CareerWise Colorado

Bridging Education and Industry CLOSING THE GAP Today, the burden of educating the newest members of the workforce falls directly on our schools. But businesses are having difficulty finding employees with the appropriate competencies to effectively fill skilled positions. Modern youth apprenticeship addresses the problem by helping businesses have a hand in shaping their young talent and providing the education system with an applied-learning environment for its students. AN OPTIONS MULTIPLIER For students, youth apprenticeship is an options multiplier. Apprenticeship can be a powerful enhancement to their education or a fast-track to a middle-class career, or both. Apprenticeship is not a diversion from higher education—it’s a rigorous education option that combines theoretical learning with practical learning that focuses career and education objectives. It can also be a direct path to high-paying, in-demand jobs in Business Operations, Financial Services, Advanced Manufacturing, Information Technology and Healthcare. Any student—regardless of future plans—can benefit from apprenticeship. A student can start as an apprentice and end with a Ph.D., or apprenticeship can train a student to step directly into a bookkeeper position so they can go on to be a CFO. It’s a model of education that reveals multiple options to career and higher education. LEARNING FROM THE SWISS CareerWise looks to the Swiss apprenticeship system for inspiration and has borrowed elements of that model to adapt in Colorado. In Switzerland there are more than 230 approved apprenticeship occupations, and 40 percent of all companies participate in the program. In that environment, 70 percent of Swiss students choose apprenticeships and 30 percent of them stay with their training company or return after college. In fact, many of the world’s largest companies are run by CEOs that started out as an apprentice. It’s that kind of endless possibility we’re building in Colorado with CareerWise—apprentices that start in high school and end with college or career success.