The 700K Gap No One Can Ignore
The United States faces a shortage of 700,000 cybersecurity professionals, part of a global crisis reaching 4.8 million unfilled positions. This isn't just a hiring challenge—it's a national security concern. Traditional education can't keep pace, and the experience paradox persists: entry-level candidates can't get jobs without experience, yet can't gain experience without jobs.
Apprenticeships offer a strategic solution by combining paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction and industry certifications, creating talent pipelines while candidates gain the hands-on experience employers desperately need.
The Technical Skills That Matter
Modern cyber apprenticeships develop core competencies across network security, threat detection, and incident response. Programs align training with industry certifications like CompTIA Security+, CEH, and CISSP as measurable milestones. Apprentices progress from analyzing SIEM logs to conducting vulnerability assessments and advanced penetration testing.
The challenge? Tracking diverse technical activities across multiple environments—labs, simulations, client sites—while proving progressive skill mastery.
Craft's competency tagging system maps every hands-on lab, certification milestone, and penetration testing exercise to specific DOL competencies, creating an audit-ready trail that proves technical skill mastery.
The Compliance Challenge in Tech Training
DOL requirements don't disappear because training is technical. Programs must track OJT hours, RTI completion, and wage progression across multiple sites. Form 671 and Appendix A require technical accuracy, and incomplete documentation jeopardizes WIOA funding eligibility.
Many administrators spend more time managing spreadsheets than developing curriculum—a manual nightmare of data entry and constant verification.
Craft's AutoReg feature uses AI assistance to complete Form 671 and Appendix A automatically, handling DOL registration while you focus on building technical talent, not battling bureaucracy.
Multi-Site Technical Programs at Scale
Cybersecurity apprentices rotate through managed service providers, enterprise SOCs, and consulting firms. Each site offers different specializations, but this creates coordination challenges: How do you maintain visibility when learners are scattered? How do you ensure consistent evaluation across multiple mentors? How do you track hours when apprentices split weeks between different client environments?
Without purpose-built infrastructure, programs resort to fragmented spreadsheets and manual consolidation, preventing effective scaling.
Craft's bulk CSV upload capabilities enable multi-site IT programs to onboard entire cohorts instantly, assign custom tags by location or client site, and maintain unified dashboards across distributed teams—all on a free platform without per-user fees.
Building Programs That Scale
As programs grow, complexity multiplies. Real-time analytics become essential—program directors need immediate visibility into certification progress, competency completion, and cohort performance. This data demonstrates program value to leadership and justifies expansion while identifying bottlenecks before they derail learner success.
Craft provides real-time dashboards that track certification progress, OJT hours, and competency completion across your entire program, giving directors the data needed to identify gaps, celebrate wins, and justify expansion.
The Path Forward
The cybersecurity talent crisis demands innovative approaches. Registered apprenticeships provide candidates with paid positions while they learn, give employers access to developing talent, and create pathways for diverse backgrounds to enter high-demand careers.
Success depends on having tools that handle both technical rigor and regulatory compliance—systems that scale from pilots to statewide initiatives without breaking budgets.
Ready to build a cybersecurity apprenticeship program that scales? Schedule a demo to see how Craft helps IT and security programs track hands-on labs, certifications, and penetration testing hours with automated DOL compliance—the best free apprenticeship data management platform built for both compliance rigor and technical skill validation.
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