To become a carpenter, high school students should take construction, building, shop, and trade courses. Knowledge of tools and how to do construction calculations, such as estimating, subtracting, and finding height, width and volume are important.

Completion of high school classes does not count for hours in the apprenticeship program, but the experience and classes taken are valuable in building a student’s skill set and should be discussed in the interview.

Carpenter Apprenticeship Program Overview

To graduate from carpenter apprentice to journey worker, you’ll complete 7,000 hours of on-the-job training (OJT) and 640 hours of classroom learning. Completion hours may vary depending on the region you belong to. Carpenter apprentices will be evaluated through demonstrations of skill and technique, and standard knowledge exams.

Contact your local training center to learn more >

It Doesn’t Stop at Journeyworker

After successfully completing your apprenticeship and becoming a journeyworker, there’s still opportunity to further advance your career. You may oversee a crew on a job site as a lead person, or become a foreman or project superintendent. You may even go on to start your own company! Whatever your goals, Carpenters Training Institute will work with you to achieve them.

Continuing Education Courses

• Aerial Lift & Rough Terrain
• Welding
• OSHA
• ICRA: Infectious Control Risk Assessment
• And many more!

No college debt. No regrets. Listen to Louis Rojas’ construction career experience.

Carpenters work on almost any construction site imaginable, including new construction and remodeling, such as single-family homes; condominium and apartment projects; office towers, corporate and industrial buildings; new and remodeled hospitals, malls, stores and offices; and public projects such as stadiums, arenas, roads, bridges, schools and university buildings.

Carpenters need more than just good math and geometry skills; they have to be tough and flexible, able to work indoors or out, in the summer heat and humidity or in the bitter cold and snow of winter.