Beth in SW WA Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Ds is still processing through his options for his short term & long term future. He isn't one of those students who 'knew' what he wanted to do when he grew up. :) A light bulb moment for him occurred in the last year or so starting with his first job shadow with an engineer/designer at Adidas. Up to that point Andrew had only a vague idea as to what he could do in the field of engineering. He still isn't completely sure. This is in the forefront of my mind today since he is at Nike shadowing our friend who is a senior designer. (I am probably more nervous that he is driving solo to Beaverton for the first time.) He is traveling to Denver next month to shadow my bil who is a software/electrical engineer in the audio industry. Ds will hopefully get approved to shadow my cousin who is an engineer at Boeing. All this to say...I wish we had exposed ds to more of these types of experiences as a younger student. The engineering field has been a mystery to all of us. Shadowing engineers has been such a blessing for ds. I wish we had started sooner. HTH someone else who is looking down the road and not quite sure how this all works. We have such a huge & expen$ive decision coming up with college choices. I would love to read about others who have been inspired by job shadows. Any tips or words of wisdom are welcome also. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Dd who is 8, is going on 3 job shadows shortly. One over at the Juvenile Justice Center, she'll sit in the gallery to watch proceedings. Two, over at the police station with a mentor, Third...over to the City Attorney office to mingle with the staff and spend the day. She's interested in law, but doesn't know just what field. We'll see how it goes. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Wow. I am sitting here amazed that I have not given job shadows a bit of thought. Ds is 15 and has no idea what he would like to do. I think this is something I need to start setting up over the next couple of years. Thank you for mentioning this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FourOaks Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 So glad to hear this. My 14 yr old (in 3 weeks) dd has already been told she can job shadow with one of our neighbors whenever she wants. She has NO idea what jobs are even available, so no idea what she would like to do. I was afraid that others might think I was jumping the gun in having her start shadowing so early, so I am happy to hear that I am not crazy. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 I was afraid that others might think I was jumping the gun in having her start shadowing so early, so I am happy to hear that I am not crazy. Thanks. You're welcome. I told dh this morning that I can tell Andrew's job shadow experience at Nike last week made a huge impact on him. He is rethinking his plans for his senior year. He spent all Saturday working on SAT prep and programming (some free MIT course). He told me he is going to the library during lunch to get homework done so he can work at his job longer after school and have time for programming at night. He is attending some programming and engineering classes on Feb 17 at CU in Boulder (after a job shadow that morning -- and before a weekend of snowboarding at Steamboat). Had it not been for the experiences of him meeting/talking/observing these phenomenal engineers in the last few months I don't think he would have quite the drive that he does now. He needed a 'real life' scenario to work towards. Who knows what he will actually decide to pursue -- but at least he has more of a vision for his future. Anyone else have a similar experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romeacademy Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 (edited) That's really encouraging. My oldest has absolutely no idea what she wants to do (but a fairly extensive list of what she does not want to do). I was planning to set up some shadows/informational interviews this spring and summer. I really hope it helps her think about possibilities. Edited February 3, 2012 by romeacademy Fix typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen the RD Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I realized this year that I needed to start this process for my dd. I was one of those kids who did not know what I wanted to do even through college. I graduated with a degree in marketing, worked in the field for 5 years and HATED IT! I'll bet if I had thought about shadowing opportunities then I might have changed majors in college. But honestly, I had no direction from parents or HS/college counselors. DH had a similar experience and we both returned to school in our 30's and obtained graduate degrees in completely different fields. So, in light of our experience, dh and I are encouraging dd to start career and college exploration now. She's interested in athletic training then physical therapy school. We've found a delightful young lady who completed this track and she has been a wealth of info. Dd has already shadowed her once and is going with her to a basketball game tomorrow for athletic training. I say the sooner the better to get kids out there looking at various careers. Homeschooling provides the perfect opportunity for this kind of exploration and I absolutely love that flexibility. Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Photo Ninja Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Job shadowing can be enlightening for a student. My dd was considering Speech Pathology. A neighbor is a Speech Pathologist in an elementary school, so dd asked to shadow for a day. The neighbor was excited and got approval. Neighbor picked a day when she had many different groups with different needs, including some spec ed students, so dd would see a wide range. She spent a lot of time giving dd information. Dc came home more excited than ever that this is what she wanted to do as a career. She is now a college jr. happily majoring in speech pathology. One of my ds's friends was interested in marketing and spent a few days shadowing people in the marketing dept. of a couple different companies. He decided that marketing was not the career for him. It was a successful job shadow experience because he did not waste time in college on a major that he would end up not liking. He majored in business and is now looking forward to getting his masters degree. So job shadowing can work both ways, but I would consider both outcomes - verification of the career choice or a decision that the career is not the right choice - to be successful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 He is attending some programming and engineering classes on Feb 17 at CU in Boulder (after a job shadow that morning -- and before a weekend of snowboarding at Steamboat) I would love to know more about this!! We are within range of CU Boulder. (I would love a pm if you would prefer) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 Hi Leslie, I contacted the engineering department to let them know that ds would be in town and would love to observe/tour the school and attend a class or two. The prof in charge of freshman recruiting (for potential engineering students) offered to meet with him that day. He is attending her class. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtnTeaching Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Hi Leslie,I contacted the engineering department to let them know that ds would be in town and would love to observe/tour the school and attend a class or two. The prof in charge of freshman recruiting (for potential engineering students) offered to meet with him that day. He is attending her class. HTH! That is good to know. I know that Ds would gain a lot out of having an opportunity like this. Thank you for letting us know about this. There are so many possibilities! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth in SW WA Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Ds attended class at CU in Boulder and spent part of the day at QSC Audio. He didn't fall in love with the school so we can safely take CU off the short list. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailofsparks Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 (edited) nm Edited February 20, 2012 by trailofsparks Changed my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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