This assignment encourages you to talk to and observe a professional who is working in a field that you may be interested in choosing for your own career. When you approach the professional, please explain that you are a student in the Upward Bound Program associated with Portland Community College. Let this person know you are interested in working in the same field as this professional one day, and ask if this person would be able to give you an interview and allow you to observe his or her work for a couple of hours.
The Interview
In your interview with a professional working in a field of interest to you, you should try to find out information that may help you to be successful in the same field. Your questions should include:
 | name of person, title or position in the company, name of company |
| what education or training was necessary in order to qualify for this job? |
| where are the best places (i.e. schools) to get that training? |
| what duties does this job include? |
| what special skills are necessary? |
| what attitudes and personal characteristics are helpful in this line of work? |
| does the job require working cooperatively with others or does this professional work independently |
| what opportunities are there to gain experience in this field? |
| what do employers look for when they are hiring for this position? |
| What does this person enjoy about the job? What does this person find challenging or unpleasant about the job? |
| what advice would this professional give to a student who is hoping to get into this field of work? |
| would this person be willing to have you observe him or her for a few hours of work? |
| if not, could he/she refer you to someone else doing this job who might be able to allow you to observe? |
The job shadow is a chance for you to observe the professional in action on the job. You would follow ("shadow") this person quietly as he or she works in order to see what the job actually entails. During your job shadow experience, try to notice the following:
| what duties did you see the person perform? |
| what were some characteristics of the work environment? |
| did the person work alone or with other people? |
| were there any surprises for you regarding the nature of the work or the environment? |
| were you interested in the work the person was doing? |
After you have completed the interview and job
shadow with someone in a field of professional interest to you, please prepare a
brief presentation giving the answers you received to the interview questions
and then describe what you learned about working in that field from the job
shadow. Please tell the class how well you feel that job would suit you (given
what you learned during the interview and job shadow) as well as your reasons
for that judgment. In the event that you have not completed a job shadow,
your presentation will include the answers
to your interview and the effort you extended in attempting to do a job shadow.
If you have neither completed a
job shadow or an interview, your presentation may include what you discovered
during your research and or
interviews and shadowing... We may have an "audience" for some of your
presentations.
