What are the benefits of doing a professional apprenticeship?

Develop industry-specific skills and enhance your employability with GVI’s global professional apprenticeships. Taking part in a professional apprenticeship with GVI will keep you a step ahead of the rest in the conservation and sustainable development industries. 

GVI is an award-winning organisation, so when you join an international apprenticeship program with us, you can be sure that you’ll be involved in a project that’ll make a real impact, and look great on your CV.

You can choose to join our in-field professional apprenticeship programs for a period of 4 to 24 weeks, with start dates occurring every 2 weeks. You’ll also receive extensive pre-program training including: 

• an expectation group call that’ll give you the chance to meet your fellow interns, get to know the staff and prepare for your apprenticeship
• our GVI around the world presentation – which outlines our impact across all of our locations and focus areas, worldwide
• GVI Online leadership and specialisation courses endorsed by the University of Richmond.

But the training doesn’t end there. Any additional location – and program  specific training that’s needed, such as language courses, TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) certifications or PADI certifications will also be provided on base once your program has started. You’ll also receive ongoing support from your remote professional apprenticeship supervisor throughout your program.

The main focus of our professional apprenticeship is for you to complete practical work at a GVI base as well as a range of virtual project work with our international partners. You’ll also get the opportunity to gain insight into how projects are implemented in a variety of our professional apprenticeship locations, when you meet and collaborate virtually with other career interns, and partners, across our locations around the world.

Some of the international partners that you could work with, include Save the Children; The Red Cross; The Endangered Wildlife Trust; government ministries for the environment, youth and education in various countries and the South African National Parks Board.

Participants can also choose to pay an additional fee to do an external placement. Placements can range from 4 to 12 weeks, and further develop your industry knowledge and skills, all while you gain valuable international experience in your field of choice. 

And GVI’s support and involvement in your career doesn’t just stop once you’ve completed your professional apprenticeship. You’ll continue to receive support and guidance from a career mentor through two remote career coaching sessions that’ll help you take the next step in your career. You’ll also receive:

• a LinkedIn reference from your remote professional apprenticeship supervisor 
• certificates from the University of Richmond for any of the GVI Online courses you completed 
• access to our GVI Online careers course
• an employment guarantee (if your apprenticeship was longer than 6 months)
• preference for GVI vacancies 
• access to our carefully curated job portal that advertises vacancies in the conservation and development sectors.

If you aren’t too sure what you’d like to do in the future, or our professional apprenticeships are just a bit too specialised for you right now, you can also choose to participate in one of our more general internship programs instead. 

As an intern you won’t work closely with and complete projects with external partners, but you will take on extra responsibilities at the GVI base. You might also lead surveys, program activities or workshops, or organise beach cleanups, fundraisers, and provide marketing support. 

You can also opt for a research fellowship. This type of program is best suited for you if you’re looking to get advanced experience in field research, or are a university student and need to conduct field-based research.

GVI offers apprenticeships across many different focus areas including marine conservation, wildlife conservation, community development, women’s empowerment, global public health and business and micro-enterprise development.

Community development

If you’re looking to have a more varied and holistic professional apprenticeship experience, GVI has many opportunities in community development that you can choose from. 

From teaching children and adults, to collaborating on empowerment initiatives with community members and career interns in other locations, you can choose to join a GVI community development apprenticeship in places around the world.

Women’s Empowerment

We may have come a long way in advancing women’s rights across the globe, but even today, women and girls still face a massive uphill climb to access the same resources and opportunities as men.

When you decide to become an intern on one of GVI’s women empowerment projects, you’ll partner with local women to advance gender equality in all corners of the globe. 

GVI programs are community-led, so we can learn directly from women in the communities we work with to find out what their empowerment needs are. As an intern, you could be involved in helping women empower themselves through:

• educational workshops
• health care education like first aid, women’s health and nutrition workshops
• social enterprise and income initiatives. 

Not only will you help loosen the grip that gender inequality has on communities, but you’ll also gain hands-on experience and leadership skills, immerse yourself in local languages and cultures, and contribute towards your university qualification or future career. 

Global public health

GVI offers global health apprenticeships to help communities empower themselves with the information and hygiene habits they need to avoid preventable illnesses. 

Our career interns conduct water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) workshops with children to improve overall hygiene practices. We also offer workshops to teach adults on nutrition habits to prevent illnesses like malnutrition, obesity and diabetes.

You’ll also work on project work with a number of external partners, either locally or virtually. You might report on the effects of contaminated water using the data collected from a local organisation. Or, you might work with local organisations to identify training gaps for community health workers, and propose ways to upskill these professionals.  

It’s important to note that GVI doesn’t offer any hands-on or diagnostic medical programs in any of our locations. We abide by the principle of primum non nocere or “first do no harm”, and do not endorse untrained or unlicensed individuals carrying out medical work.

Whether most of your project work is in person, or virtual, you’ll receive real-world experience and gain a contextual understanding of the day-to-day responsibilities of development practitioners who are focused on public health. You’ll work with real organisations, both locally and globally, to analyse and promote sustainable approaches to health care, and work towards providing accessible healthcare services for all.

Business and Micro-enterprise development

Calling all business students and graduates! Do you want to use your leadership skills to help local business owners empower themselves and their communities? 

You can, with GVI’s business and micro-enterprise development apprenticeship – all while you travel to a new international location and gain important experience and skills that’ll help you enhance your own employability.

During this international apprenticeship program, you’ll work on educational workshops on micro-enterprise business skills, business training initiatives and mentoring small business owners.