Great Expectations: Power-Charging Apprenticeship Programs
summary
Argues that apprenticeships demand a real upfront investment but reliably produce junior hires, citing work with about 150 trainees at Turing School and referencing Sparkbox curriculum; prescribes concrete tools — backwards planning from end-skills, a week-by-week syllabus in Google Docs, a tiered Git-focused rubric (novice to exceptional), and an owned non-billable project or breakable toy — and shows the measurable outcome: gradual flip from learning to billable work and new productive junior developers.
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chapters (39)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:40What is Apprenticeship
- 4:33Are Apprenticeships worth it
- 5:13Will it pay off
- 6:37The Plan
- 8:55Why
- 10:10Right way wrong way
- 10:31Different motivations
- 11:34Topdown buyin
- 12:32Make your case
- 13:39Who is responsible for what
- 15:50Backwards planning
- 16:21Curriculum planning
- 20:01Tracking progress
- 21:35Semantics
- 22:10Positive Language
- 24:55Finding the Right Human
- 26:08Goals
- 27:17Group Dynamics
- 28:46Attitude Matters
- 29:33Shared Qualities
- 31:30How do you know
- 32:02Track record
- 34:21Code challenge
- 35:13End goals
- 35:51Onboarding
- 38:13Syllabus Schedule
- 38:44Syllabus
- 39:58Evaluation Rubric
- 40:21Breakable Toys
- 40:47Nonbillable Code
- 41:56Failing is part of learning
- 42:37Let them break things
- 43:11What if the worst happens
- 43:25Maybe you ran out
- 44:16Lost a big account
- 44:47Cut them loose
- 44:57Be fair
- 45:40Self mentorship
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