gain experience — get experience
collocationB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
to do things or have situations that help you learn new skills or knowledge, especially over time.
Say it like a native
Textbook The internship enabled me to accrue valuable professional experience.
Native The internship helped me gain a lot of experience.
'Gain experience' is the natural collocation; 'accrue valuable professional experience' is CV-jargon.
Pattern: gain experience (in something/doing something)
In use
- I want to gain experience in customer service before I apply for a full-time job.work
- In my opinion, students should do part-time jobs to gain experience and learn important life skills.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ I want to gain experiences in marketing.
✓ I want to gain experience in marketing.
Here 'experience' (skill/knowledge) is uncountable — no plural. ('Experiences' = individual events.)
Common collocations
gain experience + field— in the field, hands-on experience, valuable experience, over time
Don't confuse it
Similar to 'get experience,' but 'gain experience' is more formal and often used in academic or work contexts.