Job shadowing is so underrated! Even if your applying for a large corporation, ask to shadow to shadow someone who will be on your team for an hour or two. This can provide valuable insight into the realities of your potential position. Tip #11: write some questions down prior to going to the job shadow. It will show good on you and it makes it easier for the person you’re shadowing.
I'm currently in the process of trying to find a job shadow here in Cape Town, South Africa, and so far it boggles my mind how hard it is. I'm either outright rejected because they have no openings, or companies seem to think job shadowing = full time work and expect me to already have a full portfolio and experience. And I have to do this for college or I fail the year...
We are a medium size city with 2 large Universities and community college. It is very hard to get jobs, shadowing, volunteer opportunities in college. Plus all our public HS students have to get a minimum of 100hrs volunteer hours to get in college and middle schoolers have to get volunteer hours for civics class. Plus large senior population (Florida) volunteers. All healthcare students have hard time getting enough hours.😢You be surprised how hard it is to work for free. It gets more and more competitive with HS having minimum 200 hours, college have 200 volunteer and 200 shadowing.
The same as if you would if you’re writing a resume for a job. If you have no experience in the field, highlight your passion and interest in the role that would further support you being a good fit for the job.
