You are almost graduating, but still not sure whether what you have is worth getting you a job or to where you want. For a graduate, you may have just more experience than you may think. This does not have to be professional employment experience but through part time volunteer experiences, student or community organizations, or even your own hobbies and avocations.

Even if you have no relevant experiences, you can still create some after you have graduated and therefore it’s never too late to learn the skills that will help you in your career.

Why Work Experience is beneficial to Students
• Gain 'hands on' job experience
• Exposure to business and work place cultures
• Opportunity to make contacts and start networking
• Find out what personal skills employer’s require from employees in their business environment
• Make informed decisions about choice of career and type of organization
• Enhance experience and improve job prospects by standing out from the crowd when submitting applications / CVs
• Put academic study and theory into practice

What can you do after graduating to gain some or more helpful experience in your chosen field?

Internship
An internship is a short term job in which its primary goal is to learn and gain experience in a specific field, Internships are often, but not always, coordinated between an employer and the University and can result in the University credits. Internships can be paid or unpaid.

Internships are an excellent way to learn about the real world of work. However well your college or university prepares you, nothing compares to experience in the field. Internship experience can help decide if you would like working in a particular field. It also can help you develop your interests and refine your goals for the future.

Since internships are usually pretty flexible, you’re in charge of making your own experience worthwhile and so it is good to take the initiative.

How to make the most of your internship
One of the best ways is to just talk with people around the office. Don’t be afraid that you’re bothering them. They know that you’re there to learn about the business and most of them will be happy to talk to you. By talking to lots of different people you can learn about many aspects of your field, and you may find you are interested in something you didn’t even know about before.

Be active
You can make most of the experience by asking for tasks and asking to be involved in projects and meetings that interest you. If you sit around and wait for someone to give you something to do, you’ll get the worst tasks and you’ll waste your time.
Ask the people you work with to keep you up to date on what is going on in general in the company and with project you are involved in. Sit in meetings and listen to what is going on, that will help you get a better view of the “big picture” and see how that company really works.
Treat your internship like a job. Come in on time, be responsible and enthusiastic, take initiative and do your work to the best of your ability. This is how you will gain respect from the people you work with and you can avoid feeling just like an intern.

Benefits of internship
One of the greatest benefits of internship that might not be so obvious is networking. You will meet so many people during the course of your internship and as they get to know you, they can become valuable contacts in the future.
In some fields an internship can directly lead to a job with that company. The more people you get to know, the more there are in the field that might be able to help you get a job or give you a good reference.

Part time job in your field
Part time jobs at times offer good opportunities for you to gain experience, because they are frequently hard to fill and often consist of a wide range of tasks and responsibilities.

Volunteer to do project work for a company
Does the company in your field appear to have a gap between what it is doing and what it wants to do? If so, consider offering to fill that gap, if only on a temporary, volunteer basis. You win because you gain work experience you really need. The company gains also because you help it achieve goals it couldn’t have achieved on its own. And this mutually beneficial relationship just might lead to something paid and permanent.

Temporary job
These days, temporary staffing firms offer opportunities in many career areas within an assortment of professional settings. By temporary employment, you can earn some money and even receive benefits such as health insurance and get some professional experience. You can also gain experience in a variety of industries or companies. This experience might make you that more appealing to employers who consider you for fulltime positions in future. All companies like to hire employees who have wide ranging skills and can deal with both ambiguity and constant change.
Temporary jobs can give you experiences in industries and careers you might not have otherwise thought of trying without a long term commitment