Apprenticeship Program

 

Norfolk Naval Shipyard's (NNSY) Apprenticeship Program, in partnership with TCC, is designed to attract talented individuals who want a rewarding career with the federal government.

 

Apprenticeship announcement periods usually open in February each year. The 2025 season opened February 3, 2025 and closes on May 30, 2025.

 

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
All prospective candidates must:

  1. Be a United States citizen.
  2. Be a high school graduate or have the GED equivalent at time of employment.
  3. Must be at least 17 years of age and 9 months to apply.
  4. Be able to meet security and medical requirements.
  5. Sign an apprentice agreement that specifies academic and trade course requirements to complete the program.
  6. Be able to attend classes during working hours and provide your own transportation while taking classes at Tidewater Community College (TCC) campus.
  7. Be currently enrolled at TCC or have applied for admissions either in person, by mail, or online at: Apply to TCC  Tidewater Community College Application for Admission.
  8. Each individual applying for NNSY apprentice program must have taken the college VPT college placement test through TCC (Portsmouth campus) within TWO years of the opening date of the announcement (February 3, 2023 and the current application closing date) or retake the placement test to be eligible for the program.
  9. The test consists of a three or four-hour battery of tests measuring your abilities in the areas of Reading, Writing and Mathematics. You are encouraged to take the sample test questions online at TCC’s website, Resources for Placement Testing (tcc.edu) You must be placed out of MTH 3 (or MTH 1), or MTE1, 2, & 3, or qualifying placement and are recommended for EDE 11 or higher (includes being eligible for ENG111).
  10. Testing Services are currently available by appointment. Appointments must be made 24 hours in advance by emailing testing@tcc.edu or calling at 757-822-2194.

Students participate in a rigorous training program combining TCC's academic classes with NNSY’s trade theory training and on-the-job learning experience. All academics will be given during working hours within the program's first year. Participants will take courses taught by TCC faculty members, normally at the Portsmouth Campus.

Compressed sessions will consist of 2 nine-week sessions, leading to a Certificate of Completion.

Apprentices are employed with a salary range of $17.71 to $19.51 per hour and receive promotions upon successful completion of program requirements. In the last three years of the program, students will be given on-the-job learning and trade theory courses. Upon graduation, apprentices are eligible to be converted to the journeyman level of their trade.

 

 

 

Norfolk Naval Shipyard Information Packet

 

For Questions:
NNSY_People_Experience@us.navy.mil

757-967-4548

 

 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Click on a question to view its answer (or just scroll down)
 
  1. What trades are offered for the apprentice program? 
  2. I have previously applied or submitted an application to Tidewater Community College several years ago, but did not attend. Do I have to reapply?  
  3. I have previously been enrolled in Tidewater Community College, but it was several years ago. Do I have to reapply?  
  4. How do I find information about taking the Virginia Placement Test (VPT)?  
  5. Who needs to take the placement test?  
  6. How do I know if my placement test scores meet the requirements for eligibility?  
  7. Do my placement test scores impact my eligibility for any particular trade? 
  8. I attended another college before coming to TCC. Will my credits transfer? If so, can I be exempt from courses I've already completed?  
  9. What happens after the announcement's closing date?

 


Q1: What trades are offered for the apprentice program?


A1: Students are selected for various blue-collar trades listed below:     

 
Boilermaker: Fabricates, assembles, and installs repairs, and test boilers and boiler components. Work performed will be both in the shop and aboard ships from blueprints, sketches, specifications, layout templates and process instructions.

Electrician: Fabricates, installs, modifies, and repairs shipboard electrical systems, controls, instrumentation and rewind motors.                                                    
Electronics Mechanic: Installs, modifies, fabricates and repairs electrical/electronic systems, controls and instrumentation.  Uses blueprints, technical manuals and test procedures in accordance with specified guidelines.  Works on complex systems such navigation systems, fire control systems, radar and sonar equipment and satellite communications systems.


Fabric Worker: Fabricate, repair, and install fabric articles such as awnings, sails, boat canopies, weather and protective cloths, fenders, bumpers, various types of covers, and other ship and boat materials.


Heavy Mobile Equipment Mechanic: Determines cause of mechanical operation problem, trace and locate defects, and make repairs to diesel, gasoline, and other types of internal combustion engines; automatic and non-automatic transmissions; heavy duty drive line systems; and hydraulic utility systems and controls.


Machinist:  Manufacture and repair parts and items of equipment which require the use of various types of standard and special machine tools and their attachments to machine metals, metal alloys, and other materials.


Marine Machinery Mechanic: Dismantle, repair, relocate, modify, maintain, align, overhaul and install a wide variety of marine machinery, equipment and systems such as propulsion machinery, lifeboat davits, anchor handling gear, and missile tube equipment located aboard submarines, ships and other floating craft.


Pipefitter:  Installs, maintains, and fabricates various piping systems and equipment necessary to carry out the overhaul and repair of naval vessels and to support shipboard hotel services and engineering systems. The piping systems include water (salt and fresh), steam (high and low pressure), compressed air, fuel, and sanitation systems.


