I’ve asked myself this question many times and I haven’t been able to find the right words for google to help me.
In my home country there is a system called “dual training”, where you find an employer by applying for such a training and (once you’ve successfully signed the paperwork) find a special school, which has a program that is specifically tailored to your future job.
You’ll have the school register you as a student and that’s it.
Once your training starts (3 years for many trades and the 1st of September is a standard date for it to begin), you’ll get your practical training on the job and everything theoretical at school.
Trade jobs like metal working, carpentry, brick laying, painting (not the atelier kind), gardening and landscaping, forestry etc., also include the opportunity to get a “master” title(lit. transl., unrelated to the scientific degree), the course for which requires you to have completed your job training and worked 5 years in that job as a certified professional (here also called “journeyman”, in these fields), it takes a year to complete (I believe).
After this course you are allowed to train future professionals-to-be, start your own business (master title is not mandatory for *all* jobs to start your own business) and are expected (but not required) to lead a team of journeymen.
When exactly your school days are depends on the school.
The amount days spent in school (per week) also varies, it could be just one day, maybe two or you could even spend a week or more, up to a month, at a time.
​
This is how it usually goes for all students who have finished school and don’t want to go to a university (whether immediately or at all) or just weren’t able to achieve the necessary school diploma.
Adults who want to work a different job in a similar field can take courses, to prepare for their new job.
For an entirely new field, you’d likely have to go through the above mentioned process though.
​
Mind you, this kind of training is mandatory for any job listing that requires professionals, unless you need to have a bachelor’s degree or higher, in which case it is not and more of a bonus that can increase your chances of being hired.
​
How does this compare to the US?
Do you have something similar?
Also, is there any traditional workwear for specific trades in the US? So far I have only seen people wearing jeans and workboots, in youtube videos.
Where I live, craftsmen usually wear a certain kind of color associated with their craft.
It’s not mandatory and can vary, but usually you’ll find: blue (metalworking), light brown with black accents (wood working), red with black accents (electricians), red (heating, waste- and fresh water), green and green with black accents (anything with plants or landscaping work).
We also have a specific set of clothes for more traditionally seen crafts like carpentry, smithing and “chimney sweepers” (lit. transl.; these people check your heating system, if it’s based on combustion)
​
Edit 1: addendum to the workwear, because I didn’t explain my question well
12 comments
Depends on the field. Most trade work is on the job training. There are certain industries like HVAC that have more demanding training processes which can include an apprenticeship and/or 2 years of school.
Usually you are good with steel toe boots, safety glasses, hardhat, gloves, yellow shirt and jeans. But you can always check OSHA standards for your specific field if you want to be meticulously prepared.
>Do you have something similar?
Not really. Trade school is an option for people but it is typically paid for by the individual. Vocational highschool is an option and allows for training in a trade while learning academic material as well. I am a huge fan of that.
>Also, is there any traditional workwear for specific trades in the US?
This is typically determined by the company and by extension, the workplace atmosphere.
A company could mandate a shirt and tie, or prohibit a tie. A company can also have a dress code that includes steel toe boots.
My company provides coveralls but doesn’t require them. Hard toe-d or steel toed boots are required as well as hard hats or lifejackets in the corresponding areas. (PPE)
Does this apply to all jobs or just skilled trades? I don’t really know anyone who doesn’t have a college degree so this is all very foreign to me.
What you’re describing sounds similar to the training programs offered by trade unions in the US. [Here’s a link to one of these training centers](https://detroiteitc.org/), the “school” is owned by the union. You would get training, become an apprentice, and get help with job placement.
There are a lot of paths to becoming a tradesperson in the US. A carpenter might start as a jobsite helper and then begin apprentice training with jobsite experience. Different trades have different associations, certifications, and licensing. Most of this is at the state level, but the trades also set requirements.
An individual doesn’t need any formal training at all to start many forms of business. If you want to start a painting business, you don’t need formal training from some formal organization to do so. If you want to join [IUPAT](https://www.iupat.org/contact-us/michigan/), there are some requirements.
It’s complicated and the answer is different for nearly every career path. We don’t have a rigid formal set of requirements for jobs that require learning outside of universities.
Here, if you have the skills and training, you won’t get hired because your employer will be concerned you will either ask for high wages or leave in the future.
If you don’t, you will get hired for a pittance and eventually be fired for not knowing how to do your job.
There is no universal answer for this.
Some jobs expect you to come in with all of the skills and certifications you need in place. Others will take people and give them all the training they need.
Same with work wear. Dress code varies by company.
It sounds like there’s a much bigger emphasis on trades in your country than we have here. A lot of kids here go to college (or “university” as you’d call it) after high school. Those that can’t afford it might take loans, go to community college, or simply start working at whatever job they can find.
There’s also no laws requiring a college degree for most positions, but many employers tend to require them.
Generally anyone can start a business here although some lines of work will require licensing. For example you can’t start a business as an electrician without being licensed. But you could start any number of other businesses without formal training or a job title.
We definitely don’t have the matching colors thing like you have.
The US has apprenticeships for skilled trades (plumbing, for example), but we don’t have a traditional uniform the way Journeymen in Germany do, for example.
Actually, in the US, Carhartt might be the closest you can get. In the US, that brand has always been associated with trade job workwear and farming.
For white collar jobs, you would do internships. The university has a registry of companies who have relationships with the school and you would go to the career center/student counselor to discuss opportunities or you would do it yourself online. These companies will hire students for the summer and give them training with the idea that they can hire the top performers after graduation.
However, US education focuses on fostering independence and self-direction. US education also believes that you can change your life path at any time. It’s quite common in the US for people to wind up in careers that are completely different from their university degree subject.
So, US schools tend to be more general education and more hands off. They have those internship opportunities and “career fairs” where companies send representatives to sit at booths for students to walk by and speak with them, but it’s up to the student to figure that all out for themselves and to make their own life choices. There is no formal requirement for you to do anything.
I went to college for engineering. After 4 years and over 132 hours of a 170 hour program, dropped out. Joined a startup. Taught myself programming. Worked at several startups where I continued to learn. Eventually went back to school and finished undergrad and grad degrees.
So in short, I learned by doing while on the job and not some formal program. And I think my experience is probably common.
I work in a field that didn’t exist when I was in college. Learning some formalized set of rules would not have helped me. What was important was learning how to learn and be agile.
> How does this compare to the US?
It doesn’t. The US has no standard system for employment training, other than for some special cases like doctors.
Employers may or may not require education/training, how you prove the relevance of that training is different, etc.
> Do you have something similar?
No.
> Also, is there any traditional workwear for specific trades in the US?
There’s required PPE for some types of work, but otherwise no. Completely depends on employer and there isn’t any trade-wide color or uniform standardization aside from visibility-related PPE (ex. High-vis vests and hard hats and such).
They sit you in a class room for 8hrs a day for twelve years and feed you useless or half information to slowly kill your soul so you don’t complain or they teach you to do nothing but complain
For most trades, someone who knows the trade teaches you in exchange for work. We call this an apprenticeship.
For, software engineering you get a degree in computer science or you learn in your own (what I did).