Interested in the next step in your machining career? Consider Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL's) elite machinist apprenticeship, which now accepting applications for its 2025 cohort.
The California-certified program is one of the oldest in the nation, and one of the most unique. Apprentices are trained in LLNL's complete onsite manufacturing complex, which is equipped to make parts with varying sizes, extreme precision and a wide range of techniques, in support of U.S. national security.
Top candidates will test and interview this spring for 2-6 paid apprenticeships, which will begin over the summer. At the end of four years, graduates earn state-issued machinist certificates and a skillset that prepares them to be world-class machinists and leaders.
Apprentices master the fundamentals through rigorous on-the-job training and supplemental instruction, develop strong professional networks, and gain experience with a plethora of machines and processes by rotating through a variety of shops at the Lab. Since LLNL is a research and development facility, apprentices also learn to manufacture parts that have never been made before - often involving new techniques, unique materials or unusual geometries.
"We do everything here, so the apprenticeship offers a very well-rounded education," said Jason Carroll, LLNL's Main Bay machine shop supervisor and a former apprentice. "We do general machining, special materials and grinding, as well as water jet and sheet metal if need be. We even have tours where you learn how to run a coordinate measuring machine or do other granite plate inspections."
Along the way, apprentices often cultivate a sense of pride in their work and its value to the country, as well as an understanding of the novelty, opportunity and stability that come with working at the Lab.
"Machining is part of everything we do," said Materials Engineering Division Manufacturing Section Superintendent Larry Sage, who helps lead the program.
To apply, visit the recruiting page. Learn more about the apprenticeship on YouTube..
-Noah Pflueger-Peters
