High-quality IT pre-apprenticeship programs should support participants in acquiring sufficient skills and academic credentials for entry into a high-quality apprenticeship or an entry-level job with advancement potential in the industry.
Several technical skills are valued across the IT sector, but pre-apprenticeship programs should also teach skills aligned with IT support and service, cybersecurity, or programming and software careers.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Career OneStop Information Technology Competency Model introduces skills needed for growth and advancement within the IT industry. It provides a comprehensive overview of the foundational personal, academic, and workplace competencies for the industry, and illustrates how skill building should lead to the technology- and occupation-specific competencies.
Pre-apprenticeship programs should focus on ensuring that individuals gain industry-wide technical competencies. Job postings offer broad relevance across the sector by highlighting the skills that are most in demand: technical support, systems administration, help desk support, Microsoft Active Directory, repair, hardware/software installation, and Linux. In addition, most entry-level jobs also require specialized technical skills. Therefore, high-quality IT pre-apprenticeships should provide a broad introduction to these general skills while also introducing more advanced skills aligned with a specific pathway.