Connecting Activities

Job Shadow Day

February 9, 2010

Valleyworks Career Center once again hosted Job Shadow Day on February 9, 2010. Job Shadow Day is a National Event which is geared at providing high school students with the opportunity to shadow a business professional for a day. This event is highly anticipated by students each year, as they look forward to visiting employers and learning about exciting careers. Valleyworks Career Center is fortunate enough to have dedicated employer partners who welcome the students into their businesses. The goal of this program is to inspire youth by presenting career avenues that could be in their future.

National Job Shadow Day is designated as an opportunity for area high school students to shadow business professionals to get a better understanding of the workplace. The goals were to:

Demonstrate a connection between academics and careers, making class work more relevant.
Build community partnerships between schools and businesses.
Introduce students to the requirements of professions and industries to help them prepare to join the workforce.
Create meaningful mentorships, providing productive role models who positively impact students.

Employers benefit from National Job Shadow Day in many ways. It is an opportunity to:

Educate students on the day-to-day challenges and rewards of an industry or workplace.
Reinforce the need for academic performances for workplace success.
Shape a more qualified future workforce.

Job Shadow Day allows students to become inspired to attend college after observing people in the workplace. They learn that their career goals require hard work and usually some form of higher education. They also gain a firsthand understanding of the relevance of academics to the professional world.

Job Shadow Day was a wonderful opportunity for the students to witness the breadth of career choices ahead of them and to develop a better understanding of the education and preparation needed. The students not only benefited from that but also truly enjoyed their shadowing experiences. Many of the youth enjoyed the experience so much that they filled out applications hoping they could work for the employer in the future. Many of the employers thought the youth were great, dressed appropriately, asked good questions and would be a good employee at their place of business

Students and Employers joined together to make Job Shadow Day a success!

Students

Participating School	Number of Students Registered
Haverhill High School	25 Students
Lawrence High School	15 Students
Lawrence Diploma Plus	20 Students
Total Students Registered	60 Students

Employers

Participating Employer

Merrimack Valley Hospital

Pentucket Bank

Haverhill Court/Probabtion

Merrimack Valley Chamber

Imagine That

Little Sprouts

Lawrence Police Department

US Citizenship & Immigration

Cube 3 Studio

Lawrence General Hospital

Mary Immaculate

GLCAC

Small Smiles of Lawrence

Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Union

Northern Essex Community College

City of Lawrence

City of Haverhill- Mayor’s Office

Silvermane

Holiday Inn Express

Haverhill Police Department

Eagle East Aviation

Haverhill Fire Department

Job Shadow Day was an exciting experience for both students and employers.

Here is a sample of what the students had to say about their Job Shadow experience…

“I had learned how to do an x-ray and to always introduce myself to a patient. I also learned what the machines are used for.”
“I got to know what the job is really like in real life. It motivates me to do it in the future.”
“The Job Shadow Day was good. It changed my ways of seeing things.”
“I may choose to work in this field (child care). I learned that kids are not that easy as it looks. Also it takes a lot of patience, especially when it comes to crying.”
“I never thought that I would pick this career, but now I may take some courses to help get into the Criminal Justice Field.”
“I enjoyed it very much, it was an awesome experience!”

The employers provided their feedback as well…

“She was a delight to have in the office. She was like a sponge. She absorbed everything we told her and asked appropriate questions to learn more. It was a great experience and I think she learned a lot from it. I hope she enjoyed it as much as we did.” Cube 3
“Internship would be great. I asked the student to drop by the store and he filled out an application.” Silvermane
“It was a pleasure to have (the students) with us on Job Shadow Day. All these students were fully engaged throughout the time they spent with us.” United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
“There were two students. I would be interested in hiring both of them.” Northern Essex Community College
“The four girls who spent the morning here at Little Sprouts enjoyed the experience as much as we did. I have taken all of their names and hopefully can see if we can employ them in the classroom they visited.” Little Sprouts, Haverhill