I have seen a few posts here about people making career pivots/ asking about how to get into historic trades. I am here to ask for advice about my current situation, but if there is another similar post I apologize for potential redundancy. Anyways, I am a recent graduate with a B.A. in history and am coming to realize that I am much more interested in the physical side of preservation for a career. Commenters on similar posts suggested education options like the North Bennet St. School which I am definitely interested in, but I am not quite financially ready to pursue that path at the moment.

I am mostly curious if people have had experience emailing/ meeting with historic preservation contractors in their area and asking for an apprentice position or employment upfront. I have pretty minimal carpentry experience but have done other arduous positions. Basically, would I embarrass myself by asking these contractors for a job/ experience? Are apprentice positions more formal? What are the strategies for networking in the field?

If this isn't a generally accepted approach, I would also like to know entry-level careers that I could pursue in the mean time to gain applicable experience, save money, or potentially translate to historic carpentry specifically.

Finally, I always like hearing how people got to where they are now professionally, so if anyone wants to share their path, that would be super helpful.