Students are usually so immersed in their studies and extracurricular activities that they are hard pressed to venture into the real world, and try to figure out how they might fit into it. Often, their first approaches are through internship programs, or through volunteer efforts in hospitals and other venues. Some students, of course, must work part time to supplement their family’s income but, they also, many times, find it difficult to look beyond their daily efforts. No matter the circumstances, all of us need to actively explore the range of career opportunities available. One of the best means of doing so is job shadowing.
The idea of job shadowing often evokes a number of questions: What is job shadowing and what are the benefits? How do I set up such an experience? How do I get the most out of job shadowing? What should I do after the job shadowing ends? How is job shadowing perceived by selective schools’ admission departments? Is it worth the time and effort expended in setting up? For most students (and many adults), job shadowing is a superb tool for sampling the world of work and gaining valuable insights into how your interests might translate into potential careers.
Job shadowing involves following a worker’s efforts, usually over a day (or two) at a job. It’s an uncompensated, temporary experience in a business that might be of interest. Furthermore, job shadowing enables career exploration, while helping to build a link between the class room and the work place. It’s closely related to informational interviewing, yet while an informational interview with someone at a company might take half and hour to, possibly, three quarters of an hour, job shadowing exposes a candidate to the visceral workings of a company.
There are many ways to set up a job shadowing experience. Junior Achievement (www.jasocal.org) is certainly a leader in promoting job shadowing. Junior Achievement not only recruits companies to open up their doors to students but, orchestrates the entire job shadowing activity. This is great if you’re wishing to explore the opportunities within larger firms (though don’t discount Junior Achievement’s reach, they have a lot of organizational associations) such as Hilton, Xerox, AT&T, or Wells Fargo. Many students, however, have interests beyond the realm of large companies. Don’t be put off by the prospect of your own search. Your own searches are superb, self-empowering, learning experiences in themselves.
Many high schools have career and counseling centers that can help students find contacts at companies of interest. Additionally local libraries can direct you to multiple sources to attain a list of prospective companies. One source that’s useful is Reference USA, which is found in many on-line library offerings. Once you’ve figured out industries and services of interest, Reference USA (http://www.libraryusa.com/referenceusa.asp) can unearth a range of promising companies
With your list of targeted companies, write or email the president or CEO (in Reference USA the names of most head of companies are listed). Always start at the top; your letter will then land in the right hands. A sample of a standard job shadowing request letter can be found at http://www.quintcareers.com/sample_job-shadow_letter.html. Give yourself at least two weeks lead time and be flexible. On the day of the shadowing, dress appropriately, arrive promptly, and be polite, courteous, and enthusiastic. Also, take the initiative to invite whomever it is you’re shadowing to lunch. Afterwards, always write a nice thank-you note.
The more job shadowing opportunities you embark upon, the better and broader will become your network within the world of careers. Even if you shadow someone and discover her line of work is not appealing, you’ve learned about what it is you’re not interested in, and that’s useful information as well. Lastly, be assured that most selective schools like to see individuals with motivation, independence, and a sense of adventure. Your experiences with job shadowing will show them you’re of this ilk.
Encountering the World of Enterprise through Job Shadowing