What are the best ways to gain programming experience after studying?

Build projects on your own. It’s the easiest way to create examples for your portfolio and résumé without waiting for an employer to give you your first opportunity. Make them useful, finish them, and include clear documentation so people can see how you work.

Open-source projects can be a good next step once you have some personal work to show. Choose a project that matches your interests, read its contribution guidelines, and start with manageable bug fixes, tests, or documentation. Writing clean code and explaining your decisions matters just as much as making the contribution.

The basic answer is to make things. A few completed projects that demonstrate problem-solving and practical programming skills are usually more valuable than a long list of unfinished tutorials.

For experience, do practical work; for professional experience, get a professional job; and for IT experience specifically, apply for IT roles. Entry-level support or operations jobs can help you learn how companies work, but don’t rely on promotion alone—keep building programming projects and applying directly to development roles when you’re ready.