Explore apprenticeships and on-the-job training opportunities in high-demand fields
During National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) from April 26 – May 2, VA is highlighting apprenticeships and other training and employment pathways that help Veterans prepare for careers in skilled trades, manufacturing, defense industrial base and maritime fields. Apprenticeships are a key part of helping Veterans move into high-demand fields that offer a direct path into the workforce.
Through NAW, VA and the Department of Labor (DOL) build awareness of apprenticeship programs with the goal of enrolling 1 million apprentices. DOL coordinates NAW to promote Registered Apprenticeships, in accordance with the National Apprenticeship Act.
Registered Apprenticeships combine paid employment, hands-on training, related instruction and a recognized credential. For Veterans, that can mean building new skills while earning a paycheck instead of choosing between work and training. This model is especially relevant in fields such as skilled trades, manufacturing, defense-related industry and maritime work, where employers need skilled workers—like Veterans who often bring experience that translates to the job.
Pathways for Veterans
Throughout National Apprenticeship Week, you’ll see emails, social media posts on our department channels and highlights on our webpages. VA will collect data on how well the content performs this week and use it to create new outreach opportunities throughout the year to raise awareness of apprenticeships.
We’re also focused on making those pathways easier to understand, easier to access and more closely connected to real workforce needs. For Veterans, the issue is not just whether opportunity exists. It’s whether the path forward is clear.
Some Veterans may want to explore apprenticeship or on-the-job training opportunities that can be supported through VA education benefits. Others may want to learn whether VA’s Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program can help them prepare for training, employment or a new career goal.
VA continues to build on these existing resources to help Veterans connect to real pathways into work, not just general information about them.
How do I know an apprenticeship is right for me?
The first step is often the hardest, but the choice is yours—and you have plenty of them! Apprenticeships are just one option.
On-the-job training and other employment pathways may also help, depending on your goals, experience and benefits. For those interested in fields like construction, manufacturing, industrial work or maritime careers, consider giving these pathways a closer look.
Where else can I get help?
Community partners, employers, workforce organizations, training providers and Veteran-serving groups can help by making these opportunities easier to find, easier to understand and easier to access. Stronger coordination between these groups can help connect Veterans to real jobs, practical training options and clearer next steps.
That’s why, over the next few weeks and months, VBA will hold stakeholder roundtable events, bringing together government, employers and partner organizations to help expand outreach and opportunity in these fields. VBA will also share information kits with Veterans, their support network, employers and others to connect Veterans to the pathways that deliver high-demand careers. Veterans can expect to start seeing these in their emails starting this week.
Where do I start?
National Apprenticeship Week highlights awareness of a pressing need, but the actionable goal of connecting Veterans to rewarding careers goes beyond a single week. Veterans already possess valuable experience; now it’s time to connect that experience to practical next steps in fields that need skilled workers now.
Veterans interested in taking the next step can review the following links and read about actual apprenticeships, on-the-job training and other career pathways that align with their goals:
- https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/how-to-use-benefits/on-the-job-training-apprenticeships/.
- https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/eta/eta20260128-0.
- https://www.dol.gov/agencies/vets/apprenticeship.
- https://www.va.gov/careers-employment.
- https://www.apprenticeship.gov/.
- https://www.pathtopro.com/.
Author: briannogues