German firms transplant European apprentice model to US

By Howard Schneider. Schemes with free training and permanent positions offer an alternative to traditional US college route of career-building. As a high school junior in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hope Johnson thought she had things figured out. She'd been hit with wanderlust during an academic trip to Brazil, set her sights on London's Richmond University and hoped to pursue a career in diplomacy. It was just the kind of white-collar job that would take her far from the confines of her modest southern city and please her dad, an elevator repairman who wanted his daughter to graduate from a four-year college. More...