I had the opportunity to job shadow Mark Bumgarner, the Coordinator for Student Services at the Woodbridge campus of the Northern Virginia Community College. It was a great experience. Mark arranged for the job shadowing to occur during a staff training session. This provided me to witness Mark and his staff interact for several hours. They were working on a visions and value statement for student services.
I later interviewed with Mark a week or so later and the training session was a great way to start the interview because it was something he could refer to during the interview session. He was a great host and ambassador of his school. I learned a little more about student services from a veteran so it was time well spent.
If I may offer some suggestions for a job shadowing experience: 1) Arrange for the interview at least a few days later. This enables you and the subject to have soak time and reflect on the experience. 2) Obtain a resume of the person you are shadowing. This will help you in the interview process. 3) Request an opportunity to see the subject interact with others. Mark picked the training session because he thought it would be the best way to see him work with his entire staff. 4) Consider writing a thank you letter and sharing your work with the person you shadow. Mark did not request either of these but if I was being shadowed, I know I would appreciate it.
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1 comment:
getting a resume is great advice, because while working on my paper that is one of the things I wish I had. Another piece of advice I would add is to ask what the mission of the office is and how they work towards it, this is something else I wish I had asked during the interview instead of emailing them a few weeks later.
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