Job Shadow Week: “It’s an essential part of an Arts degree.”
Job Shadowing changed the course of Kyle’s degree — and career!
When Kyle (BA Art & Design, English Minor) job shadowed for the first time in 2014, it changed the way he thought about his Arts degree.
“It gave me a vision to work towards,” he says, “It challenged me to think about graduating and getting into the workplace.” Reflecting about his future was in itself helpful, but moreover, he made valuable connections with his hosts every time he job shadowed.
Have you ever heard the adage ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know’?
Believe me, it’s a frustrating thing to hear when you know nobody.
So what can you do about it? Job shadow! Connecting with professionals in fields you are interested in is essential. It allows for the opportunity to ask questions, discover training programs, find a mentor, or to eventually have a ‘foot in the door’.
Job Shadow Week enables you to explore different careers, meet professionals in various industries, and learn about the ins and outs of different work environments while still in school. All you have to do is apply, be matched and spend 1–3 days with an employer during the Fall or Winter Term Reading Week.
It’s low cost, low commitment, high reward.
Kyle job shadowed multiple times in his degree — and encourages all Arts students to give it a try.
“Early in my degree I really didn’t have a clear idea of which career I was interested in. Back then I wasn’t even in Art & Design, I was in Environmental Studies.” Kyle says, “I was just figuring everything out. Doing job shadow week made perfect sense. It was a chance to get away from campus and see what the working world is like.”
His first job shadow host was a librarian at the Alberta Teacher’s Association’s Resource Library and his second host worked in the University of Alberta’s Office of Emergency Management.
Although these are different career paths, both of Kyle’s job shadow experiences directly impacted his understanding of different types of careers, the value of his degree, and his next steps.
“My job shadow hosts were extremely welcoming and open to any questions I had. And they were fine with staying in touch afterwards too.” Kyle says, “The job shadow program is low commitment and is one of the best things you can do to figure out which careers you may be interested in.”
Here are some of the questions Job Shadow Week will help you answer:
1. What will your life look like after graduating?
If you are trying to envision your everyday life after graduation and are coming up blank, popping into a real life work place for a day will help! Plus, it will likely get rid of the ‘Arts grads can’t get jobs’ misconception.
Or, if you think you know everything about your ‘dream job’, it can’t hurt to check out the everyday realities and help you prepare (and adjust your expectations). For example, Kyle says that, “seeing a full day of what a librarian does and getting to ask a bunch of questions really solidified it as a career that I’m interested in pursuing.”
2. Which types of jobs are available to Arts graduates?
Job Shadow hosts are open to students from all Faculties and majors because for most jobs, your academic focus is less important than your skills and experiences.
This became clear to Kyle when he job shadowed at the Office of Emergency Management. “It was interesting to talk to the people who worked in that office because their educational backgrounds weren’t in emergency management either.” Kyle explains, “It’s not something you need to get a degree in, like to become a librarian. One of the employees had originally been a teacher! It was cool to find out how they got there and interact with people from so many different backgrounds.”
On the other hand, his job shadow experience at the library helped him directly connect his current degree to a possible career. “One of the things that my job shadow host talked about a lot was that part of being a librarian is marketing yourself and what you do. Because a lot of people don’t realize what a librarian does, they kind of think that it’s just shelving books.” Kyle laughs, “She also shared some interesting campaigns where public librarians have successfully fought off budget cuts through creative marketing campaigns. That is very relevant to my degree because Visual Communication Design and English both touch on communications and could directly impact my work as a librarian.”
Art & Design isn’t the first program you think of when you hear ‘librarian’, but by connecting with a professional in the field, Kyle learned a tangible way to market his skills and apply them to a future position.
3. How can you prepare for graduation?
There’s no better way to understand your own strengths and weaknesses than going into someone’s work place, observing the projects they work on throughout the day, and asking questions. You can imagine yourself in their shoes and identify areas that you can improve on — whether it’s by learning to use a type of technology, improving your public speaking, or taking a recommended training course.
“When you apply for jobs you can’t just do it for a day or two and then realize it’s not what you wanted and leave.” Kyle says, “So it’s a really valuable experience to actually see what somebody does day to day. You get so much more than from just reading a job description. And don’t be afraid to apply to job shadow positions you’ve never heard of. You can learn a lot by figuring out that you don’t like the job you shadowed. Even if it just sounds interesting, give it a shot.”
How it works:
- Check out the list of job shadow hosts and apply to 1–3 hosts. (Hint: Take your time and start early so you can think about what you would want to learn from each host).
- If you are matched with a host, pay the $25 fee to be connected with them. Get thinking about questions to ask.
- Introduce yourself to your host and know that you’ve taken an important step in exploring your career!
And guess what? You can apply now!
Want to read another student’s take on how Job Shadow Week can alter your life after graduation? Learn from Logan, now working in Japan thanks to her job shadow experience!
