Apprenticeship vs Traineeship
Education is an absolute necessity in gaining a livelihood in today’s fast moving world. However, when it comes to developing and furthering along one’s career, education comes in several different steps. Apprenticeship and traineeship being just two of them, sometimes it is truly difficult to discern between these many layers of education.
What is Apprenticeship?
An apprenticeship can be described as a system of training where an individual is trained with structured competency on a basic set of skills. When on an apprenticeship, those of whom are interested in pursuing a certain trade or a career are set on a strict training programme which allows them to gain the set of skills which is required in order to prepare themselves for the trade or career that they desire. Usually employed in building careers, most of the training is done while the apprentices or the apprentesses are working for a certain employer who help them learn their trade better in exchange for their labour for an agreed period of time. Upon successful completion of an apprenticeship, an individual is considered to be a qualified professional.
Some of the most known professions which use apprenticeship as a method of education are law, accountancy, the culinary arts and chartered engineering. Not only in skilled trades, apprentices are used in higher education as well since the modern concept of the internship is quite similar to the idea of apprenticeship. Amongst them are graduate students in the role of apprentices, post-doctoral fellows as journeymen, and professors as masters.
What is a Traineeship?
What is referred to as traineeship is usually an individual being trained for the job role that he/she has been hired for. Usually these are vocational areas such as information technology, office administration, hospitality and etc. A trainee can be offered a training period that may span from 2-24 months during which the trainee receives a salary and guidance from the employer while the trainee may also usually expect full time employment in the company once the traineeship is over. A traineeship is also useful in evaluating the person recruited to a firm or a company during which an official decision may be made with regards to whether the person can be hired on a permanent basis or not. It is used as an insurance measure by most companies.
Traineeships are mostly offered for vocational areas such as information technology and hospitality among many. Trainee programs are usually a combination of theoretical knowledge and practice and involves the trainee to learns about the company from the ground up and build contacts in the process.
What is the difference between Apprenticeship and Traineeship?
• The difference between apprenticeship and traineeship may depend solely on the jurisdiction under which they operate. Hence the differences may vary from country to country.
• An apprenticeship is offered for traditional trade-oriented occupations. A traineeship is offered for service-oriented vocational areas.
• Usually an apprenticeship may take around 3-4 years to complete. A traineeship may take a relatively shorter time period which may be between 1-2 years to complete.
• Upon completion of a traineeship, the trainee will mostly be offered a full time occupation at the company. The apprentice usually receives a certification.
• The main objective of a traineeship is for the employer to evaluate an employee. The purpose of an apprenticeship is for the apprentice to gain practical and theoretical knowledge of the trade, gain exposure and obtain contacts.