Job shadows – I never really knew how important these were until I went through one. They are a great way to see what a day of work in your field of interest is like. One of the keys to getting them for me was having a network and connections to rely on. When I found out that I had a required amount of hours of shadowing needed, I wasn’t exactly sure how to approach it, so I went to my family first to seek advice. And my dad said that he would ask a friend who was currently seeing a Physical Therapist (PT) about shadowing opportunities. Luckily, The PT was open to letting me shadow.
When contacting the individual you are interested in shadowing, it is important to be professional whether you are talking to them through emails or via phone. Make sure that you are polite, and to thank them for the opportunity. You have to be willing to be flexible as well, sometimes schedules will not match up, and you are going to have to find compromises in your schedule, so that you can go through with the shadowing. I had three different job shadows, and for each one, these were some of the various factors which I had to implement in my roles, including being flexible and having the ability to adapt to the different situations.
Don’t be afraid to ask people either, they may turn you down, but they can provide you with suggestions of where to go to next, and if you don’t know where to start, ask your advisor or professors for help. The Office of Career Services is a great resource to get ideas and help when setting up job shadows.
Matt Howard
Just a senior trying to juggle his way through one more semester.
