National Groundhog Job Shadow Day

Still inspired by AT&T's Vicki Williams, who spoke at the Mayor's Mentoring Breakfast in Tulsa last week, we are researching a job shadowing day--or two--in all towns and cities in Oklahoma. 

Imagine the impact of employers allowing sixth grade through post-secondary students into their businesses to experience a real workday, explore skills, observe, ask questions, listen, and submit a report afterwards.

Many suitable guides, forms and worksheets for schools, students and employers abound on the Internet. Many of the adaptable forms are thoughtful and usually age-related from simple and short to more professional. We will share many of those resources in a subsequent post. Be thinking how to start this in your community.

Excerpts from a couple of sites:

Job Shadowing: National Job Shadowing Day

You can also develop a job shadowing program for students in your community to teach them about your company. While most benefits accrue to the students, the corporate recruiter who offers job shadowing to local schools gains a definite edge by discovering which students will make excellent additions to the employee roster. Many companies observe Ground Hog’s Day (February 2) for their job shadowing program efforts.

http://www.brighthub.com/office/human-resources/articles/101899.aspx  Ret. 3-4-14

Directly from the website:

National Groundhog 

Job Shadow Day -

February 3, 2014 

This February, the lodging industry once again participates

in National Groundhog Job Shadow Day (NGJSD), a 

national campaign that gives young people a new 

perspective on their studies through hands-on learning and 

a one-day mentoring experience. 

Students are paired with a mentor whom they will "shadow" 

throughout the day to experience how the skills they learn in

the classroom can be applied to the real world. This event 

also provides an opportunity to introduce future employees 

to the vast array of careers available in the lodging industry, 

as well as supports our industry's community efforts. 

NGJSD is a joint effort of America's Promise - Alliance for 

Youth, Junior Achievement, and the U.S. Department of 

Labor. Nationwide, more than one million students and 

100,000 businesses participate, and last year, more than 

2,000 restaurants and hotels hosted nearly 20,000 students. 

https://www.ahla.com/groundhog/ On 6-13-16, this link was no longer active, but we still love the idea!

National Groundhog Job Shadow Day is confined neither to one industry nor to one geographic area; however, the North and the South appear to embrace it vigorously.

November is the other appropriate time of year for a job shadowing day since November "owns" National Career Development Month and also Career Day.