Earn While You Learn: 10 Great Apprenticeships

If you're looking to make a career switch but need to stay employed, you can learn on the job through an apprenticeship program. Many apprentices are paid from the start, though at a lower rate than they'll earn once their training period is complete.

Probably the best-known careers entered through this route are electrician and plumber, but you can apprentice in a wide range of jobs, from accounts-payable clerk to wastewater treatment plant operator. The U.S. Department of Labor oversees hundreds of official, defined apprenticeship programs (http://www.doleta.gov/oa/), and a spokeswoman said the agency plans to add new apprenticeship programs for growing fields such as healthcare and "green jobs" involving energy efficiency or conservation.