An apprenticeship is a paid job with a qualification at the end of it. Here is how people actually get one, what you must be paid, who pays the training fees, how long it takes, whether you are too old, and the apprenticeships and labouring roles on FindMeAJob open right now.
See the open roles → Build a CV from nothingIf you only read one part of this page, read these.
The employer signs you up for training once you are hired. Most apprenticeships are never advertised. Ringing and walking in gets more of them than applying online.
Including block courses. Under 20 and in training, the training wage of 80 percent can apply. From 20, the adult minimum or more. It rises each year.
Many employers cover or share them. Government help changes with each Budget, so check what applies this year before you trust a figure.
Assessed on the job as you go. Experience or a pre-trade certificate can shorten it. No upper age.
This is the route most qualified tradespeople in New Zealand actually took. It is not the one the brochures describe.
Building, electrical, plumbing, automotive, engineering, painting, hair, cookery. You do not have to be sure. Two weeks on a site tells you more than two months of reading. If you are unsure, labouring first lets you watch several trades at once.
A restricted licence is the usual minimum, because you will be sent to sites and to the supplier. It is the single thing employers ask about most. If you do not have one, book the test now and put the date on your CV.
A one page CV with the licence in the first line, steel caps, a Site Safe card if you are heading for construction, and an IRD number. The CV guide shows the layout for someone with no work history.
Small firms take most apprentices and almost never advertise. Make a list of twenty in your area from the directories, ring each one and ask if they take on apprentices and when, then turn up with your CV at 7am when the vans are loading. Say what days you can start. Ask your training organisation which employers are taking people on this year.
Hammer hand, builder's labourer, workshop hand, trade assistant. A firm that trains apprentices will usually sign a good labourer up within six to twelve months, and you are paid the whole time. This is how most apprenticeships start.
A Level 2 or 3 pre-trade certificate at a polytechnic, 16 to 40 weeks, gets you basic skills, NCEA credits if you need them, and a tutor who knows which employers are hiring. Useful, not required, and it costs time and sometimes fees. Careers New Zealand lists them.
Once hired, the employer registers you with the training organisation for your trade and you sign a training agreement alongside your employment agreement. It says what you will learn, how you are assessed, who pays the fees and how long it should take. Read both before you sign either.
The rules that do not change, and links to the numbers that do.
At least the minimum wage for every hour you work, including block courses and night classes that are part of the training. If you are 16 to 19 and doing at least 40 credits a year of industry training, an employer can pay the training wage, which is 80 percent of the adult minimum. From 20 it is the adult minimum or more, whatever year you are in. Pay rises as you progress, and in most trades a final year apprentice is close to a qualified rate. Ask what the firm pays at each year before you sign.
The training organisation charges fees for the qualification, and some trades add block course costs. Who pays is agreed between you and the employer, and many employers cover them or share them, sometimes with a clause that you repay if you leave early. Ask, and get it in the training agreement. Fees Free rules have changed more than once, so check feesfree.govt.nz for what applies to you this year.
Schemes that pay employers to take on apprentices, such as Apprenticeship Boost, have come and gone and changed shape with each Budget. It is worth knowing what is running when you ring around, because an employer who gets help is more likely to say yes. Work and Income and the Tertiary Education Commission carry the current detail.
Most firms provide the big tools and expect you to build your own hand tool kit over the first year. Steel caps and hi-vis are usually on you. Some trades expect a vehicle by year two. Ask about all of it before you start so nothing surprises you on the first pay day.
Each card links to the trade's own page where there is one. Years are the usual run; experience shortens it.
The biggest trade by numbers. Hammer hand first, then signed up. Houses, renovations, commercial sites.
Theory heavy, NCEA Level 2 maths matters, and registration at the end. Green List trade.
Three licences, often done together. Registration at the end. Green List trade.
Light vehicle, heavy diesel, panel, paint, auto electrical. Workshop hand first is the usual door.
Fitter turner, welder, fabricator, maintenance. Factories, workshops, marine and infrastructure.
Finishing trades. Smaller firms, quick to take on labourers, and easy to start in your twenties or thirties.
Physical and outdoors. Height safety training early. Often hire on attitude and fitness alone.
Electrical and mechanical together. Short of people in every main centre.
Kitchen hand first is the door. Assessed in the workplace, block courses at a polytechnic.
Salon assistant first, then signed up. Weekends and late nights are part of it.
Dairy, sheep and beef, orchards, viticulture, arboriculture. Housing sometimes comes with the job.
The Army, Navy and Air Force train mechanics, electricians, chefs, plumbers and more, paid from day one with fees covered. Their own entry process and fitness test.
Live roles on this site. The first list is apprenticeships and trade traineeships. The second is the labouring and hand roles that are how most people get signed up.
By city: AucklandWellingtonChristchurchHamiltonTaurangaDunedin
Firms that train apprentices say the same things. Turns up. Has a licence. Asks questions and does not sulk when corrected.
Licence in the first line. Any physical work, sport, school subjects that fit the trade, Site Safe if you have it, two referees who watched you work. The guide shows the layout with an example.
How to write a CV in NZ →Four paragraphs when you email. Four sentences when you walk in: who you are, what you have done, why this trade, when you can start. The guide has the shape.
How to write a cover letter in NZ →Trade interviews are short and often happen in the yard. Practise the questions out loud with the free interview coach so the first time you say them is not to the boss.
Practise the interview →Post the role free. Every applicant arrives with a plain English hiring brief that says what they have done, whether they hold a licence, and what they are like to work with, so you can see attitude before you see a CV.
This page explains the rules in plain words. It is not legal or immigration advice. The current wage rates, fees and support schemes are on the Employment New Zealand, Tertiary Education Commission, Work and Income and Immigration New Zealand websites.