How should you spend the time you take to boost your career and expand your horizons? You have two main choices. Either, you can look for different jobs and businesses to work for where you can gain experience, or you can focus on improving your list of qualifications. By answering this question, you can learn a lot including how you should lay out your CV or resume. If you conclude that qualifications are more important than they should be the first point on your resume and the detail that potential employers see first. If you decide that experience is more important your list of previous jobs should come first. It also determines how much space you should give each subject on your CV and what you should focus on when talking about yourself in interviews.
Okay, so now we know why this question is important, let’s try and come up with an answer.
Knowledge To Complete The Work
By having the right qualifications, you can show a potential employer that you have the knowledge to complete the work they need. If you are lucky enough to have qualifications from a prestigious college or even just gained great grades through that qualification, you’ll have the upper hand over someone who perhaps didn’t.
It’s also worth pointing out that employers often specifically request that people with a certain qualification apply. They may even state that people without that qualification shouldn’t bother to apply at all. You might think that this just means that you need a college degree in your chosen subject, but that’s not always true. It’s quite common these days for job applications to require you to have additional qualifications. For instance, if you’re working in marketing, a marketing degree may not be enough. You might also need to have a qualification that shows you have knowledge in full SEO procedures.
The other thing to remember is that qualifications are often for jobs that require knowledge and intelligence rather than the ability to work with your hands. That’s important because there are more jobs like this these days than manual jobs available. In fact, with an increasing reliance on automation manual jobs could become extinct in the next few years. It’s jobs like psychiatry, social care and counseling that require a human touch that will still be around and that’s why graduate counseling degrees have become so popular. People are starting to realise that it’s these jobs that are going to stand the test of time, rather than working in manufacturing.
There’s another factor to consider about qualifications too. They may not take as much time as effort as you think. These days, they can be completed online compared to a job where you’ll need to take the time to go in and do the work often as a volunteer or for minimum pay. With plenty of courses being offered online, you’ll be sure to find a degree that’s in line with the kind of work you want to build on. If you want to get ahead on your career in social work, getting an online msw can greatly benefit your career prospects.
Evidence To Complete The Work
That’s the main factor that experience provides. It shows that you can complete the work that you’re being hired for. And, if you have great references, you can also make sure that you show evidence you are an effective worker and could be an asset to any team.
Experience also ensures that you don’t look too green and that’s a big problem for new graduates. You might think it’s unfair for employers to expect you to have experience straight after college but they do. They expect you to have completed work in the summer, in your spare time and between classes.
By getting the experience, you might also be able to rise through the ranks. Qualifications may get you a position at the boardroom table as soon as you take a job. But experience will allow you to build up your career through promotions and added responsibilities until you become a vital member of the team.
The bottom line here is that business owners often see workers with experience as a solid investment and they may take you on, even if they know they’re going to have to spend money training you up and getting you the knowledge to complete the work. There are plenty of horror stories floating around the web about hiring a worker with great qualifications and no experience.
So what’s the answer? Well, ideally, you want both but most of the time you will find an individual with the right qualifications is favoured for the job. The good news is that these days there are courses that give you the option of gaining everything you need. You’ll be trained with knowledge but built into the course are work days to make sure that you are totally hirable.
