into a trade through a real apprenticeship. Finds programs and unions near them, checks prerequisites, and gets applications in. Use when they say "I want to learn a trade", "how do I become an electrician", or ask about getting paid to learn. --- # apply-for-apprenticeships Help someone into a paid-to-learn path: apprenticeships in the trades — electrical, plumbing, carpentry, HVAC, welding, automotive, and dozens more. The system is real but bureaucratic, and it runs on prerequisites, application windows, and aptitude tests that nobody explains to eighteen-year-olds. The bar: they know their actual local options, what each requires, and the first application or prerequisite step is done. ## Ground rules - Everything verified and current. Program names, union locals, wages, and windows change; check the official source for their region before telling them anything, and link what you find. Never state a wage or requirement from memory. - Nothing invented on any application — apprenticeship programs verify diplomas, transcripts, licenses, and work history, and a fabricated document ends the path permanently. If a prerequisite is missing, the plan is to earn it, and you help schedule that. - Present the real trade-offs flatly: years to journeyman, physical demands, starting wage versus finished wage, waitlists. Their call, made with real numbers. ## Trade and route Ask what draws them — working with hands, specific trade, or just "paid to learn" — and what their region offers. Then map the routes that exist where they live, checking each: the official registry (apprenticeship.gov in the US, or the national equivalent), union joint-apprenticeship programs (JATCs and locals for their trade and area — often the best pay and training), non-union and employer programs (contractors, utilities, manufacturers), and pre- apprenticeship programs, the honest on-ramp when they are not yet competitive. Build a short list with links, wages as posted, and application windows. ## Prerequisites, honestly For each shortlisted program, list what it demands: minimum age, diploma or equivalent, specific math credits, driver's license, physical requirements, aptitude test, sometimes a drug screen. Mark each one met or not met. For every gap, the concrete fix — the equivalency exam, the math class, the license appointment, a pre- apprenticeship — with a date attached. This gap list is the real plan; treat it as a deliverable. ## Apply For programs open now: gather the paper (ID, transcripts, references), fill the application together with them typing, and rehearse the aptitude test if there is one — most trades test basic math and reading, and a practice run removes the fear. Union programs often require an in-person interview or ranked intake; prep it with interview-prep, aimed at reliability and willingness to learn, the two things panels actually score. For programs whose window is closed, the application-ready packet gets built now and the open date goes on their calendar. Everything lands in their tracker (job-application-tracker builds one). ## Done - A verified short list of local programs with wages and windows - Every prerequisite marked met or scheduled - First application submitted or packet ready with a calendar date