It is an opportunity for students to experience the real-world workplace, and more schools across the country are discovering the benefits of job shadowing.
By Susan Reese, Techniques Contributing Editor
On Groundhog Day, more than one million young people will have an opportunity to explore their possible future careers, according to the Job Shadow Coalition. However, with its components of career exploration, school-to-career training and cooperative learning experiences, career and technical education programs may include job shadowing for students at any time of the year. So what exactly is job shadowing, and why are so many students taking advantage of the experience?
Job shadowing is a work-based learning opportunity in which students explore a job by spending the workday as a shadow to an experienced worker. Although the students are not paid, they receive other rewards: the chance to explore a career that is of interest to them, seeing the workplace environment firsthand and witnessing the necessary skills as applied on the job.
The Job Shadow Coalition describes it as an academically motivating activity designed to give kids an up-close look at the world of work and to answer the question, “Why do I have to learn this?”
After seeing the education and skills they are learning being applied in a real-world setting, students can easily connect their classroom work with their future career success. Not only can job shadowing build career awareness, it can also reinforce student learning.
Almost any worksite can be a potential job shadowing site—from hospitals to businesses to construction sites.
Government and media figures have also served as job shadow hosts for young people. Television news show personalities such as Katie Couric and Matt Lauer have been shadowed by students on Groundhog Job Shadow Day. Perhaps the most high-profile job shadow hosts have been the former President of the United States George H.W. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell.
National Groundhog Job Shadow Day 2005 is February 2 and will be coordinated by the Job Shadow Coalition, which includes the organizations America’s Promise and Junior Achievement Worldwide (JA Worldwide) as well as the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Education. The sponsors this year are ING, Valpak and Nelnet.
Both middle school and high school students will participate in national events in this eighth year of the initiative, which JA Worldwide notes will not only give them an up-close look at the workplace, it will also help them better understand the connection between the world of work and the subjects they are studying in school.
JA Worldwide is the world’s largest organization dedicated to educating young people about business, economics and free enterprise. According to JA Worldwide, when surveyed, 90 percent of business volunteers who participated in job shadowing believed the students recognized the relationship between what they were experiencing in the workplace and what they were learning in school. Sixty-seven percent of the students reported that job shadowing taught them how important education is to future success, while 86 percent said that their job shadowing experience had changed their attitudes about working,
In Texas, the Upper Rio Grande College Tech-Prep Youth Consortium provides El Paso area grade eight through 12 students with the opportunity to participate in the Groundhog Day job shadowing event. This is the seventh year the consortium has coordinated the event for the region. According to Director James Valdez, last year they had almost 800 students, and in 2002 they had more than 1,200. They are working with the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce and have secured commitments from businesses, health care facilities, airline companies, and the sheriff and police departments. The consortium is also hosting three out-of-town school districts with about 150 students.
“It’s a lot of work,” says Valdez. “We start planning in October so that by February we’re ready to go.”
Once an employer begins to participate, they usually continue to do so year after year, and Valdez notes that they have now developed what he describes as “a healthy list of about 85” that they can count on. Among these are Home Depot and the Tenet Corporation, which operates the Sierra Providence Health Network in El Paso. There are three hospitals that take about 150 students, and Valdez notes that that’s not an easy thing to do, so he is grateful for the support of the Tenet Corporation in this effort.
He describes Home Depot’s participation as “outstanding” and says, “Last year they took 200 students whose site—a manufacturing facility—dropped out.”
Valdez explains that, while employers may be a little uneasy the first time, it is rare that they have one who does not want to participate in future years because, “Once they do it, they see the enthusiasm of the students and realize how important the information is to them.”
While large organizations like Home Depot take a group of students, some smaller companies may only want one student to come. Valdez cautions, “Student safety is a primary concern, so they always go in pairs. If a small office environment only requests one student, we insist that they take two.”
The students shadow from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and to help the workplace mentors understand how job shadowing works and what is expected from them, the consortium has prepared a brochure that offers some of the details. Among the advice: “We encourage you and fellow mentors at your place of business to provide information to the students on all aspects of possible career opportunities.”
The brochure also notes that workplace mentors are expected to “take two students under your wing and allow them to explore as many career possibilities within your business.”
To achieve this goal, the consortium provides the mentors with a Job Shadow Guide, which is intended to encourage discussion and assist in making the experience beneficial for both students and mentors.
Valdez says they provide this information because, “We always want to make sure we develop the employers correctly.”
He describes the information provided as “short and sweet” but adds, “They know we mean business.”
The employers can see that they will get a tangible benefit from hosting the students. As Valdez explains, these employers find that, “They are developing that valuable pipeline of future employees.”
The students can also see the value of the experience. “Students go in with preconceived notions about jobs from media and TV,” says Valdez.
Once they have a more realistic picture, they will know better whether it is a career they wish to pursue—or one to cross off their list of possibilities.
The Upper Rio Grande College Tech-Prep Youth Consortium also encourages teacher job shadowing, described as informal arrangements between schools and businesses that give teachers the opportunity to spend time with industry professionals observing the latest techniques and technologies used in the workplace.
The consortium notes on its Web site that the teacher shadow program allows businesses to get involved in the educational process by starting a cooperative dialogue between businesses and schools. It benefits the teachers by giving them insight into the needs of employers and allowing them to update their skills and knowledge. This translates into additional benefits for the students, since the teachers can provide training in the skills necessary for workplace success while adding relevance to their classroom instruction.
