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This discussion paper examines the issue of occupational choice using trade apprenticeships as a particular example. It is argued that the multiple attributes approach, in which analysis of choice is conducted with reference to individuals' preferences for various attributes that an occupation embodies, offers a superior conceptual framework of occupational choice to that offered by the human capital model. Analysis of a direct survey of apprentices carried out by the Centre for Labour Market Research (CLMR) suggests that parents, friends and work experience programs provide an important source of information about the type of work associated with different occupations and are an important source of job contacts.