The primary objective of District Department of Transportation’s On-the-Job Training Program is to provide training opportunities for women, minorities, and disadvantaged persons which will increase their participation in every job classification in the highway construction industry. 

The goal is to successfully place individuals in the program as trainees and to provide them with the required training to reach journeyman status.

Participants in DDOT’s On-the-Job Training receive training on federally-funded highway construction in the following trade areas:

• Carpenter- Bridge/Highway
• Cement Mason
• Concrete Finisher
• Construction Worker – Bridge/Highway
• Electrical-Highway/Street Light
• Form Setter
• Iron Worker Reinforcing–Bridge
• Iron Worker-Structural
• Painter-Steel Bridge
• Pile Driver
• Pipe Layer
• Stone Mason
• Other trade areas are available according to the nature of the construction project

Wage Structure

Unless specified through a union agreement for apprentices, trainees are paid the trainee wages specified in the construction contract. If no trainee wages are specified in the construction contract, minimum trainee wages will be as follows (but not less than the current minimum wage):

Entry Requirements

1. The applicant must be a minimum of eighteen (18) years of age;
2. The applicant must be in good health;
3. The applicant must be able to pass a drug screening test;
4. The applicant cannot be a current college student on a seasonal break from classes and use the OJT program as a summer employment opportunity; and
5. No applicant will be accepted as a trainee in any classification for which he/she has successfully completed a course leading to journeyworker status or in which he/she has been gainfully employed.

How To Apply:

In addition to applying directly to a highway construction contractor, it is recommended that individuals interested in applying to DDOT’s On-the-Job Training Program contact their Department of Employment Services Project Empowerment representative or the Workforce Development Manager of the following community-based organizations:

• Community Empowerment Training Academy
• Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA)
• Covenant House Pre-Apprenticeship Program
• DC Housing Authority
• Department of Employment Services Project Empowerment
• Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services
• Goodwill Industries-DC and vicinity
• Heavy Equipment Training Academy
• Latin American Youth Center-DC and vicinity
• Marshall Heights Community Development Organization
• Maryland Works, Incorporated
• OIC-DC
• Wheeler Creek Community Development Corporation
• Wider Opportunities for Women at Covenant House
• Various One-Stop Centers around the Washington Metropolitan Region
• Various Trade Union Organizations throughout the Washington Metropolitan Region

Or you can apply in person at the Business Opportunity and Workforce Development Center, 2311 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20020. For More Information, Contact Linda Fennell, (202) 645-8620