Training opportunities
No Experience?
No Problem.
Pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships help you get on your feet in construction—in some cases, you can even get free–or paid–training!
Pave a solid pathway for your career
Paving your way to success.
Regardless of what your education is, high school or college graduates; military service or trade school, a career in construction takes workers from pre-apprenticeships or apprenticeships, to stable, long-term and high paying careers–with skills you can take anywhere.
Interested in becoming a builder or builder support?
Electrical
Learn every aspect of providing and maintaining the electrical infrastructure that is the backbone of our communities.
Career Options:
- Residential Electricians
- Commercial Electricians
- Industrial Electricians
- Maintenance Electricians
- Installation Electricians
- Construction Electricians
- Automotive Electricians
- Marine Electricians
HVAC Systems
This includes all of the systems that support Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration from hockey rinks to grocery stores, and everything in between.
Career Options:
- HVAC Engineer
- HVAC Installer
- Refrigeration Technician
- Automotive HVAC Technician
- Wind Turbine Technician
- Project Manager
- Service Manager
Plumbing
More than just toilets! This vital role ensures that industrial and personal water systems stay healthy and flowing.
Career Options:
- Water supply
- Gasfitting
- Sanitary
- Roofing (stormwater)
- Drainage
- Mechanical services (heating, cooling & ventilation)
- Fire protection and irrigation
Carpentry
Carpenters create, fix, and install either smaller parts of structures such as cabinets or home additions, or build them outright. Explore indoor and outdoor work opportunities that use an assortment of tools, making the job versatile as well as physically active.
Career Options:
- Joister
- Trim carpentry
- Cabinet carpentry
- Ship carpentry
- Framer
- Roofer
Start your journey
Explore training options
Pre-apprenticeships prepare you for a job on a construction site with short term (8-10 week) training programs. Pre-apprenticeship training offers skills that make you employable on a construction site, but also offer meaningful support and mentoring to help you achieve your goals and secure employment with a construction company in your area.
Apprenticeship is an industry-driven, high-quality career pathway where individuals can obtain paid work experience, classroom instruction, and a portable, nationally-recognized credential. In a skilled trade apprenticeship, you will get a blend of classroom instruction and structured mentor-supported learning on the job to help you achieve success.
Administrative Support
Technical Support
Draftsperson
Office Manager
Builder Support
Supporting Roles in the trades
There are other ways to get started on a career in the trades. Administrative Support, Technical Support, Draftspeople and Office Managers also play an important role in these industries. There are endless opportunities to explore.
Getting started
Short term training options help you start your journey.
Prepare for a job on a construction site with short term (8-10 week) training programs, often referred to as Pre-apprenticeships. Pre-apprenticeship training offers skills that make you employable on a construction site, but also offer meaningful support and mentoring to help you achieve your goals and secure employment with a construction company in your area.
Apprenticeship is your path to certification.
Apprenticeship is an industry-driven, high-quality career pathway where individuals can obtain paid work experience, classroom instruction, and a portable, nationally-recognized credential. In a skilled trade apprenticeship, you will get a blend of classroom instruction and structured mentor-supported learning on the job to help you achieve success.
Unluck your potential
Pre-apprenticeship opportunities to kick-start your career.
Here are local pre-apprenticeship opportunities.
Building Futures
The primary goal of Building Futures is to introduce individuals from underrepresented groups to the building trades and prepare them for a career in the construction industry by helping them to gain life, employability, and career skills.
Applicants are required to pass a drug test, background screening, and have a qualifying score on the ACT ALEKS test. Participants in the twelve week program receive case management services, financial assistance to assist in barrier removal, a weekly training stipend, tools of the trade, and hands on technical skills training. The three levels of training include four weeks of soft skills training, four to six weeks of workplace preparation, and two to four weeks of trade specific training. In the first phase, students learn the elements of improving motivation levels, decision-making, goal setting, self-esteem building, employability skills, and leadership. In the second phase, students are introduced to the construction industry through career exploration and technical instruction. The third phase is tailored to the educational needs of each particular trade. The coursework utilizes industry driven, nationally recognized curriculum to provide a defined set of competencies.
Columbus & Central Ohio Building Trades Council
The Council has provided over 50 years of skilled union craftsmanship to the greater Columbus area. Today, it represents more than 18,000 workers to promote the region’s building trades and protect the interest of the union.
