Work Experience Tips

There are lots of skills you could learn from work experience - find out what they are and why they are valuable for your future career.

In this article...

• Skills you’ll gain from work experience
  • Communication
  • Time management
  • Teamwork
  • Problem-solving
  • Professional behaviour
  • Initiative
  • Technical skills
• Making the most of your experience
• Want more?

Thinking about doing work experience? You might’ve heard that you’ll spend most of your time watching others work. While observation is definitely part of it (and there’s nothing wrong with that), you’ll actually pick up tons of valuable skills during your placement – even if you’re just helping with basic tasks. Let’s look at some of the key skills you can gain from work experience that will look great on your resume and help you in your future career.

Skills you’ll gain from work experience

There’s way more to work experience than you might realise. Here are just a few examples of skills you could develop during your work experience placement.

Communication

Whether you’re talking to your supervisor, other employees, or customers, you’ll build both your verbal and written communication skills. You might need to:

• Ask questions about tasks you’re not sure about
• Write professional emails
• Answer phone calls
• Take notes during meetings
• Listen carefully to instructions

Time management

Being punctual and organised is super important in any workplace. During your placement, you’ll practice:

• Getting to work on time each day
• Planning your travel route
• Managing your lunch break
• Completing tasks within set timeframes
• Staying focused during work hours

Teamwork

Like it or not, most jobs involve working with others, and your placement will help you develop skills your teamwork skills by:

• Following instructions from your supervisor
• Helping colleagues when they need an extra hand
• Contributing ideas during team discussions
• Learning from others’ experience
• Being reliable and doing your part

Problem-solving

You won’t be making any ground-breaking discoveries, but even simple challenges help build your problem-solving skills. You might need to:

• Figure out how to use new equipment
• Find your way around the workplace
• Deal with unexpected situations
• Ask for help when you need it
• Come up with better ways to do tasks

Professional behaviour

Work experience is a low pressure way to learn how to act in a professional environment, including:

• Dressing appropriately for the workplace
• Using professional language
• Showing respect to everyone
• Keeping your phone away during work hours
• Following workplace rules and policies

Initiative

Showing initiative means being proactive and not waiting to be told what to do. You can show initiative by:

• Offering to help when you see someone needs it
• Finding tasks to do when you finish your work
• Suggesting ideas for improving things
• Asking questions about the industry
• Learning new skills in your spare time

Technical skills

Depending on your placement, you might learn industry-specific skills like:

• Using specialised software or equipment
• Operating office equipment
• Learning industry terminology
• Understanding workplace procedures
• Using new tools or technology

Making the most of your experience

Ask lots of questions at your placement to maximise the benefits from being there. Your employer and colleagues recognise that you’re there to learn, so don’t feel embarrassed or that you’re annoying them.

If you can, take a notebook and write things down as you go. You might think you’ll remember all the important stuff, but knowing it’s all written down is great peace of mind.

Once your placement is over, think about the skills you gained from your experience and make sure you add them to your resume or portfolio.

Want more?

If you’re looking for more information, we have heaps of other blogs you can read on our website here.