The Career Services Center at Hobart and William Smith Colleges encourages students to take every opportunity to shadow a variety of professionals in order to narrow down your career path. This winter, hundreds of students submitted their applications for the Job Shadow experience at HWS. Job shadowing is simply the chance to observe or even help a professional on a typical day of their job. HWS alums invite students to join them at their workplace to share HWS inside-jokes, share their inspirational story, and give professional networking tips to current undergrads. This opportunity is priceless, where else would you get personalized career tips from someone who's been in your shoes before? Here's advice for how to prepare, what to expect, and how to maintain the connections from a job shadow.
Prepare
Send an initial professional email. Include a little bit about yourself, your academic and career interests, and what you want to gain from the shadow.
Confirm the time and place at least 48 hours before.
Research about the organization you're visiting. Also, view your alum contact on LinkedIn (you'll be able to prepare questions about their career path)
Arrive to the location about 10 minutes early (for peace of mind)
Present
Dress professionally: Conservatively unless otherwise stated by host
Have a Padfolio with you (with two copies of your resume, a pen, a notebook, and a place to store business cards and other information you're given)
Leave good impressions: Maintain eye contact, introduce yourself politely, shake hands with everyone you meet, and smile.
Prepare some questions so you appear even more engaged and interested: "How did you come to work in this field/ industry/position? What is a typical day like for you? What are the qualifications and educational requirements for this type of work? What are the current challenges faced by this industry? Does this office ever hire interns? If so, what are the responsbilities of these interns? (When do these internship positons open?) Can you recommend other internship/ job opportunitites for this career field/ industry?"
Finish
Thank the alum for taking their time to shadow you.
On the way home from the shadow, reject about the experience (in your Padfolio for thank you notes)
Send a thank you email to the alum to reflect your enthusiasm and appreciation.
Within two to three weeks send a hand-written note (old-school but this leaves an impression)
Being a respectful, friendly, excited learner, and showing your curiosity to learn about this field could result in a rewarding job shadowing experience. Instead of sitting on your couch eating Christmas cookies all of break, this is a chance to look into your future! By spending one day in the professional world, a job shadow can help prepare for your future, guide you into the field you want to go in, and even help you network for when you graduate (GRADUATION?! *gasps*).
