The role of interpersonal attributes in the apprentice experience

This research reports on an exploratory qualitative study about apprentices’ interpersonal skills and people related generic skills as described by them. The study explores accounts by 20 apprentices in their final stages of training, about the role of interpersonal attributes and/or their impact on self-reported progress in training and completion. It investigated how intrapersonal and interpersonal generic skills affected the training of these apprentices. It also explored how relationships and soft skills in the workplace influenced apprentices’ accounts of their training completion. A holistic approach to the apprentice experience in the workplace develops from these accounts.