The cybersecurity community grew by 11% over the past year to 4.7 million professionals around the globe, but so did the skills gap. In fact, the gap widened at the faster pace of 25%, leading to 3.4 million vacancies, according to (ISC)² research.

(ISC)² CEO Clar Rosso shared these statistics during her opening remarks at Security Congress, taking place this week in Las Vegas. She said no single solution exists to close the gap. As (ISC)² has argued in the past, closing the gap will take a multipronged approach that involves attracting people from outside the industry, working with academia, and looking within organizations to find people in other departments with skills adaptable to cybersecurity.

But how do you bring inexperienced people up to speed on cybersecurity? One approach is through apprenticeships. And that was the topic of a Tuesday afternoon panel discussion at Congress. One thing that quickly became apparent during the discussion, based on questions from the audience, is that not everyone understands how apprenticeships work.

The U.S. Department of Labor has a formal program to support apprenticeships involving employers and educational institutions. Apprentices are paid for their work for participating in structured, industry-vetted programs that set them up for a career in their chosen field, such as cybersecurity.

“One characteristic of every registered apprenticeship is that it culminates in an industry-recognized credential,” Mike Prebil, senior policy analyst with the Center on Education & Labor at New America (CELNA), said during the panel discussion. And while the credential is not actually a license, it functions “like a license issued by a government entity.”

As explained in the Labor Department’s Apprenticeship.org site, apprenticeships give employers the opportunity to develop and prepare the future workforce, “and individuals can obtain paid work experience, receive progressive wage increases, classroom instruction, and a portable, nationally-recognized credential.”

Apprenticeships vs. College Degrees

Individuals who complete apprenticeships receive education that matches or surpasses the value of college instruction, said Douglas Howell, California State Director of the Labor Department’s Office of Apprenticeship.

“Certifications that are coming out of the registered apprenticeship programs are equal or better than the college certifications when you go to college degree,” he said. “The employers are accepting them. We have major partnerships with Microsoft, Amazon, Google. You don’t have to go to college to get a certification and you could get a good career going.”

Through apprenticeships, aspiring cybersecurity professionals have an opportunity to build a list of certifications in what is called “credential stacking,” said entrepreneur and cybersecurity expert Brandon Dunlap, who led the panel discussion. Instead of a college degree, individuals can pile up certifications such as CISSP and CCSP. Earn enough certifications, he said, and “you can’t even fit your qualifications on a business card.”

But apprenticeships and college educations aren’t mutually exclusive. Prebil noted that some apprenticeships are tied to college curricula, and in at least one example, the apprenticeship starts in junior high.

“College and apprenticeship do not have to be separate. We have a very difficult time in this country connecting those two systems. They were not designed to work together, but increasingly there’s interest in doing college apprenticeship at the same time,” he said.

Employer Benefits

One of the main reasons apprenticeships exist is to get people interested in fields that are poorly understood and underserved, which makes it difficult to fill positions. Such is the case with cybersecurity. So participation in apprenticeship programs benefits employers, not just those seeking employment.

Employers benefit in two primary ways, says Howell. For one thing, they can participate in a structured program geared to a specific outcome. At the end of the apprenticeship, the employer knows exactly what training an individual has received and the certifications they have earned.

The other benefit is funding. Currently, 95% of an employers’ costs are covered by federal and state programs, he said.

Panelist Jennifer Sosa, an attorney transitioning to cybersecurity, spoke about the value of apprenticeships. Having switched from chemical engineering to law, and now getting into cybersecurity, she said the opportunity to learn on the job is important. When you get into the job, “you realize you don’t know anything,” she said. With an apprenticeship, you start learning and getting confident in your chosen field.