Online courses are a very popular way to earn qualifications, but not all careers are academic. For instance, knowing the theory of how to plaster a wall will not be very useful if you do not know how to do it in practice. You need to know the challenges you may face, and some of these can only be learned through practical experience.
There are many careers where practical skills are more important than knowing the theory behind them. Here are a few suggestions that might help you to get the practical skills you need to work in the career you have chosen.
National Vocational Qualifications
NVQs have been around in the UK for decades. Originally intended as a way for people to gain the practical skills they needed to perform a job, they have evolved to mean much more. NVQ courses were designed to train and then test your skills in a particular role. As competence-based qualifications, they are accepted by employers for jobs where the candidate is starting out on their career to the higher levels of management. People who reach the highest level of their chosen NVQ will often find they have reached the same standard as someone with a degree, just through a different route.
Since their introduction, the name has been changed by the government more than once, but the NVQ name seems to stick as it is what people understand. When a student is askedto consider a course in tiling, bricklaying, carpentry, plumbing, teaching support or one of many other choices, it is often the NVQ qualification they are looking to achieve.
If you aren’t sure where to start when it comes to starting an NVQ, consider this course at findcourses.co.uk. This site is a great resource to help you find the NVQ courses you want to complete. They offer them at all different levels for those starting out in a career, as well as for the more advanced in a trade or profession.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are a real job where you get paid while gaining your experience. In most countries, you are treated the same as all other workers with the same legal rights to holidays and a contract of employment. You may have to spend a day a week at college, but most of your time will be spent in on the job training, learning the practical skills associated with your chosen career.
The length of the apprenticeship can vary greatly depending on the career you have chosen and what level of experience you have when you start. The beauty of an apprenticeship is that you earn while you learn, but you may have to be prepared to stay with the employer for a while after training sometimes. This is often two years because they will have invested money into your training and want to be able to utilise the skills you have learned.
Apprenticeships are available in most countries and are often in careers such as motor mechanics, farming, beauty consulting or construction. There will always be jobs that need practical skills rather than academic ones and an apprenticeship is a great way to get them.
Work Placements
There is nothing that can replace experience, and that is what a work placement will provide. There are formal work placement schemes, but you can just as easily find a job to gain the experience you want yourself.
For instance, if you want to be a hairdresser, you can work at a hair salon. You will start at the bottom just washing hair, but even that has to be done in a proper way. As you learn more skills in the trade, you will be allowed to take on more complex tasks, and eventually will have the experience you need.
Not every employer looks for formal qualifications, as most of them realise that experience is the most important thing. It is a good idea to keep track of every new skill as you are taught how to do it, as this can make quite an impressive list when you are applying for jobs.
Teach Yourself
This might not seem possible at first, but it is amazing how many self-taught people go on to have very successful careers. It helps if you are teaching yourself more about an area you enjoy, but such things as cooking, illustrating, designing and playing a musical instrument are just some of the things that self-taught people have made a good career from. Many people take the option of a hobby they enjoy, as you will always work harder at something you love doing.
As well as learning the skill intended, you will be proficient in other things too. Teaching yourself takes self-discipline and determination – both are traits that prospective employers admire. You may also have to use computer software that you might not have done otherwise, and becoming proficient in them is something else you should add to your CV.
Internships
It could be that you need to gain practical skills to go side by side with the academic qualifications you have gained. This is where internships are useful. They are a period of work experience in the career you are working toward. Originally a term used just in the medical profession, it is now used to describe all work experience opportunities for students. It can be a great way to see what the legal world or the world of accounting is really like, and with this extra insight, it can help a student to decide what area they want to specialise in.
Sometime internees are paid a salary and sometimes not, but what does quite often happen is that the placement leads to full-time employment once they have finished their studying.
Staff Training
More employers are realising the benefits attached to staff training and, given the opportunity, it is something you should embrace. Most staff training involves experience and skills in the job you are doing, and there are benefits for your employer to improving those. It can be this sort of skill learning that will help you to advance up the ladder within the company you are with. That will always look good on your CV if you decide to move on.
Gaining Practical Skills in Other Parts of the World
Of course, furthering your career is not limited to the area and country you live in. Practical skills are needed all over the world and some other countries have similar schemes. In India, for instance, there is Skill India which was introduced to encourage workers to take up industry-relevant training that will help them to find a career. In Mexico, they are promoting Vocational and Technical Education and in Germany, they include practical skills in all their college courses, regardless of the subject. Practical training in the USA offers participants the chance to learn practical skills in a variety of careers.
All over the world, skills are needed that can only be taught practically, and most countries realise the importance of this by putting schemes in place for workers to learn them.
Enjoy Learning Your Practical Skills
Not everyone is good academically, but that does not mean they are not good at a job. Learning practical skills, especially if it is in something you enjoy, can be the way to a successful career. You just have to choose the best option for you in the way to learn the skills you require.