Illinois Retail Leaders Apprenticeship Program

The Illinois Retail Leaders Apprenticeship Program provides training and real-world experience for retail operation specialists. The program is certified by the U.S. Department of Labor and comes at no cost to the employer.

• 150 hours of online retail instruction
• 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training
• Apprentices earn a USDOL Retail Operations Specialist Certificate

Through the U.S. Dept. of Labor-approved courses, students will learn the ins and outs of retail, such as loss prevention, merchandising/display design, inventory management, cash flow & finance, conflict resolution, logistics, customer service, and more!

Individuals currently working in retail, those pursuing long-term retail careers in management or leadership roles, or people looking to transition into the industry.

The program is completely FREE and comes at no-cost to the employer or the apprentice.

Retail is the activity of selling goods or services to consumers or other end users. It includes businesses such as: brick and mortar stores, department stores, mom & pop stores, grocery stores, convenience stores, services, hotels and motels, auto dealerships, restaurants, e-commerce, vending, home improvement, and many more.

Retail is the nation’s largest employer and offers an incredible number of opportunities. A few of these include department managers, area managers, accounting, marketing, human resources, IT, retail buying, visual merchandising, supply chain management, security and loss prevention, and many others.