There are a variety of course offerings in historic trades training, depending on where you are in your career journey. We recommend that people start with interest engagement opportunities; those interested in pursuing a career then enroll in classes and workshops in tandem with practicums and internships; and mid-career and professional people can pursue continuing education classes. Read more on Training and Education and find providers.

The Campaign’s apprenticeship initiative is a dynamic, ongoing process. Stay informed and be part of the progress by finding the latest information on Apprenticeships.

The Campaign aggregates education, training, and employment opportunities in the historic trades. Visit our Opportunities page to find classes, workshops, and training across the country.

The Campaign is compiling and developing resources to help program administrators. You can find these resources outlined on Start or Grow a Program. You can watch a recording of our information session for training and education programs to learn how they can utilize The Campaign’s registered apprenticeships.

Not officially. Most programs conglomerate their information and training outlines from similar resources, but until now, there has not been a national organization dedicated to establishing national standards. The Campaign will work with stakeholders to establish these standards publicly.

Consider joining the Preservation Trades Network! It’s an international member organization with a regular conference, the International Preservation Trades Workshop. If you want to demonstrate your trade, IPTW is a great place.

You can learn more about how you can train and mentor the next generation of tradespeople here.

Check out our blog post about LGBTQ+ Inclusion in the Trades! You can also visit our Opportunities page and use the tag “LGBTQ” to search for events.

To invite The Campaign to speak at, attend, or table your event, fill out this form and our team will get back to you: Outreach Inquiry Form.

The Traditional Trades Advancement Program (TTAP) is an initiative of the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center. TTAP provides hands-on, historic preservation trade skills training during intensive learning-while-working experiences in National Parks across the country. The program helps prepare young people and veterans for traditional trades careers with public land agencies. Find out more at the HPTC TTAP website.

TTAP is made possible through partnership agreements under the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps. This agreement is to engage youth and veterans in public land stewardship roles. As a result, the program is only open to youth aged 18 – 30 and veterans aged 18 – 35. Find out more about eligibility requirements here.

Nope! There are no application fees, and participants are compensated for their time in the program.

Apply for open positions here! Applications are posted throughout the year, and multiple cohorts are in the field at any given time. Those interested in a career in the trades are encouraged to apply. No previous experience is needed, and the program welcomes applicants from diverse experiences. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified as soon as applications go live!

Participation in the program is contingent upon passing a background check. Criminal history does not automatically disqualify someone from applying and selection for TTAP. The only automatic disqualifiers are a murder charge, a murder conviction, or registration on the National Sex Offender Registry. Driving history is considered for specific TTAP positions requiring the use of government vehicles.

There are a host of reasons why. You can read about Our History to learn of national movements toward this.

Our Historic Trades Summit is a biennial event, planned for 2027. Sign up for our newsletter here to be notified about dates and locations of our next summit. Read our American Historic Trades Summit page for more information.

Participating Employers need to:

1. Hire apprentices as full-time employees.
2. Provide compensation according to the wage scale for the occupation.
3. Ensure there is a qualified journeyworker to train the apprentice at a minimum ratio of 1 journeyworker to 1 apprentice.
4. Support the apprentice to attend required classwork.
5. Communicate with The Campaign regularly about the apprentice’s progress.
6. File related paperwork with The Campaign.

Participating Employers are not required to:

1. Pay for apprentices’ classes or hours in class. Employers can opt to do this but are not required.
2. Restrict hiring to this program. Employers are still fully able to hire outside this program.
3. Hire any or specific apprenties. Employers still have discretion on who they want to hire. The Campaign will never require Employers to hire a specific apprentice.

A Participating Employer is a business that is able and willing to hire apprentices in the occupations in our program. They sign paperwork The Campaign submits with the Department of Labor to make the status official. 

An incumbent employee is someone who is already working for a Participating Employer that we register into the program. These employees do not need to go through the application process. We will verify their interest to register, their eligibility, and prior earned credit.

We recommend this process for employees with experience hours below the total apprenticeship hours. For example, a Preservation Carpenter apprenticeship requires 8000 OTJ hours and 600 RI hours. An employee with 1 year of experience would be registered with 25% of the apprenticeship complete. An employee with 3 years experience could be registered with 75% of the apprenticeship complete, with documentation demonstrating this to submit to the Department of Labor for approval. 

RAPs function as structured on-the-job training. The expectation is that you as the employer can provide sufficient training to the apprentice as you would any new employee learning the trade and requirements of your company’s employees.

Some but not all apprentices have experience and education that will count towards the apprenticeship. Employers can express a preference for apprentices with some experience and as they are available, The Campaign can provide applicants that demonstrate this. We understand their experience can impact ability to hire

Once apprentices complete the required hours and competencies, we will file paperwork with the Department of Labor so they will receive their certificate. Apprentices are employees — the expectation is that they will continue to work with their employer after they complete the apprenticeship. Data shows that employers have higher rates of retention and productivity with employees that are in RAPs. 

RAPs are intended to be flexibile and adaptable to employers’ needs. The occupation’s Work Process Schedule allows for 25% flexibility in hours and we have designed the occupations to address the wide variety of tasks encountered in preservation and restoration projects. 

 We can meet with you to review your existing position descriptions and job duties, and discuss if and how the apprenticeships are a good fit. If not, we can also work with you to design apprentice occupations to fit your needs. The Department of Labor only requires one employer and one apprentice to register an occupation.

Short answer – yes. Apprentices in our program are apprentices in our program regardless of their employer. If they leave an employer, we will work to place them with another one. Employers are not required to commit to a specific apprentice for the duration of the apprenticeship regardless of any mitigating factors.

However, we prioritize placing apprentices with employers who have the capacity and abilitiy to commit to an apprentice for the duration of apprenticeship. The goal of the program is to provide structured, employment-based training as well as secure employment for the apprentice and employer. It is a benefit to the employer to invest in training an apprentice (providing higher and longer retention and increased productivity) and benefit to the employee to be an apprentice (assurance that they will receive sufficient training and compensation for the trade through a full-time job). 

RAPs recognize mitigating factors impact outcomes despite best intentions, and build in processes for termination (performance-based) and lay-offs (ability of employers to continue employing temporarily or permanently) of apprentices. 

We classify journeyworkers by the apprentice standards, which varies for different occupations. For example, a Preservation Carpenter apprenticeship requires 8000 OTJ hours and 600 RI hours. A journeyworker for this occupation is someone with 4+ years experience and sufficient knowledge to train new apprentices. 

Participting Employrs need to prepare documentation demonstrating journeyworkers’ qualifications and retain that on file. These do not need to be submitted to the Department of Labor but ready to show in case they request proof that apprentices’ are receiving sufficient training at the required minimum ratio of 1 apprentice to 1 journeyworker.

We set these standards due to the lack of journeyworker certification with new apprenticeships. In the long term, journeyworker certification will be required.

The Apprenticeship Committee is made up of employer representatives and trades educators. They manage the Apprenticeship Standards and score apprentice applications. The day-to-day management of the apprenticeship program is delegated to The Campaign’s staff.