I moved to London from South Africa with 25 years of work experience and a blank slate, but for months I couldn’t get my new career choices working for me.
At first, it made no sense. How could I have all this experience, but not be able to land a role that I wanted?
After feeling sorry for myself for a lot longer than was necessary, I decided it was time to swallow an honesty pill.
Yes, I had a lot of experience, but was it relevant to the new context I was in and to the types of roles I desired? Was I able to showcase the right skillsets?
The hard answer was no.
The bitter truth was that the hard skills I had were out of synch with the new roles I wanted to land, as were a big chunk of my professional networks.
I had soft skills, but a few key ones were out of practice, as is what often happens with a non-linear career path.
So, I made a list of all my skills gaps, thinking to myself they should be easy to fill.
All I needed to do was to find some quick, efficient opportunities to learn by experience.
In other words, to find ways I could learn and apply any missing or hazy skills to better showcase my abilities on my CV and in interviews.
However, this was easier said than done.
There was a whole world of experiential learning out there, but a lot of these opportunities were a mismatch for my career aspirations, my personal circumstances, and my need to build upon things I had already achieved and learned, rather than discard these for something entirely different.
I realised that learning by experience to shape a dream career requires a mix of the following:
an openness to the learning by experience opportunities in your immediate vicinity
research into what external or formal learning by experience opportunities currently exist
decisions as to which learning by experience opportunities you can (and should) create for yourself
and quite a lot of personalisation to one’s own life journey
Be open to 'learning by experience' opportunities all around you
I am always on the lookout for people I admire and want to emulate.
These are people who have already achieved things that are on my list of career goals.
They may be super successful and the best at what they do, they may be peers or colleagues who are a bit ahead of me in certain aspects, they may even be people on my team who have entirely different skillsets to me.
I observe, I copy, and I apply what these people are doing well, but modified to my own circumstances.
These people often don’t even know that I am learning from their experience.
They are my unofficial mentors.
I had a project manager on my team who introduced some clever ways to manage content production. I learned a few interesting project management techniques and have added these unique methods to my repertoire.
I have diligently followed individuals with many years of experience in careers and employability skills, so that I can use these same skills in my own approaches.
Similarly, I mimic the marketing techniques of those with corresponding target audiences, but larger followings.
I have also learned by shadowing people who consciously knew they were mentoring me.
I will never forget Eric, who was my direct line manager when I worked at a business school. He taught me how to introduce innovative concepts into what would have otherwise been typical client presentations, so that our team could stand head and shoulders above the rest.
All of these are free ‘learning by experience’ opportunities, that you too can find in your own work and life environments.
You must spot the learning opportunities that align with your current career goals, and maximise the learning by applying and tweaking in your own environment as you go.
Thoroughly investigate formal 'learning by experience' programmes
Experiential learning programmes have rapidly grown in popularity, especially in countries where governments are using these programmes for job creation or the improving of employment levels.
In the United Kingdom, both longer degree-level apprenticeships and shorter skills bootcamps are trending with career changers, professionals and job seekers.
These opportunities are certainly valid and many of them are of good quality, but they do warrant closer inspection when tailoring your career objectives.
I researched these opportunities in depth for my own career journey in the UK.
Degree apprenticeships are great if you are willing and able to invest four years into a full-time work and study relationship with an organisation.
Skills bootcamps are worth it if you have four months to set aside and are happy with learning skills at a level that will likely be lower than your existing qualifications, but that are new skills you need for the future world of work.
Both have a learning toward individuals who want to fully commit to a new career and who are willing to start at the bottom to do this. This is because they are government funded and are closely tied to government aims in terms of skills development.
Therefore, some formal learning by experience opportunities are more about radical career change, or if you are in a state in your life where you desperately need to find work, and can take on work at entry level pay rates.
They are less about piecemeal upskilling, which may better be accomplished by doing a standard short course.
Internships tend to favour younger graduates, but there are also some internship opportunities that crop up for professionals and career changers, and there is no reason why mature graduates can’t also apply.
Again, you would need to be willing and able to dedicate time to working and learning at lower pay levels.
Internships are just as, if not more competitive than the normal job market, and time and dedication is required to land one.
You have the option of committing to formal study with built-in learning by experience opportunities, which a lot of universities and colleges are starting to incorporate into their programmes.
You then need to find a way to fund and fit in these formal studies, especially if you are already working and just trying to upskill.
Some employers will offer you these opportunities as part of internal skills development. If you are already employed, chat to your line manager or people development teams to discover what you can do to progress or shift your career within your organisation.
You may find your own circumstances to be a good fit for one of these formal experiential learning opportunities.
In my case, I did not.
So, I opted to do what I have often done in the past.
I formulated my own experiential learning opportunity.
Creating your own 'learning by experience' initiatives
I currently run a not-for-profit that supports people with fluid and shifting careers.
I started this initiative as a way for me refresh my network and reinvigorate and polish my skills against my new backdrop.
It also reflected my budding interest in the careers, employability and experiential learning industries.
I signed up for a part-time level 7 strategic leadership programme, which required both theory and application.
As I researched the published arguments behind good strategy, I was crafting and implementing actual strategies in my venture, which real-world examples I then used for my practical programme assignments, which emerging concepts I then in turn fed back into my evolving operation.
A small passion-project quickly grew into a registered organisation and a full-time way for me explore and test my ideal career trajectories, while accumulating matching accomplishment stories along the way.
Over a few short months, I could confidently say that my dream career was taking shape.
While the not-for-profit may very well have become my next career instalment, it has also given me options I did not have before in the job market.
Options that speak to me as a person.
Options that are not ‘just another job.’
You could also initiate a project, or start your own not-for-profit venture (for-profit works just as well) to steer your career portfolio in the direction you want to take it.
If the initiative works, it can become your income for a while. If it doesn’t, it is certainly a robust way to gain, record and showcase the experience and learnings you need to land your next dream role.
If you are unable to start your own project or venture, volunteer to help in charitable organisations that offer skills-based opportunities.
Volunteering is a really good form of learning by experience.
A number of skills-based volunteers practice skills such as management, strategy, content creation and marketing in my not-for-profit, and are adding these skills and achievement stories to their career portfolios.
If you do volunteer, make sure that the enlisting organisation does not take advantage of you. Do what you can, when you can, as a willing contributor.
You are in control of which skills you learn and practice
Practical learning opportunities are not something that should be forced.
Put yourself in the driver’s seat of what practical learning experiences you want to have, whether they naturally present themselves, are self-created, are formalised qualifications or your own personal blend of all of these.
You have the full power to boldly shape your dream career in this way.
