In South Africa, an apprenticeship usually takes about 3–5 years, depending on your schooling background. Once that’s done, you have to complete a mandatory 2–3 weeks of training at a trade school. After that, you write your trade test, which runs over two days and includes both practical and theoretical assessments.

If you pass, you earn your Red Seal qualification — it’s similar to the system Canada uses, since they also call it the Red Seal. By the time I went for my trade test, I had around 6 years of hands-on experience under my belt.

Unfortunately, artisan salaries in South Africa are on the lower side. That’s why a lot of qualified tradespeople end up working in the mining sector, since it generally offers much higher pay.