How to Get Employable Skills Without “On-the-Job” Experience

Employers are often looking for skills apart from qualifications and experience. Qualifications and experience make us eligible for a job but to be successful in most roles we need skills. We have often heard about soft skills and these are the most preferable in today’s time. These soft skills are basically 'employability skills'. Creating a strong CV or résumé, writing a good covering letter, and interviewing well, with these abilities one can showcase their skills. 

We can get employable skills via volunteering, internship, freelancing, blogging etc. There are many courses related to soft skills that can increase our ability and skills. In today’s time, it’s hard to get experience as there’s so much competition and employers are not hiring freshers. Most of the companies don’t hire or promote because you don’t have experience. Before we start learning new skills, we need to identify the skills that we are working on, so that we can match them with the job we want. 

Volunteering, it’s a way to get experience. It’s good for short-terms. Look out for small companies or organizations that offer volunteer ships. They don’t only help in gaining experience but also helps in connecting to different organizations, where you can look out for jobs too. Colleges also offer volunteer ships and there are many NGOs around here. There are even many small businesses. Volunteering is often unpaid. 

Then comes freelancing, it’s a great way to earn some money and build a portfolio while looking for a full time job. Many websites provide ways to find simple platforms for finding paid projects and part-time work like LinkedIn. Freelancing jobs also are turned into full time offers. Freelancer is a person who works as a writer, designer, performer, or the like, selling work or services by the hour, day, job, etc., rather than working on a regular salary basis for one employer. One can work for multiple clients too. 

Another way for gaining skills is blogging, it’s a platform where a writer or a group of writers share their views on an individual subject. In a new business, a person is dependent on blogging to attract potential customers and gain their attention. Writing blogs also helps in gaining skills. Blogs allow you to talk about any topic you are interested in and express your opinion. You’ll find some bloggers writing on every activity that took place during their day. 

There are even online courses and diploma courses that help in gaining skills based on the interest of an individual. Online education platforms offer affordable and flexible programs so that one can get experience. Program based learning is also helpful as it gives real work experience from working with a team and finishing projects. Completed projects can also be shown in your portfolio, so hiring managers can see one’s skills. Employability skills help in improving one’s performance and value in the workplace. It even minimizes effort and promotes collaboration with co-workers. 

Communication is an important employability skill because it is an essential part of any job. The communication process involves five elements: the sender, receiver, message, medium and feedback. When these elements work together one can understand and deliver messages clearly. Good communication skills give confidence to oneself. The best way to improve communication skills are by communicating on social media, joining a local club, also practicing our body and facial expressions. 

Digital literacy is so important in today’s world. Being comfortable with computers, online research and apps is expected in the workplace today. There are many other ways to develop digital literacy. There are various programs that help to gain these skills. 

Teamwork, good teamwork skills refers to the ability to work harmoniously with your colleagues to achieve a shared goal. Teamwork skills increase hiring chances as it focuses on creating a positive work environment. To boost teamwork skills one should volunteer to help his co-workers, working with others in a local organization, joining a sports team. To be a good team player, one needs to be comfortable working with people, take responsibility for their share of work and contribute to team goals. 

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand both your own emotions and the emotions of those around you. This is especially helpful in the workplace, where teams work together to keep companies functioning successfully. If teamwork is a vital component of a successful company, then emotional intelligence is the glue that makes all that collaboration possible. 

Self-management refers to the ability to perform job duties satisfactorily with little or no supervision. If you have good self-management skills, you can help your supervisor or manager save time and effort simply because you need minimal guidance and assistance from them. Also, being a self-motivated person means you may be less likely to have productivity issues. These abilities can make you an appealing candidate to most employers. One can develop self-management skills by asking for more responsibilities at work, eating schedules and events and maintaining them. 

Critical thinking and problem solving skill allows us to objectively examine information to determine the best way to move forward, and also helps in problem solving. In any job employers are bound to go through unexpected challenges and setbacks. These skills can be developed by solving problems we face in daily life. Ask yourself questions , conduct research and make an educated guess to solve the problem. 

Leadership skills are important at every level. As a leader, one shares an important role in ensuring that the team shares the same vision for the company. A leader often motivates his team to overcome and face any challenges. one can develop strategies for achieving objectives and also keeping team workers motivated. Leadership skills can be developed by attending a leadership course, starting a local group. 

There are many other skills that help us to improve yourself and make us ready without even having job experience. These skills are very important and also put a positive impact. Several other skills are learning, technology, initiative , organization and planning.