12 Examples of Hands-on Experience

John Spacey, June 15, 2022

Hands-on experiences are work, training and activities that directly produce an end-result. This can be contrasted with hands-off approaches such as a manager who delegates tasks that they themselves have never directly completed. Hands-on experience is valued because in order to fully understand a task or process you need to have completed it yourself. Employers also ask for hands-on experience because they are trying to filter out candidates who avoid work by over-delegating. The following are illustrative examples of hands-on work.

A CEO who shows up at a low level engineering meeting intended to resolve a quality problem with a product.	A class exercise that allows students to design and build their own robot with a kit.
A manager of a restaurant who steps in to help in the kitchen when there is a dinner rush.	A politician who visits a disaster site to ask what the government can do to help.
A teacher who sits with a student to help them complete a math problem they are struggling with.	An airplane mechanic who has directly worked on a particular model of engine in the past.
An operations manager who goes down to the factory floor to help troubleshoot a problem.	Calling a customer to help them resolve a problem.
Framing a house.	Operating a machine.
Training that provides participants with a chance to disassemble and reassemble a machine.	Writing, implementing and supporting code in production.