Trade shows are big, bold exhibits that showcase companies and their products. As a trade show worker, you’ll travel to exciting cities to transform convention centers, hotel spaces and other facilities into full shows in a relatively short span of time.

During your apprenticeship, you’ll learn how to handle freight, rig equipment, and set up and dismantle complex exhibits and modular systems­. Your training will also make you an expert in rigging and hanging signs, and installing and removing carpet, pipes and drapes.

Your training includes how to use all the tools of the trade. And one of these is your physical strength, which you’ll need to lift and move heavy objects.

Magnificent bridges. Gleaming ships. As an industrial painter, you’ll be the one who makes these structures shine. But you’ll do far more than that, because you’ll also keep them long lasting by protecting them from corrosion – which can add one hundred years to the lifespans of bridges alone.

Your apprenticeship will include every aspect of coating infrastructure like bridges and water towers, ship hulls, factories and other concrete and metal structures. And along with becoming an expert in state-of-the-art coating materials and their application, you’ll help protect the environment by mastering the proper way to remove and dispose of old coatings that often contain hazardous materials like lead.

Since this trade often involves working at extreme heights and in enclosed spaces, you’ll also receive specialized training in safety, including the set up and use of platforms, scaffolding and rigging.

Everyone notices signs. And as a sign and display worker, you’ll create ones that are also admired, and can be seen everywhere from Broadway to Main Street.

Your training will teach you how to design, fabricate, construct, paint and install fabulous signs and displays using innovative and high-quality workmanship, state-of-the-art equipment and computer software. You’ll master how to work with materials such as plastic, metal, vinyl, neon and wood, and learn everything from lettering to screen-printing, stenciling, welding and neon bending.

You’ll probably specialize in one aspect of the industry, such as graphic design or fabrication, and your apprenticeship will be based on your choice.

Imagine turning ordinary surfaces into spectacular ones. As a commercial painter, you’ll apply a variety of decorative and protective finishes to homes, offices, institutions and other buildings.

After completing your training, you’ll be an expert on how to apply paint, high performance coatings, and special decorative finishes to virtually any surface.

And you’ll also have the opportunity to learn stenciling, gold leafing and faux finishes, creating artistry that will be admired for years to come.

Glaziers work with one of the most fascinating, versatile materials of all – glass. And today’s glass is so advanced, it can even adjust to the weather to control temperatures. As a glazing apprentice, you’ll learn how to select, safely handle, cut, install and replace all types of glass; and weld metal framework to support glass walls.

Your commercial expertise will include installing and replacing glass storefronts; creating metal framework; installing glass panels or curtain walls and installing interior room dividers and security windows. Your residential expertise will include replacing window glass to improve energy efficiency, installing glass mirrors and shower doors, and fitting glass for tabletops and display cases.

After completing your training, you’ll be an expert in working with glass, from cutting shelving for an intricate retail display to installing energy saving curtain walls on a skyline-altering high-rise.

As a floor coverer, you’ll install incredible flooring in everything from laminates to intricate tiles. Your floor covering apprenticeship will train you to work off of blueprints and other plans; measure, handle and how to store materials; inspect surfaces for imperfections and correct any flaws; use specialized tools to cut and install flooring; and create and match patterns.

After completing your training, you’ll be an expert in working with wood, carpeting, tile,  vinyl and virtually every other flooring material. This means you’ll be able to install everything from an expansive tiled office lobby to a patterned hardwood floor in a restaurant or home.

Perfect looking walls owe their looks to great drywall finishing. If it isn’t done right, even the best wall covering won’t hide uneven surfaces and other flaws. As a drywall finisher, which is also called a taper, you’ll prepare unfinished interior drywall panels, which are usually gypsum, for painting by taping and finishing joints and imperfections.

During your training, you’ll learn every aspect of drywall finishing, including the tools, materials and procedures – like spreading joint compound and using paper tape to cover seams. You’ll also master how to spot, point, fill, finish and sand joints, angles and all surfaces and corners, and learn drywall regulations.

After completing your apprenticeship, you’ll be an expert in preparing walls so smooth, you could practically skate on them.