The Benefits of Job Shadowing

The U.S. Department of Labor and Junior Achievement conducts its annual Job Shadow Day on February 2 (Groundhog Day).

Job shadowing is learning about the job from one or a few of the employees, who teach pre-employees, newcomers and existing employees about the job without interrupting their own work. This is a great job assessment method for those who wish to get a feel of the job before deciding to intern or apply for a job opening with an organization.

The option of job shadowing is also available to existing employees who are interested in learning more about another work area within an organization, so as to expand their field of expertise or get ready to handle a new work domain.

Job shadowing allows pre-employees and employees from other areas to follow experienced employees, observe their work and learn on the job. It helps people gain a deeper understanding of the work environment, its demands, stress and possible growth avenues. This type of training allows employees to gain direct experience and understand what the job entails.

It also gives employees the opportunity to gage whether they like the job or not, and whether they would like to opt for the new role or not. This way, the new employees and old members of the organization get to avoid making wrong career moves or feeling trapped in their jobs. Here, we discuss the benefits of job shadowing.

The biggest advantage of the lot, is that job shadowing allows individuals to test the job out.

Job shadowing also helps increase familiarity towards assigned job profiles.

The more familiar you become with your assigned work, the less anxious you will feel. The more you learn while job shadowing, the less likely will be the chances of you making mistakes while working live on a project.

Secondly, in case of existing employees opting for shadowing, everything you learn will need to be practiced and may even be put through tests so that you gain more practical knowledge about the new work domain with every passing day.

Pre-employees as well as current employees, who are asked to job shadow for a new work domain get ample time to determine whether they are willing to take up the new role or not.

The time spent learning from an employee, will help you figure out if you like the job and find it interesting. Job shadowing also gives you the complete freedom to refuse the job offered and look for better opportunities within the organization itself.

Being trained by other employees can help the candidates feel more at ease and learn with an open mind. It allows people to be more attentive and retain information with deeper clarity.

Often, a job that is believed to be difficult or boring turns out to be easy and fun during job shadowing. Thus, employees get to overcome their negative notions about a certain job as well as their own abilities.

Not only will you get to interact with the employee you'll be shadowing, but you will also get the chance to meet other members of the organization. You may get to interact with the seniors and may be asked to give your feedback about your experience during the job shadowing process.

If specialists are called in to coach you, it will opens doors for you to meet highly skilled professionals and learn more about the job.

Therefore, gaining firsthand experience through job shadowing will help you add more credentials to your resume. It will help you gain the upper hand while being considered for job openings within your organization as well as while looking for better job opportunities with other firms.

You will be able to answer technical questions and give answers based on the practical experience gained while job shadowing. Thus, job shadowing is an excellent way to climb up the professional ladder and develop your career. Your performance during this process will make you competent enough to be considered for handling newer roles and responsibilities.

Being able to shadow seniors from your organization will help you learn from them and gain invaluable information about how to excel in your field of work. You can also seek feedback from your seniors, so as to know how you fared during the showing process and the measures you can take to contribute further to the organization.

Job shadowing is an excellent option for employees who seek a career change within their own organization. Learning from other employees belonging to different work domains will help you gain more knowledge about their role and responsibilities, and be more sensitive towards the needs of your organization.