Summary Teachers’ and in-company trainers’ skills constitute an important component of quality in initial vocational education and training. This study aimed at investigating how these skills are perceived by 320 apprentices from the technical and the retail fields in Switzerland. Written answers to six open-ended questions were analyzed with both an inductive and a deductive procedure. Results show that apprentices expect their teachers and trainers to master multiple skills. Specifically, pedagogical skills hold a central role, whereas trade-specific and social skills appear as secondary. Furthermore, teachers are highly expected to have updated tradespecific skills and, in parallel, in-company trainers are expected to hold appropriate pedagogical skills. The significance of the role and pedagogical preparation of teachers and trainers is discussed.