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Job Shadowing
What to do: Match one of your employees with a student
visitor who will spend a good part of a typical workday at your company "shadowing" your
employee. Encourage the employee to talk with the student about what
he or she does, what kinds of skills and instruction are necessary for
the job, how the job fits in with the rest of the company, and what
it’s like to work there.
Duration: Approximately 4-8 hours.
Grade level: Most appropriate for students in the
seventh grade through high school.
Benefits of Job Shadowing:
Students will:
- Begin to identify career interests — influenced by what they
see at your company.
- Get a realistic view of the daily routines of adult workers.
- Gain an awareness of the academic, technical and personal skills
required by certain jobs.
- Develop and apply communication skills by interacting with workers.
- Realize that different jobs are characterized by different work
cultures and environments.
You will:
- Get the chance to more fully introduce your company to an interested
student.
- Deepen your school-to-career relationships with area schools.
Keys for Host Employees:
- Go about your normal job routine so that your student "shadow" can
observe you at work.
- Plan to allow the student to do some limited, hands-on tasks (make
sure you closely supervise).
- Explain the important aspects of your work and how they relate
to other jobs in the company.
- Talk about how the work of your company affects the local or regional
community.
- Be patient — it’s hard to do your work, answer questions
and be a good host at the same time!
- If yours is a union environment, seek its involvement in your planning.
- Use a check-off sheet to see if you’ve covered everything.
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Programs Involving Students
Career Exploration
Employability Skills Training
Field Trips/ Company Tours
Job Shadowing
Internships
Mentoring
Programs Involving Educators
Externships for Educators
Company Visits
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