Job training is helpful for students who would soon be applying for paid positions. It is also useful for employers because they get to board an employee who has received a certain extent of training for the position. There are more than one ways in which a person can receive job training. Apprenticeship and internship are the most popular ones. If you are planning to train yourself for a career, then you would like to first understand the difference between these two types of job training techniques so that you can take an informed decision.
Length of Time Invested in The Training
Internship
Internships are known to be more popular than apprenticeships because of the short period of time for which a person is required to intern with an organization. But this does not mean that an internship is necessarily meant to be short.
While it is common for internships to last for around 9 to 12 weeks, they can also be as long as a year. The reason why they are generally short is that interns may take up a job only between semesters in order to receive credits in their college course. Summer and spring internships are very popular among students in their junior years and high school students. Interns may be working part time or full time.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeships last longer. A person joins as an organization as an apprentice after they have completed their course. This is why they are able to invest adequate time to their job training. Apprenticeships are usually full-time positions and the apprentice may also be required to sign a contract with the organization that would legally bind them to work as an apprentice for a specific period of time.
Apprenticeships can last anywhere between a year to five years depending on the complexity of the job that the person is apprenticing for.
Area of Focus
Internship
Internships mostly focus on providing students with an opportunity to understand the work environment and to get a practical experience of the job that they are preparing for. Interns have the opportunity of interning in different organizations and in different posts providing them with greater flexibility when it comes to choosing a career path.
Also known as field-study, internships can help students decide which position they are most suited for. Like a student studying fashion may have no idea that they were more suited for fashion photography than for fashion designing. An internship can help them with this.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeships on the other hand focus on developing a specific set of skills in a person making them thoroughly capable of carrying out a particular job professionally. An apprentice usually trains under an experienced person to acquire the skills required for a trade.
An apprentice, however, does not have the opportunity to explore their field of interest in ways that an intern can. An apprenticeship equips the apprentice in a specific trade or craft which prepares them more suitable for future work opportunities.
Sectors That Offer These Training
Internship
Internships are offered by most organizations. As a student, it is possible that your college or university has partnered with specific organizations to provide you with internship opportunities. You will find interns in almost all sectors spanning from botany to engineering.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeships are not very common. One reason or this is the length of time that a person is usually required to invest in the apprenticeship. Also, fewer colleges or universities offer the opportunity to apprentice with an organization. It means that you will have to do your own job search to become an apprentice. While this may vary from country to country, apprenticeships are more common in pragmatic professions which require special skills.
Common examples of sectors that take apprentices are manufacturing industries, construction and professions like carpentry, fashion designing, interior designing, etc.
Salaries
Internship
Internships can be paid or unpaid. If an organization perceives internship as a part of your education for which you will receive credits in your college, then they may decide not to pay you for the internship. Even paid internships may provide you with minimum wages only since your internship is a part of your field study.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeships are always paid. Apprentices are also covered by the law to ensure that they receive a stipend. Special emphasis is laid on their safety, welfare, and health. An apprentice receives a stipend during the course of their training.
Future Employment Opportunities
Internship
Internships can lead to pre-placement offers wherein the student enjoys the security of having a job after completing the internship. But it is not necessary that every intern will be able to secure a job through the internship. If the student interned in their early semesters in college, then a company may not offer them a job in the organization.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeships can extend the job position of the apprentice into a permanent one after the completion of the apprenticeship. But like internships, they may not be possible in all cases. But apprentices are more likely to get paid higher than an intern when they look for a job.
This is because they receive in-depth training and deep knowledge of their profession during the course of their apprenticeship. Unlike interns, they work for a longer period of time and are not just getting a feel of the work environment.
The Goal of Apprenticeship and Internship
Internship
Internship prepares a person to be able to gel into a work environment more easily once they start working. The goal of the internship is to help a student develop an aptitude for work and to give them the chance of developing a business network that can be used once they start looking for a job. Additionally, it also aims to provide interns with the opportunity of exploring their fields of interest before they finalize their career path.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship can be considered more rigid when it comes to career choices. This is because an apprentice will be spending the course of their apprenticeship developing a special set of skills. By the time a person chooses an apprenticeship, he or she is already sure of their career path and is aware that they will be developing a specific set of skills in a specific trade.
These differences in internship and apprenticeship can help you decide which one will be a suitable choice for you.