JATC Training Centers - Apprentices earn while they learn, meaning they receive on-the-job training and classroom instruction while earning a living wage. This on-the-job experience allows apprentices to learn the trade from experienced journeymen. Apprentices also receive free, mandatory classroom instruction, where they are taught fundamentals and advanced concepts they will use throughout their career. In addition to earning a living wage, individuals also receive health and retirement benefits along with a free education. To learn more about admission requirements and terms of apprenticeship training for a specific construction trade, please click on the following link and visit the affiliated JATC page. Information is listed for boilermakers, bricklayers, carpenters, cement masons and plasterers, electrical workers, heat and frost insulators, iron workers, painters, plumbers and pipefitters, operating engineers, sheet metal workers, roofers, and laborers.
Columbus State Community College
Columbus State Community College is the second largest college in Ohio based on enrollment. Over the past 50 years, they've awarded more than 50,000 degrees and have a near $1 billion dollar annual impact on their local economy.
Columbus State Community College (CSCC) provides training for numerous construction and skilled trades. Students in the construction and skilled trades pathway can study traditional trades as well as emerging technologies such as geographic information systems and sustainable building. CSCC also helps students interested in entering trade apprenticeships to be more knowledgeable about their career choice and to develop fundamental knowledge and skills in the trade that will make them better prepared to be considered for entry into apprenticeship programs. Degrees and certificates in this Pathway lead to careers in carpentry, electrical trades, plumbing, welding, HVAC, landscaping, and other fields.
Fairfield County Workforce Center
The Fairfield County Workforce Center is owned and operated by the Fairfield County Commissioners. The County’s Economic and Workforce Development Department, in partnership with Hocking College and Ohio University, will determine the training programs offered to develop the local workforce for in-demand jobs at local employers.
Established in 2020, the Workforce Center provides training programs for high-demand industries including manufacturing, skilled trades, and health care. The programs are offered through a collaborative partnership between the Fairfield County Commissioners, Ohio University Lancaster Campus and the Russ College of Engineering, and Hocking College.
IMPACT Community Action
IMPACT aims to reduce poverty by providing hope-inspiring help and real opportunities for self-sufficiency that will create a positive impact for families through community needs assessments and planning efforts.
The comprehensive workforce development training facilitated by IMPACT is designed to be an immersive and engaging individualized training program based on up-to-date knowledge of workforce trends and expectations. By utilizing the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) curriculum, program participants can expect to be trained in preparation for a career in the construction industry. In addition, program participants will complete a pre-requisite training that will cover basic safety practices and provide foundational industry knowledge necessary for the specialized career pathways training. This pre-apprenticeship training, referred to as Core will include an OSHA-10 certification and specialized instruction through the NCCER module Your Role in the Green Environment. One final component of the training is the consistent incorporation of non-technical, soft skills training and practice. Amid ever-changing workforce demands and as more jobs become automated, the importance of soft skills such as communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability, is essential.
National Center for Urban Solutions
The NCUS has served the urban community for over 20 years, moving individuals mired in the negative impacts of urban poverty to socio-economic self-sufficiency, with competencies focus on workforce development, education and health, and wellness.
This State of Ohio registered Builders Academy construction pre-apprenticeship program implements an existing collaborative design with local industry partners, post-secondary training institutions, employers, and community partners who are committed to aligning resources and addressing local workforce challenges particularly with African Americans and women of color for construction careers. Through accelerated workforce and job training preparation, participants will improve their soft skills, learn and earn through stackable industry recognized credentialing and paid internships, while being supported with wraparound support services to eliminate barriers to entry. By implementing NCUS workforce strategies with adult residents in Central Ohio the program expects to provide local contractors opportunities to recruit skilled talent and reduce equity gaps by giving participants skills and sustainable income to provide for themselves.
National Skilled Trades Network
The NSTN is a non-profit organization formed to train, inspire, and educate a new generation of construction workers with national industry-recognized credentials, skills, and on-the-job training needed to thrive in the construction industry.
The NCCER Core Curriculum is a prerequisite and foundation to all other Level 1 craft curricula. This 5-week 80 clock hour course provides individuals with an overview of various fields of basic safety, introduction to construction math, hand tools, power tools, construction drawings, basic rigging, basic communication skills, basic employability skills, and material handling. Level 1 offerings include Carpentry (220 Hrs), Electrical (200 Hrs), HVAC (200 Hrs), Plumbing (218 Hrs), Concrete Finishing (190.5 Hrs, and Solar Photovoltaic Systems Installer (217.5 Hrs). In addition to pre-apprenticeship and Level 1 training, NSTN also offers mentorship and wraparound services as well as apprenticeship opportunities and industry credentials.