Considering apprenticeship software? Learn why Apprentix is the right tool to design and manage your apprenticeships.
The most common question I get is: How is Apprentix different from [X]?
Here’s a list of reasons why I think Apprentix is the world’s best apprenticeship software.
If you research apprenticeship software, you’ll first find glorified and overpriced Excel spreadsheets. You’ll find apprenticeship software for tracking apprenticeships, like Apprentrac, myOneFlow, and TradeSchool. Their focus is reporting, not the daily ins-and-outs of an apprenticeship program.
You’ll also find apprenticeship software claiming to be “all-in-one” or “full-service,” like Workhands, Apprentiscope, or Symba. You’ll even find apprenticeship software for UK-based companies, EU-based companies, and AU-based companies.
There are no tools that help you create an apprenticeship other than Apprentix. In fact, Apprentix is the only apprenticeship software that spans the entire apprenticeship program end-to-end. Apprentix helps with the creation and the recruiting and the management and the tracking of your apprenticeship program.
Why has nobody else built their software this way? The process to begin your apprenticeship program is complex and confusing. I’ve had intimate experience with building my own apprenticeships from scratch. I knew what to (and what not to) ask for. I knew how to streamline the process - so everything was easier and more effective.
I wanted apprenticeship software that cut the design time from months to minutes, that automated essential elements of apprenticeship management like writing a job description, filling out DoL Registration documents, creating On-The-Job Learning (OJL) plans, and automating wage progressions. I wanted apprenticeship software that told me, my managers & mentors, and my apprentices, what we needed to do right now, today, so I could get it done – in and out in minutes.
So I built it. I taught myself to code and literally built Apprentix.
Only Apprentix bridges the gap between the creation and management of an apprenticeship program.
I wholeheartedly believe apprenticeships are the future of work.
But in order for apprenticeships to flourish as I envisioned, they needed to become more accessible. The first place to start? The learning barrier. Specifically, the need to learn a whole new vernacular just to begin.
In Apprentix, we cut the fluff. All the information you need to capture is asked of you in plain English, and we tell you why the information you’re providing is necessary as you go along.
You can use Apprentix’s 12-step design process to guide you through the apprenticeship world on your own time. No prior learning required. And no cost until you hire your first apprentice.
You choose who to add to your apprenticeship software – and what visibility they have into your program. That way everything and everyone you need to run your apprenticeship is housed inside Apprentix, in one place.
You can assign a user one or multiple roles:
As an Apprentix admin, you have full access to manage user permissions, billing, and your apprenticeship program.
For single sponsors, Apprentix provides apprenticeship overviews, results, and reports. For multi-employer sponsors, Apprentix allows employers to name you their sponsor and you receive access to their apprenticeships.
For managers, Apprentix provides an easily-accessible access point to all parts of the apprenticeship program – making it simple for you to review and approve time and evaluations, along with knowing what work to assign apprentices.
For mentors, Apprentix provides visibility to all your mentees, their progress, and allows you to provide them with feedback within the platform.
For apprentices, Apprentix becomes their day-to-day workplace where they can stay up-to-date on their classroom hours, On-the-Job Learning (OJL) hours, and even receive certifications (an NFT certification too).
We know that managing an apprenticeship program isn’t your whole job. And it shouldn’t take an apprentice more than a minute to figure out where they are and what to do next. That’s why Apprentix is action-centric so everyone can get in, get out, and get to work.
With Apprentix, we’ve developed a modern user interface designed specifically for action items. Login and you’ll see your to-dos on the first dashboard. You’ll also get email notifications as action item reminders. As long-time project management software users, we’ve taken the best pieces of those tools and made sure you had access to them in one place.
Apprentix guarantees that you have full privacy control over your account. No one outside of who you add to your account can access and view your apprenticeship – your secret sauce stays your secret sauce. User permissions are based on roles you assign (Admin, Sponsor, Manager, Mentor, Apprentice). Apprentix will never sell your data.
Gone are the days of manually rounding up numbers and stats. You can have apprentices submit time logs and requests for evaluations for technical, behavioral, and technology competencies, credit for previous work and education experience, interim credential achievement, and anything else you want tracked. As the Admin, you and the apprentice’s manager can review, edit, and approve all time and evaluation requests.
You’ll even be notified when the approval you’re making will trigger a wage increase. That way you can be sure the apprentice is proficient in that area before they get a raise.
For those of you with Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs), you know how painful RAPIDS reporting and audits can be. Apprentix has a report export feature to make RAPIDs reporting simple. When you use our apprenticeship software, you’ll easily capture evidence in support of time and evaluations so you have everything you need for audits with the click of a button.
Apprentix runs on Apprentix. No other tool on the market uses the tool for themselves. That’s saying something.
Also, 100% of our customer support team is based right here in the United States. Our customer support representatives are apprentices themselves. And we manage their apprenticeship programs in Apprentix!
Help with your apprenticeship program in Apprentix by apprentices also in apprenticeships managed in Apprentix – a little apprenticeship software inception?
We also offer a comprehensive self-service knowledge base and publish weekly articles on our blog to help you run successful apprenticeships.
I was so convinced that a better platform was needed to modernize and spread apprenticeships, that I dedicated myself to learning programming and my on-the-job learning was to build Apprentix. It took me an entire year working full-time on Apprentix.
I was tired of struggling to create and manage my apprenticeships. Apprentix is the first-and-only apprenticeship software designed by apprenticeship program managers for apprenticeship program managers.
Apprentix is also 100% bootstrapped, paid for by customers. We’ve had no fundraising, no loans, no grants. That means our approach is customer-first. We ask: what will benefit our customer most in the long-term?
Our mission is to revolutionize the way the world works through the power of apprenticeships. If you’re not perfectly happy with the results you’re getting from Apprentix after 90-days, we’ll gladly refund your money. But that’s not enough, we know what you really want is for the platform to work for you. That’s why we’re happy to provide you with an additional 90-days, with coaching, to make sure you and your apprentices are getting the results you need.
Firstly, we didn’t build a learning management system (LMS) into Apprentix. There are 1,000+ LMS systems in the market, so we aren’t a replacement for your LMS system. However, you can easily link out from Apprentix to your LMS system so your apprentices know what course to take. We also haven’t spent much time on integrations with the platforms you might currently use – such as calendars or payroll – only email and in-app notifications for now and we expect to continue to add integrations as Apprentix grows.
Apprenticeships will modernize as more businesses get on board. When that happens, we’ll be ready to update with them. You can look forward to our imperfections being addressed in 2022, along with other innovations that will keep us ahead of the pack.
