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APPRENTICESHIPS These learn-and-earn jobs are enjoying a revival in the United States. Apprenticeships run two to four years, with workers often spending four days a week on the job and one
day in classes. Pay is 40 to 60 percent of what a fully skilled professional earns. At the end, apprentices leave with a credential certifying their skills and usually a permanent job with
the employer. Some employers adding apprenticeships are based in Europe — where such training programs never went out of style — and are bringing them to their U.S. operations. That includes
Siemens, an electrical engineering company based in Germany, and the Bühler Group, a Swiss technology company. The Obama administration last year set a goal to increase the number of
registered apprenticeships here to 750,000 over five years — up from the current 421,000. About 6 percent of apprentices whose programs are registered with the Department of Labor are 50 and
older. Among U.S. companies committed to expanding apprenticeships, CVS plans to double its apprentices by adding 1,500 over five years, while UPS has pledged to create 2,000 driver
apprenticeships by 2018. The Campbell Soup Co. expects to apprentice more than 4,000 employees in the next three years. The majority of apprenticeships remain in the building and
manufacturing trades, but they are spreading to health care, insurance and information technology. BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, for instance, has hired hundreds of IT apprentices.
And Zurich Insurance Group of Switzerland is developing apprenticeships in claims and underwriting at its U.S. offices. Marcia Nelson, of Columbia, S.C., entered BlueCross' IT project
management apprenticeship several years ago. It gave her the opportunity to advance, boost her pay and grow professionally, says Nelson, who had been working in accounting for BlueCross.
"I'm always out there looking for the next opportunity," she says. "What should I be doing next?" Many of Nelson's fellow apprentices were younger, she says,
but her entry into the program encouraged her peers to enroll later. "New beginnings don't just start at college graduation," she says. "They can start at 40, they can
start at 50." Check the Department of Labor's website for apprenticeships in your area. BE YOUR OWN BOSS People age 45 and older are launching businesses at a greater pace than
their younger counterparts, reports the Kauffmann Foundation, which focuses on entrepreneurship. This growth in older entrepreneurs began during the Great Recession, when layoffs jumped and
seasoned workers couldn't find jobs, says Elizabeth Isele, founder of Senior Entrepreneurship Works, an education and advocacy nonprofit. Lynn Zuckerman Gray, 66, is one of them. She
lost her senior administrative position at Lehman Brothers after the financial firm imploded in 2008. One of her favorite parts of that job had been recruiting new grads for Lehman's
real estate division. Figuring that other firms also were laying off their in-house recruiters, Gray "sensed a niche."