What is job shadowing?
It’s a type of on-the-job training where an employee learns from a more experienced colleague by following them and observing them. It lets one person learn from another and can be a very effective form of training. This can help the new employee or candidate know about the typical responsibilities and work environment of the position and determine if it is something they would like to pursue as a career. Depending on the industry and organisation, job shadowing can be a one-day or multi-day process.
High school and college students, as well as recent graduates should be interested in shadowing to gain a better understanding of their specific area of study. Equally, anyone who wants to learn about a specific career through hands-on experience would benefit from job shadowing.
Providing shadow job opportunities to students and job candidates is also an effective method for employers to conduct reliable evaluations, introduce them to the company’s processes and culture and set the right expectations.
How Can Job shadowing help to choose a career?
Aids in exploring various job roles: A shadow job aids a student to explore different careers and help discover their professional preferences. Interacting with experienced industry professionals can help them understand the role better and decide whether they are the right fit for the company and industry.
Helps builds your professional network: Networking is extremely important to have a successful career. Through job shadowing, students can get an opportunity to find mentors and guides to help them make informed career decisions.
Facilities training : It can help students learn essential skills and gain crucial knowledge about the industry to perform their roles effectively.
Enhances clarity: Job shadowing professionals provides students an opportunity to clarify their doubts and get answers to specific questions about the role.
Opportunity to showcase one’s abilities and capabilities: Job shadowing is actually a great opportunity for students and fresh graduates to showcase their capabilities to potential employers over and above the great learning opportunity that they would get.
Helps gain work experience: If the job shadowing is done for couple of weeks, it could also be mentioned as an internship experience on a student’s resume, which also helps in admissions for colleges. It is a great profile building exercise which is valued by universities.
Conclusion
Job shadowing provides an ideal opportunity to learn new ways of work and especially get essential perspectives from a more experienced person which can help a student not only to choose a career but also in the future.