An apprentice is someone who is learning a trade while working under the guidance of skilled workers of that trade, called journeymen. Apprenticeship is on-the-job training. You earn while you learn and you are paid a wage from the first day you become an apprentice. Today, many women are training as apprentices, too. Beginning apprentices usually start at about half of the journeyman rate of pay. Your wages are increased periodically, usually every six month, until you reach the full journeyman scale at the end of the apprenticeship period. IN most cases the length of your apprenticeship is four years, with no cost to you for the training.