Job Shadow
Planning Guide Select where you are in your real world learning journey.
Getting Started
Set your goals and understand your commitment.
Finding Partners
Who from the real world will interact with your students?
Preparing
What do you need to be ready to launch?
Launching
Connect your students with real world learning experiences.
Following Up
How will you follow up with everyone after the experience?
Reflecting
Did you achieve your goals?
Getting Started
Understand goals and commitments
Write your vision and identify student learning goals for the job shadow. Use the RWL Activity Planning Worksheet
Contact your school guidance counselors, college and career services at your district, your local Chamber of Commerce, or volunteer coordination organizations to help find connections to job shadow opportunities for students
Tips
- Decide how to distribute tasks and determine if students or you will lead the process. Many of the connect and prepare steps can be done by students.
- Alternatively students may have a parent, guardian or adult that they want to shadow
- Determine if you are going to open up this opportunity to all students or just a subset
Finding Partners
Who from the real world will interact with your students?
Identify list of potential partners
Obtain relevant information for the partners:
- Student requirements
- Industries and organizations involved in job shadows
- Time commitment
- Feedback from past participants
- Potential Cost to students
Determine which organizations best fits the needs of your students
Contact partners to obtain application and registration materials, if necessary
Tips
- Ensure there are enough opportunities to match up with the number of students you hope to connect to a job shadow
Preparing
What do you need to be ready to launch?
Work with students to determine which opportunities best meet their needs
Support students with the application process and ensure materials are submitted on time
Explain to students what they will learn with this Job Shadow opportunity
Conduct lessons to prepare students for the Job Shadow opportunity. Plan to spend a minimum of two classes (see Sample Job Shadow Lesson Plan)
Identify how students will record key lessons to share back with your class at the end of the job shadow
Tips
- Identify a program manager or contact at the coordination organization that you can connect with directly to submit multiple student applications.
- Make sure to confirm location and where students need to go for their job shadow opportunities
- Provide students with small notebooks to record key learnings and questions
Launching
Connect your students with real world learning experiences.
Ensure students go to their job shadows on the correct day, on time
Participate in job shadow experience
Debrief with partner program manager/contact if possible the day of job shadows
Tips
- If allowed by the partner, students should take pictures to document their experience
Following Up
How will you follow up with everyone after the experience?
Send thank you notes to the job shadow organizations/individuals on behalf of yourself and the students
Reach out to anyone else who helped in arranging the opportunities to update them on the experience and thank them for their assistance
Have students write personal thank you notes sharing how they benefited from the experience
Schedule a follow-up call with coordinating partner organization and if possible one or two job shadow host organizations to get feedback about your students and their preparation for the activity
Tips
- In their thank you notes, students should indicate how they would like to maintain the relationship and keep the door open to future opportunities
- Students should document and share their experience in some manner
Reflecting
Did you achieve your goals?
Reflect on the event with your students (see Student Reflection)
Reflect on the event yourself (see Teacher Reflection)
Share about the experience with teachers and families
Tips
- Share your students’ stories. It will help spread good ideas and gain support from others. You can blog about it, share it at a faculty meeting, send out a press release, etc