To facilitate teacher shadowing, the consortium offers guidelines to local businesses on planning and scheduling, as well as addressing liability concerns.
The consortium employs strong elements of professional development for its teachers, including weeklong summer externships at a business of the teacher’s choice.
“We want to make sure they’re well aware of what’s needed in the workplace,” notes Valdez.
Field trips and guest speakers complement the externships and teacher shadowing to help build relationships between the teachers and the business community.
As the Job Shadow Coalition notes, the goal of the national Groundhog Day event is to kick off year-round job shadowing activities, but that date may not work best for all school districts due to weather conditions that time of year or because of previously scheduled events.
For the past three years, Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Pa., had job shadowing on or near Groundhog Day, but this year it was scheduled for November 16 so that the possibility of winter weather problems would not interfere with the planned activities. Fairfield High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that includes career and technical courses such as business, agriculture, building trades, masonry, technical drawing/CADD, and family and consumer sciences. The tech prep program at Fairfield offers two-year programs in allied health, computer tech-maintenance and repair, and culinary arts.
Janet Rapuano, who is with the Career Education department at Fairfield, leads the job shadowing effort at the school. In September she went to all of the junior classes (at Fairfield all of the job shadowing students are juniors) and had the students pick their top three occupational options. Sometimes the students have had a place and a contact person, which they can write down and give to Rapuano.
After collecting this information, Rapuano then speaks with the employers, sets up the shadow experience and sends out letters of confirmation. She finds she is usually able to place the students with one of their top choices.
Among the jobsites where she has lined up job shadowing for her students have been automotive establishments, architects and graphic design firms, as well as Gettysburg Hospital and York Hospital. Two students job shadowed a marketing person for the Hershey Bears Hockey Team, and another spent the day at the WGAL television station in Lancaster.
Because Fairfield is located just over the Maryland border, Rapuano was able to place students with a biotechnology firm in Frederick, Md., and the Baltimore City Crime Lab. One year, a student even went as far as NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Following their job shadowing experiences, the students write thank you letters to the employers, and these are then graded by their English teachers and placed in their career portfolios. Not only does this exercise teach them life skills and academic skills, but Rapuano gets to see what they have learned from their time on the jobsites.
As for the responses, Rapuano says, “The majority of the students absolutely love it. Many have come back and said they wish they could do it all week.”
The employers have been equally positive. When she approaches them the following year, “Most companies now automatically say yes,” notes Rapuano.
Not every student falls in love with the profession he or she explores through the job shadowing experience, however; and that’s not always a negative thing either.
Rapuano says that in areas such as architecture or engineering, some students come back and say they loved it, while others learn it’s not what they want to do and start exploring other careers.
Of the students who have gone to veterinarian offices, “Some may have passed out because of the blood,” says Rapuano, “and others say ‘It’s the coolest job I’ve ever seen!’”
She does caution that employers do not always think the students are as involved as they could be because they may not ask many questions. It is important for the employers to understand that, as she explains it, “A lot of 11th graders can be shy about entering unfamiliar situations, but being quiet doesn’t mean they’re not involved.”
These must be minor concerns, if the results of the follow-up surveys Rapuano sends to employers are any indication. Between 95 and 98 percent say they would take a student again. Her only regret is that she cannot send more than just juniors and send them for more than one day.
Rapuano loves the idea of being involved in something that is done on a national level and adds, “I highly recommend it. I cannot say enough positive things about it. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for all students.”
The Job Shadow Coalition offers a wealth of resources to help set up and maintain a job shadowing program, including a complete “How To Guide.” Guidelines are provided for workplace hosts, workplace coordinators, teachers and students.
The first advice offered by the Job Shadow Coalition is “Prepare first,” and as noted by James Valdez of El Paso’s Upper Rio Grande College Tech-Prep Youth Consortium, that means getting started early. Among the things to consider: making sure employers understand their role, helping teachers and school coordinators understand the process, and providing student transportation to and from the job sites.
The Job Shadow Coalition offers resources to help all along the way. Suggestions are made for advance preparation activities and materials to be used during the process—and for follow-up activities for the students.
One student activity provided is a Job Shadow Day career cluster selection worksheet. Students can make their first-, second- and third-place choices from a list of career clusters to help them be paired with a person in one of their top three areas of interest.
The educator section of the guide offers advice to teachers on presenting the content and intent of the day, introducing the workplace partner, establishing objectives, preparation and personal skills assessment classroom activities.
According to the Job Shadow Coalition, the day should end with a wrap-up session in which hosts and teachers help students see that: “It is the combined skills of all the employees that allow the workplace to operate successfully. Every department is key to the overall success of the workplace. The departments work together to successfully meet the workplace’s goal.”
Teachers can have the students bring their job shadow materials to class after the event so that they can discuss what they learned through the experience. These materials include their guides, evaluation forms and personal action plans. The students should also write thank you letters to their workplace hosts.
When looking back upon their day of job shadowing, the students may find that they see a stronger connection between the relevance of their school work and their future success; they have a better understanding of the workplace skills they will need for the future; and they have a greater appreciation of the teamwork that is found in the most successful organizations.
For more information, visit the Job Shadow Coalition Web site at www.jobshadow.org. To learn more about the Upper Rio Grande College Tech-Prep Youth Consortium and their successful job shadowing effort, visit www.careersprep.com.
- Techniques February 2005 Issue - 
