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Apprenticeship opportunities should be sought with local artisans and tradespersons in
occupations with substantial market demand, as confirmed in the assessment. Apprenticeships
that are not market-based will set apprentices up for failure when they seek
employment or loans to start a business. Apprenticeships are most appropriate in local
enterprises where skilled workers produce goods and/or provide services on a regular
and sustained basis. Apprenticeships, like training courses, should be designed to enable
and encourage women to develop skills for use in viable occupations, including those
that are not traditionally pursued by women. The criteria for selecting mentors should
take into account their knowledge, skills, and expertise, their willingness to commit to
training an apprentice for a sufficient period of time so as to improve the apprentice’s
marketability, and their sensitivity to the crisis situation. Arrangements can be made for
mentors to receive compensation for their services in the form of financial payment, inkind
donations of inputs, or training to upgrade their own skills.
The duration of an apprenticeship should be determined in advance and agreed between
the apprentice and the mentor. The appropriate length of an apprenticeship depends
on the vocation and on-the-job training needs of the apprentice. Some apprenticeships
are only a couple of months in duration, while others continue for a year or more. When
graduates of VST programmes are placed in apprenticeships—as a supplement to their
training—their apprenticeships are typically shorter than those for apprentices who have
not received vocational training.
4.1.2 (f) Career guidance and mentoring
Career guidance and mentoring services—provided before, during, and after training
and apprenticeships—help to ensure that graduates will be able to use their new skills
and knowledge to enhance the stability of their livelihoods and their economic security.
Effective career guidance and mentoring services provide trainees, apprentices, and
graduates with insights and information regarding opportunities and challenges in their
chosen vocations, instilling the confidence that they need in order to succeed. It is often
useful to develop a strategy for providing career guidance and mentoring at the design
stage and to follow up during implementation, with adjustments as necessary so as to
reflect the evolving labour market. A business development service provider can be contracted
to provide career guidance. Mentorships should be arranged with skilled workers
and successful entrepreneurs who could also act as role models for specific target groups
such as youth and ex-combatants. Apprentices will already receive mentorship through
their apprenticeships, but additional mentoring is often helpful.
4.1.2 (g) Job placement and self-employment support
Throughout the training process, VST providers should identify and negotiate employment
and apprenticeship opportunities so that graduates can access such opportunities rapidly
upon completion of their training. Placements can be sought with private enterprises,
government bodies, local and international NGOs, community based organizations, donors,
U.N. agencies, training institutions, health centres, schools, and other establishments
related to the graduates’ newly developed skills. Sometimes it is the case that apprentices
are hired to work in the establishments where they were apprenticed, and sometimes
they use their apprenticeship experience to seek employment elsewhere.
Since business loans will be critical for many trainees and apprentices who intend to pursue
self-employment, VST providers should ascertain the trades and types of enterprises that
are eligible for loans and most successful in obtaining such loans. These VST providers can
Livelihoods & Economic Recovery in Crisis Situations