Meaning & use
operational experience
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The knowledge and skill a person gains from actually doing a job or running a system, rather than from study or theory.
Grammar: No plural and no 'a' or 'an' before it: you gain operational experience, not *an operational experience*.
Patterns
- gain operational experience
- have operational experience in something
- operational experience of doing something
- with ... years of operational experience
She has ten years of operational experience in hospital administration.
The job ad asks for operational experience, not just a degree.
His operational experience of running the night shift made him a strong candidate.
noununcountabletechnical
The recorded history of how a machine, vehicle, or piece of equipment has actually performed in real use.
Grammar: Often used with 'of' plus the equipment or system: the operational experience of the fleet.
Patterns
- operational experience of something
- operational experience with something
- data on operational experience
Engineers studied the operational experience of the turbines over five winters.
Operational experience with the new aircraft has so far been good.
The report collects operational experience from every regional depot.
Common combinations
- gain operational experience
- New officers gain operational experience during their first year on patrol.
- hands-on operational experience
- The course mixes classroom work with hands-on operational experience.
- years of operational experience
- They want five years of operational experience for this management post.
- operational experience in something
- She has operational experience in logistics and warehousing.
- lack of operational experience
- His lack of operational experience showed when the system failed.
Synonyms and how they differ
- practical experience
- Broader and more everyday; it covers any hands-on learning, while operational experience usually points to running an organization, system, or machine.
- field experience
- Emphasizes work done away from the office or classroom, such as on site; operational experience can also be gained in a control room or office.
- work experience
- Often means a short placement done while studying, so it suggests much less responsibility than operational experience.
Opposites
Word family
- operation noun
- An organized activity or process, or a single action in a series.
- operational adjective
- Connected with running something, or ready to be used.
- operate verb
- To run or control a machine, system, or business.
- operator noun
- A person who controls a machine or runs part of a service.
- operationally adverb
- In a way that relates to how something is run or used.
Commonly confused: operational experience or operational excellence? operational experience or operations experience?
operational experience vs operational excellence
A related business phrase meaning consistently high standards in how work is done; it names the quality itself, not the knowledge a person builds up.
operational experience vs operations experience
Very close in meaning, but it usually refers to work inside an operations department, while operational experience can come from any hands-on role.
Practice
The manager wants someone with real operational experience, so she is looking for a candidate who ______.
Choose one answer.
Operational experience means knowledge gained by doing the work, so 'spent years actually running the systems' fits. Studying, knowing theory, and reading books describe academic knowledge, which is the opposite of what the phrase stresses.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “operational experience”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.