You have an apprenticeship open. The slots are funded. The mentors are ready. Now you need people. The right people are veterans, and a lot of them are looking for exactly this kind of role. The problem is simple. They are not all looking in the same place you are posting.

This guide is about one thing. Where to list your apprenticeship so veterans actually see it. Not how to build a program. Not how to get GI Bill funding. Those are big topics on their own, and we cover them elsewhere. This is the sourcing channel. The job boards, the finders, and the listing tools that put your opening in front of veteran apprentice candidates.

Veterans are a strong fit for apprenticeships. They are used to structured training. They show up on time. They take instruction and run with it. Many leave the service with hands-on technical skills but no civilian credential yet. An apprenticeship gives them the paper to match the skill. Your job is to make sure they find the door.

Why a regular job board misses veteran apprentices

Most companies post an apprenticeship like any other job. They put it on a general board and wait. That works sometimes. But it leaks candidates in two ways.

First, a lot of people searching general boards want a finished job. They are not looking to train. They scroll past the word "apprentice" because it reads as junior or low-pay. So your listing gets fewer of the people who actually want a training track.

Second, veterans who want to learn a trade often start their search in apprenticeship-specific places. They search "apprenticeship" plus their trade. They use government finder tools. They check union and trade-school listings. If your opening lives only on a general board, those searchers never cross paths with it.

The fix is not to abandon general boards. The fix is to add the channels built for apprentice candidates. Each one reaches a different slice of the same pool.

Where should you list an apprenticeship to reach veterans?

Start with the free federal channel, then layer in the others. None of these cost money to post on. They reach different groups, so use more than one.

Apprenticeship.gov and the Job Finder

The official starting point is Apprenticeship.gov, run by the U.S. Department of Labor. Employers can list openings through the "List Your Apprenticeship Jobs" tool. Those listings show up in the Apprenticeship Job Finder, where candidates search by career and location and apply directly with you.

This is the first place a serious apprentice-seeker looks. Many veterans land here straight from a benefits counselor or a transition class. Our search data shows steady traffic on terms like "apprenticeship.gov job finder" and "apprenticeships for veterans." That is free demand. If you are not listed there, you are not in front of it.

State apprenticeship listings and workforce boards

Many states run their own apprenticeship listings. They tie into the state workforce system and the American Job Center network. A veteran working with a state job center often gets pointed straight to these listings. The Department of Labor's Office of Apprenticeship can point you to your state's office and tools.

These boards also connect you to state staff who help with veteran outreach. That help is free. It is worth one phone call to your state apprenticeship office to ask how to get your opening listed and shared.

Union and trade-school listings

If your trade runs through a joint apprenticeship committee or a union local, that is a strong listing spot. So are community college and technical school job boards. Veterans using GI Bill benefits often enroll there first. Posting where they already study puts your opening in front of motivated candidates who are mid-training.

How do veteran job boards help with apprenticeships?

General boards reach everyone. Veteran job boards reach a pool that is already veterans. That matters for apprenticeships because of who is in that pool. Many of these people just left the service. They are mid-transition. They want a training track that turns their military skill into a civilian credential.

Some veteran boards let you filter or tag a listing as entry-level, training, or apprenticeship. Use that tag. It tells the right people that you will train them. It also keeps your post out of the way of people hunting for senior roles.

There is a second reason these boards pay off for apprenticeships. The people on them get why a training track is worth it. A veteran who just left a technical job knows the value of a credential. They are not looking down on "apprentice" the way a general-board searcher might. They see it as the bridge from what they did in uniform to a licensed civilian trade. That mindset makes them better applicants and better finishers.

We go deep on these channels in our guide to the best veteran job boards for employers and our broader piece on where to post jobs to reach veteran candidates. The apprenticeship angle is the same play with one twist. Lead with the training, not the title.

How should you write an apprenticeship listing for veterans?

Where you post matters. So does what the post says. A veteran scanning a finder tool reads fast. Give them the facts that decide whether they apply. Most listings bury those facts or skip them.

Say it is paid. Apprentices earn while they learn, and veterans need to know your wage before they apply. Say how long the program runs. Say what credential they earn at the end. Name the trade in plain words, not an internal job code.

Then say one line about veterans. Something like "Military experience welcome. We train you to the credential." That one line tells a veteran the door is open even if they do not have civilian paper yet. For a full breakdown, see our guide on writing a job description that attracts veterans.

One more thing helps on a finder tool. Use the trade word the candidate would search. If your internal title is "Field Technician Trainee," but the trade is HVAC, put HVAC in the listing. Veterans search "HVAC apprenticeship," not your internal job code. The closer your words match their search, the higher you show up. A title that only makes sense inside your company will not surface to the right people.

Where do veterans with the right hands-on skills come from?

Apprenticeships in the trades and technical fields fit certain military jobs almost one to one. A service member who turned wrenches on heavy equipment already has the hands and the safety habits. They just need the civilian credential. When you list, it helps to know which military backgrounds map to your trade so you can speak to them.

A few examples of strong feeder backgrounds for trade and technical apprenticeships:

• Heavy equipment and construction roles, like the Army's horizontal construction engineers and Navy equipment operators.
• Vehicle and equipment mechanics, like the Army's wheeled vehicle mechanics, who feed diesel and maintenance apprenticeships.
• Electrical and electronics roles, like Marine electricians, who slot into electrical apprenticeships.

You do not need to ask a candidate to hand over a discharge document to learn what they can do. Their service record confirms when they served, not how to do the job. Read their skills from the resume and the conversation. Then match the trade.

For a wider view of how military trades line up with field work, see our guide on recruiting veterans for skilled trades and field operations and our breakdown of hiring veterans for construction roles.

Should you wait for applies or search a candidate pool?

Listing your apprenticeship is the inbound play. You post and you wait. It works, but it is slow, and you only see the people who happen to find you that week. There is a faster play that runs alongside it.

Search a veteran candidate pool and reach out first. Instead of hoping the right person finds your finder listing, you find them. You search for the trade skill, the location, and the interest in training. Then you send a short note about the apprenticeship.

This is where Best Military Resume comes in. Our pool adds over 1,000 new veteran profiles every month, and more than 60,000 resumes have been built on the platform. That is a steady stream of veterans, many fresh out of the service and looking for exactly the kind of training track an apprenticeship offers. You can search it and reach out, instead of waiting on a post.

How do you put this all together?

You do not have to use every channel at once. Start with the free federal listing. Add one or two channels that fit your trade. Write the post so a veteran knows it is paid, how long it runs, and what they earn. Then run a candidate search in parallel so you are not stuck waiting.

Veterans who served on active duty during the recent era have stayed below the national average for unemployment, but the ones leaving now still want a clear path into civilian work. An apprenticeship is one of the clearest paths there is. Put your opening where they look, write it so they know it is for them, and reach out when you can. The supply is there.

Reach veteran apprentices through BMR

Posting and waiting is half the job. The other half is going to find the right veterans yourself. BMR gives you a pool that grows by over 1,000 new veteran profiles every month, with more than 60,000 resumes built on the platform. Many of those veterans want a training track into a civilian trade. That is exactly who an apprenticeship serves.

If you want to reach veteran apprentice candidates directly, reach out about BMR's veteran talent pool. We will help you connect your apprenticeship with veterans who are looking for it right now.