Have you noticed that the profiles of some Hubbers have recently been decorated with special “a” badges? Should you have not have figured it out already, the “a” is for Apprentice!
An Apprentice is a participant in the HubPages Apprenticeship Program, a six month program in which Hubbers are given the lessons and resources necessary to build a strong online writing portfolio, develop a personal brand, and become a successful Hubber. In addition to receiving lessons, group support, and personalized feedback, Apprentices are also given an up-front bonus of just over $6 for each Hub published (independent of any ad revenue earned).
A Sign of Quality
We are now five months into the Apprenticeship Program, and have quite a few active Apprentices on the site. Each Hub created by an active Apprentice must adhere to Apprenticeship standards, which include a minimum word count of 500 words, use of legal and properly attributed images, and focus on a search-friendly subject matter. That said, most Apprentices utilize our special lessons and feedback to go above and beyond these minimum standards, which makes their Hubs particularly worth highlighting. This is one reason why we have chosen to give Apprentices our special badge of approval. When you see a Hub (such as leahlefler’s Hub, Outdoor Activities in the Finger Lakes, pictured below) with an author image (at the top right corner) that features a small “a”, we want you to know know that it is a great example to follow!
Colors
Once an Apprentice graduates from the program, his or her Apprenticeship badge will turn from gray to green. After this point, it is possible that the Hubs this person publishes do not meet all of our Apprenticeship standards, but they most likely will (as following those standards gives a Hub a much better shot at success).
Join in!
Want to feature an Apprenticeship badge on your own HubPages profile image? Apply for the HubPages Apprenticeship Program!
Before submitting your application (through My Account > Apprenticeship), we recommend thoroughly reading our guide to the Apprenticeship Program in the Learning Center. Also make a point of publishing at least five Hubs each month for a couple of months (or at least one month) to be sure that you can keep up with the the Apprenticeship Program pace (which requires participants to publish a minimum of eight high quality Hubs each month for six months).
We hope these Apprenticeship badges inspire you to write better, more successful Hubs and encourage you to apply for the Apprenticeship program. It is a great way to kickstart your online writing career!
HubPages Blog 
As an experienced hubber of nearly 6 years, I would advise everyone to take part in the apprenticeship program.
I have learned an awesome amount from the program and my writing is improving Hub by Hub…..jimmy
Thanks Hubpages.
I think this is a great program you guys have started and definitely worth a go.
Regards
This is great – I often wanted to look at the hubs written by the Apprentices to see if I could glean some tips on quality hubs, and I sometimes miss that the person I have been following is an Apprentice! This will be helpful especially for people who don’t have the time to devote to being a full fledged apprentice yet.
I’m glad I saw this article – I just now noticed the “a” on my picture! As long as it isn’t scarlet, I’m pleased (ha)!
I don’t know if you should share the fact that those approved in the Apprenticeship program not only get to take the classes for free, but you also pay them more for their hubs. I was discouraged enough last time that I wasn’t accepted and when I heard they were paid more for their hubs, I was ready to quit writing at Hubpages. I feel this isn’t fair.
Now that I hear it again it makes me want to write elsewhere again.
Thanks everyone!
And Barbara, if we did not accept you the first time you applied, it is probably because we were concerned that you would not be able to keep up with the pace of eight Hubs per month. We would prefer that people re-apply when they have proven that they can publish more regularly rather than have people drop out (and never be able to re-enter the program) when they don’t meet the minimum. So what I recommend is working on regularly publishing Hubs that meet the Apprenticeship standards and re-applying. You’ll be far more likely to get in!
Hi,
That was great to read as I’ve just been accepted onto the Apprenticeship Program with a start date of August 1st. I’m very keen while i also realize that it is going to be quite a challenge and demand a lot of work. however, that excites me more than anything else.
I just wanted to say, with regard to the minimum standards that you mentioned, that I would have thought most apprentices will go way beyond that requirement. After all, you would have to be pretty enthusiastic and ambitious to apply in the first place.
For my own part, my plan is to darn well give it everything I’ve got and squeeze every last drop of value from it that I can. I would also like to think that the knowledge and experience gained by doing the program would enable me to much more helpful to new hubbers – as so many people have been so supportive to me.
Thanks and good luck everyone!
The program is great, and as Jimmy mentioned, I am learning a lot from it. One thing to know is that it is indeed work – it’s far more than just a way of getting paid a bit for your hubs. Writers in the program have strict requirements to meet, and we spend many more hours hubbing than before. We read and offer input on the work of other Apprentices (which is helpful for all of us, but also time consuming) and we are sometimes required to use capsules we may not have used before in our hubs as part of the learning experience.
Even those of us who have written 30 hubs in 30 days (which I did twice) can sometimes find the pace hard to keep up with. I think Simone’s point about bringing people on board when they might be in the best position to succeed is very important. With the huge number of writers on the site, it’s like any course that is in high demand – it will take a while for the site to cycle through everyone who would like to participate. But it’s so worth doing. Please apply!
Now that I can see who the Apprentices are, I have to say they are an amazing bunch! We should all learn from them about writing great Hubs. Way to go HubPages and way to go Apprentices!
I tried joining twice. There was some glitch with my user name both time and I was rejected due to that. I gave up on it.
Please i love the program,i would be happy to beApprentice and archive my gold
I live in the finger lakes…..That pic looks like it was taking at Watkins Glen? A beautiful, the most beautiful attraction of the finger lake region in upstate New York.
I received the acceptance email for the Apprenticeship program a couple of hours ago, and cannot wait to get started.