How to get an apprenticeship in New Zealand
Five steps: pick a trade, register your interest with the training provider for it, find an employer to take you on, sign up for a New Zealand Apprenticeship, and get a training plan. You must be 16 or older, there is no upper age limit, and you earn at least the training minimum wage ($19.16 an hour) from day one.
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How long did your apprenticeship take?
Put it on the record. Anonymous, about two minutes.
Add your timelineHow do you get an apprenticeship in New Zealand?
An apprenticeship is a job with training attached, so you need an employer before it can start. Pick a trade, contact the tertiary education provider that runs that apprenticeship to register your interest, find an employer, then sign up with the provider, who writes a training plan with you and your employer. Enrolling in a course and only then looking for work is the most common mistake.
- Pick a trade. Not forever — just enough to know what you are applying for. Our trade pages give the length, the pay and the entry requirements for each one; for electrical work the steps to registration are laid out in order. Still at school? The Gateway programme lets you try the trade in a real workplace for NCEA credits.
- Register your interest with the provider.Visit the provider's website or ring them, check the entry requirements, and ask whether they can help you find a job. Providers hear from employers who want an apprentice; see who runs apprenticeships now.
- Get an employer to take you on. This is the hard step and the one that gates everything else. Knock on doors, search job sites, apply directly to firms that do the work you want to do.
- Sign an employment agreement. Read the wage clause. If it requires 60 credits a year of industry training and you are 20 or over, you are on the training minimum wage of $19.16 — check what you are owed before signing.
- Sign up and get a training plan. When your employer thinks you are ready, go back to the provider. They arrange the New Zealand Apprenticeship (a Level 4 New Zealand Certificate) and write a training plan with you and your employer: block courses, day release or evening classes, plus on-job and written assessments.
- Check whether Apprenticeship Boost applies. Since 1 January 2025 it only covers first-year apprentices in targeted sectors with skill shortages; where it applies, your employer has 20 days from when your training starts to claim it. How the $500 a month works →
What apprenticeship can I do?
Most trades in New Zealand have a work-based route: building and construction, engineering, automotive, electrical and plumbing, hospitality, hairdressing and barbering, and agriculture among them. The table shows how long training takes for each trade we cover and what you need to get in, from each trade's Tahatū Career Navigator page.
| Trade | Training length | School entry point |
|---|---|---|
| Electrician | 3–4 years | NCEA Level 2 is the usual entry point for the study or training. |
| Plumber | 3–4 years | NCEA Level 2 if you are still at school. |
| Carpenter and builder | 3–4 years | NCEA Level 2 is usually required for the study or training. |
| Automotive technician and mechanic | 0–4 years | NCEA Level 2 may be useful, but is not specifically required. |
| Welder | 0–3 years | NCEA Level 2 may be useful, but is not specifically required. |
| Fitter and turner | 3–4 years | NCEA Level 2 if you are still at school. |
| Refrigeration and air-conditioning technician | 0–3 years | NCEA Level 2 is the usual entry point for the study or training. |
| Painter and decorator | 0–3 years | NCEA Level 2 if you are still at school. |
| Chef | 0–1 year | NCEA Level 2 may be useful, but is not specifically required. |
| Hairdresser and barber | 0–3 years | NCEA Level 2 if you are still at school. |
| Roofer | 0–3 years | NCEA Level 2 is usually needed for the study or training. |
| Drainlayer | 3–4 years | NCEA Level 2 is usually needed for the study or training. |
| Diesel mechanic | 1–4 years | NCEA Level 2 is usually needed for the study or training. |
Step-by-step guides for the biggest routes: carpentry and building, electrical, hairdressing and engineering. Changing careers later in life? See adult apprenticeships.
How do you qualify for an apprenticeship?
You must be 16 or older, with no upper age limit, and you need an employer to take you on. Each industry sets its own entry requirements. NCEA Level 2 maths and English are useful for any apprenticeship but are not always essential; apprentice electricians usually need Level 2 science, maths and English credits. Gateway or Trades Academy at school can help.
What is the easiest way to get an apprenticeship?
Go to the training provider first, not the job boards. Register your interest, ask which local employers are looking for an apprentice, and turn up to those firms in person. A short stint of work experience (Gateway at school, or a few unpaid trial days arranged properly) gives an employer a reason to pick you over someone they have never met.
What are employers looking for in an apprentice?
Someone worth a multi-year commitment: reliability, a driver licence if the trade needs one, and a genuine reason for choosing that trade. It helps to know that Apprenticeship Boost covers $500 a month of your first year, because many small firms taking on their first apprentice have never heard of it.
Understand what they are weighing up. An apprentice is a multi-year commitment for a small firm: wages from day one, supervision time, and someone who is not yet productive for a while. Anything you can put in front of them that lowers that cost or that risk is worth saying out loud, in the interview, for free.
Where do you find employers that take on apprentices?
Knock on doors, search job sites, and apply directly to firms that do the work you want to do. Your tertiary education provider may also help match you with employers. To start you off, we list 42 New Zealand businesses that take on apprentices, by trade and region — approach them directly, as we have no relationship with any of them and cannot pass on an application.
Browse employers → · By region →
Common questions
How do you qualify for an apprenticeship in NZ?
You must be 16 or older, and there is no upper age limit. You need an employer willing to take you on, because an apprenticeship is a job. Entry requirements vary by trade: NCEA Level 2 maths and English help for any apprenticeship, and electricians usually need Level 2 science, maths and English.
What is the easiest way to get an apprenticeship?
Contact the training provider for your trade before you look for work, register your interest and ask whether they can match you with an employer. Providers know which firms are looking for apprentices. At school, Gateway or Trades Academy gets you into a real workplace, which is often how the first employer is found.
Do I need to enrol in a course before I find an employer?
No, and doing it in that order is the most common mistake. You must secure employment first. Your tertiary education provider then develops a training plan with you and your employer.
What qualifications do I need to start an apprenticeship?
It varies by trade. NCEA Level 2 is the usual entry point for most trades, and for some it is only 'useful' rather than required. Each of our trade pages quotes the requirement for that specific trade.
What is a training plan?
A document your tertiary education provider develops with you and your employer. It sets out your on-job and off-job training — block courses, day release or evening classes — and the assessments you will complete.
How do I find an employer who takes apprentices?
Knock on doors, search job websites and apply directly. Your tertiary education provider may also help match you with employers looking for apprentices.
The process, the training plan and the advice to find an employer first are from Tahatū Career Navigator (Tertiary Education Commission) — About apprenticeships, checked 2026-11-04. Trade lengths and entry points from each trade's Tahatū page. Wage floors from Employment New Zealand; Apprenticeship Boost figures from Work and Income.