In this competitive world, it’s now evident that one has to have work experience in their career to be able to land a new or dream job, the same case applies when you need to advance your career.
Despite all these, the good news however is that there are many options available for one to gain experience and learn new skills.
First of all, Niyomugaba Protais, a business person and an IT specialist believes that it’s just ideal for an individual to understand what options they have in order to determine which path to gaining new experience is important for them.
"This should be your priority before you embark on your journey of gaining experience in any particular field. When this happens, it not only makes your work easier but also helps you gain the relevant experience needed in your career,” he says.
How to make this happen
Solange Umunyana, a software engineer says one way to improve your chances of gaining experience is by proving to your employer what you can do best, and how you can do it.
This, she believes can show employers more than your ability to complete your tasks.
She explains that showing your experience can also show the specific skills you possess. Rather than simply listing skills on your resume.
"This can show how you can put your skills into action and how well you can perform a job,” she says.
Also, she notes that gaining new experience can be an indicator to your potential employer of how committed you are to what you do.
On the other hand, Umunyana believes that demonstrating how best you are familiar with what you are doing to do is vital as far as proving your experience is concerned.
"I strongly believe that going through the effort to gain new skills and new experience is a clear indicator that you understand what the job entails. This is so because your experience will indeed demonstrate how well you have worked and performed well in previous jobs,” she says.
From studies, it’s also revealed that coming up with personal projects is important as this can give you an opportunity to learn new skills and put them into practice immediately.
In addition, creating a website or social media account for your project or sharing your project on online forums can help you get advice from others on how to improve both your project and your skills.
Niyomugaba says that another way of gaining new experience is by enrolling in different classes depending on what you need and intend to achieve.
These classes, he says, can help you learn new skills and methods of practicing them and that some courses might even offer certifications upon completion that you can include on your CV when applying for jobs.
Importance
It’s no doubt that when you have experience within your domain when you start applying for jobs, it’s easy to land on one which is one of the many benefits that come along with experience.
Niyomugaba, who at times takes part in the process of hiring new work at his enterprise, says employers prefer those with work experience over those fresh from school.
He says that this is so because, with experience, you have higher possibilities of getting a job compared to your other candidates
Innocent Berabose, a bank employee in Kigali says gaining work experience can help one strengthen their network.
This, he says means when you are working in a certain domain; it is easier to meet and interact with other professionals in the field you hope to join in the near future.
"Depending on what you want and the people you happen to meet, this could be an opening that will see you get another job when an opportunity presents itself,” he says.