Thank you for agreeing to host a student for a job shadowing experience. Some of the expectations of job shadowing are that:
- The student will observe the day-to-day tasks of your job and other jobs at your workplace
- The student will ask questions about the job, pre-requisite training, and skills needed to be employed in this job
- The student can participate in work-related tasks when appropriate
Some students will require accommodations during their job shadowing experience. If these are needed, the student or I will contact you to discuss how the accommodations can be provided.
Here are a few tips on how to engage with students during their job shadow experience:
- Make conversation about both work and non-work-related tasks to help students feel comfortable
- Encourage students to ask questions
- Provide an explanation of your work tasks as you complete them
- When possible, have students observe various roles of other employees at the workplace
Sample Schedule
- Introductions (approx. 10 minutes).
- Share how long you have been at the company and in your current position
- Explain the position you started in
- Share what made you interested in this job
- Overview of the industry and employer (approx. 30 minutes). Explain:
- The main goal of the company
- The various jobs and how they support the goal
- The number of employees
- The location of the company: local, regional, national, international
- Workplace tour (up to 30 minutes)
- Introduce other employees and their role
- Explain the role of equipment or technology, if appropriate
- Show the “behind the scenes” look, such as the side of business customers often do not see
- Individual shadowing time (2-6 hours)
- Determine if the student will shadow you or other individuals or both
- If possible, include the student in the work or allow them to observe by taking notes, photos, or videos
- Wrap up/Q & A (up to 1 hour)
- Reflect with the student on what they learned
- Answer any questions that the student has
- Complete any paperwork, such as the post-job shadowing survey