Apprentice Definition
An apprentice is an entry-level full-time employee under the guidance of a dedicated mentor, with the goals described in the following section. Like other full-time employees, they are eligible for benefits.
Apprenticeship Goals
The Apprenticeship Program is aimed at helping people that want to enter a professional domain, develop the skills to be able to independently and confidently contribute to that discipline by the end of their apprenticeship.
This might result in apprentices joining the program coming from a different field to learn a new domain, as well as serving as a transition between intern status to full-time professional status.
The program is also aimed at helping develop skills among minority students and professionals, in order to specifically drive increased diversity at Tidepool and more broadly within the tech and health care sectors.
Apprenticeship Requirements
Like Interns, Apprentices have a dedicated mentor. Ideally a mentor should have no more than two (2) combined apprentices + interns at the same time. This is in order to ensure the apprentices/interns receive the necessary attention to develop professionally in the course of their time with Tidepool.
At the outset of the Apprenticeship, the mentor and the Apprentice should identify and document the milestones for the Apprenticeship. There should be no less than two check-points: one at the 6-month mark and one at the 1-year mark, to ensure that the Apprentice is making steady progress towards the milestones.
Apprenticeships should last at least one (1) year. At the end of the Apprenticeship, the person is converted to Level 2. The conversion is driven by the completion of milestones set at the start of the Apprenticeship.
Compensation for apprentices aligns Tidepool’s Compensation Philosophy, at 50th percentile for Level 1 Individual Contributors within the function they are be joining. Apprentices become Level 2 after successfully completing the goals of the apprenticeship.
Sourcing Apprentices
One ideal source of Apprentices is our Internship Program: Interns that can stay on beyond the summer can be nominated by their mentor to convert to Apprentices.
Additionally, we partner with a variety of groups such as YearUp, to promote the apprenticeship opportunities in order to ensure they are visible to minority students and professionals.
New Apprentices hired from outside Tidepool need to be justified like any other full-time position, to ensure that their projected impact on Tidepool’s finances can be absorbed.
Conversion of Apprentices from our Intern program still need to be justified in terms of impact to one or more of the following areas: decreasing risk, increasing new revenue, reducing overhead cost, unblocking areas of the business, acquiring or retaining new users, optimizing operational performance, etc.
FAQ
Q: How do Apprentices and Interns differ?
An Apprentice is a full-time salaried regular employee with full benefits, whereas an Intern is a (paid) hourly employee, with no benefits.
Upon completion of the milestones defined at the beginning, Apprentices drop the “apprentice” title and grow to the next Level. Conversely, an Intern is typically hired with the knowledge that their assignment is temporary (e.g. they are going back to school at the end of the period).
Q: How are Apprentices and Interns alike?
Both are people that we think show great potential and both are assigned a mentor.
They are both given real work, and are expected to be accountable.