Rigger: Use chainfalls, blocks and tackles, winches, cranes, and other mechanical devices to safely move items, ranging from a few pounds to those weighing several hundred tons, usually from or to areas within ships or submarines.


Sheet Metal Mechanic: Constructs and installs metal products to include ventilation, furniture (desks, tables, bunks, lockers, cabinets, bins, etc.), bulkheads, ladders, handrails, and equipment foundations, Interprets blueprints, develops patters, and use computer programs designed to develop sketches.


Shipfitter:  Develops, lays out, bolts, assembles and erects ferrous, nonferrous metals and plastic plate.  Manufactures and installs interior and exterior items on vessels such as bulwarks, catapult structures, doors, foundations, hatches, railings and tanks.  Prepares surfaces for welding, burning or riveting.


Shipwright: Builds and lays out keel and bilge blocks as supporting cradles for dry-docking submarines and surface ships. Installs and repairs wood bulkheads, doors, sash, paneling, ladders, super-structure decks and gratings, wooden decks and panels of wood substitutes.
 


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Q2:  I have previously applied or submitted an application to Tidewater Community College several years ago but did not attend. Do I have to reapply?
 

A2: If you applied but did not attend within three semesters (1 year), yes, you will need to reapply. Visit any campus Admissions Office for assistance or reapply online at http://www.apply.vccs.edu/applications/vccs/apply.html?application_id=3352.

                                                               
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Q3:  I have previously been enrolled in Tidewater Community College, but it was several years ago. Do I have to reapply?
 

A3: If you have not been enrolled in classes at TCC for more than three years, yes, you will need to reapply. Visit any campus Admissions Office for assistance or reapply online at http://www.apply.vccs.edu/applications/vccs/apply.html?application_id=3352.
 

                                                               
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Q4:  How do I find information about taking the Virginia Placement Test (VPT)?
 

A4: Log into the TCC website: http://help.tcc.edu/s/article/Resources-for-Placement-Testing. Testing services are currently available by appointment. Appointments must be made 24 hours in advance by emailing testing@tcc.edu or calling at 757-822-2194.

The TCC website provides information about the testing center locations, testing schedule, practice questions, links to resources for studying Math/English, etc. Since the placement tests can only be retaken once within a 12-month period, we recommend completing the practice tests prior to taking the actual placement test. You also may want to consider arriving at the testing center closer to opening, rather than closing time, as the English and Math tests can take up to 2-4 hours each to complete. For the same reason, many choose to take the tests on separate days. There is no testing fee required.

                                                        
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Q5:  Who needs to take the placement test?
 

A5: The test results determine eligibility for the program. EVERYONE who wants to apply to NNSY's Apprenticeship Program MUST participate in the college's placement test through TCC (Portsmouth campus) within TWO years of the opening date of the announcement or retake the placement test to be eligible for the program. For the 2026 hire, this will be February 3, 2023 and the current application closing date. College degrees/transcripts and SAT scores CANNOT be submitted in lieu of the placement test.


                                                               
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Q6:  How do I know if my placement test scores meet the requirements for eligibility?
 

A6: For you to be eligible for an interview, you must be placed out of MTH 3 (or MTH 1), or MTE 1, 2, & 3, or qualifying placement and are recommended for EDE 11 or higher (includes being eligible for ENG 111).
                                                               


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Q7:  Do my placement test scores impact my eligibility for any particular trade?
 

A7: No. However, applicants may influence the trade they are selected for if they take advantage of their opportunities to describe applicable aptitude and experience on their resume and during the interview. Candidates will have the opportunity to list three prioritized trade choices, which will be considered by the interview selection panel. The selection panel makes the final selections and applicants have the right to refuse any offer. If the applicant refuses a job offer, no other offer will be made during this hiring cycle.


                                                               
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Q8:  I attended another college before coming to TCC. Will my credits transfer? If so, can I be exempt from courses I’ve already completed?
 

A8: Have an official copy of your previous college/university transcript sent to Tidewater Community College, Central Records Office, P.O. Box 9000, Norfolk, VA 23509-9000. You will also need to complete TCC's Evaluation of Previous Educational Experiences Form and submit it electronically to the Central Records Office. 

This WILL NOT EXEMPT YOU from taking the placement test or the courses required by the apprentice program.                            

                                                                                               
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Q9:  What happens after the announcement’s closing date?
 

A9: If you are eligible for an interview, you will be notified, via the email address provided on your Indeed account, of your interview date and time. Please monitor your email inbox carefully, as well as the spam/junk folders.

Interviews are expected to be held between the summer and fall of the same year that the applicant applied for the program. After the interviews are completed, selections will be made and if you are selected for a job offer, you will be notified via the email address provided on your Indeed account. Each individual accepting a job with NNSY will be required to pass a pre-employment physical and security review at the Shipyard. You will be scheduled for both of these by shipyard personnel.

New employees are tentatively expected to arrive on-board at the Shipyard either February or August the following year of applying for the program.
                                                                                               
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