What to Expect

If you're in good physical condition, have mechanical and mathematical aptitude and like to work with your hands, consider a sheet metal training program.

What does an apprentice sheet metal worker do all day? In the morning, you'll probably do your classwork -- maybe some trigonometry, blueprint and plan reading, computer-aided design and the all-important safety regulations.

After lunch, you'll head to the shop and apply what you learned in the morning, under careful supervision -- measuring, cutting and welding sheet metal, and as you advance, installing finished pieces on job sites.

Jason Williams did an apprenticeship at the Sheet Metal Training Center in Portland, Oregon. He had classes eight hours a day, five days a week. "We [were] usually in some type of classroom situation for half the day and the other half in the shop," he says.

"[The workload] all depends on how far you want to push your educational training. You can get a little or a lot out of it, it's up to you."

How to Prepare

Williams says good preparation is the key to succeeding in an apprenticeship program. "Be ready for the day, and remember this is not a vacation from work. This is the time that the union and your employer give you to make yourself better at what you do."

Keeping up with the training isn't a walk in the park. "The amount of information that is given in a week is amazing, and to process and retain [it all] sometimes is hard," he says. He advises students to just study and try their best.