What Is Shadowing?

Shadowing is an informal way for someone to learn what it is like to perform a particular job at ꦍa workplace. An individual follows around, or shadows, the worker already in that role.

Job shadowing opportunities can be made available to new or junior employees, but they also may be taken up by lateral hires from another part of an organization who need to get up the learning curve quickly in their new roles. Shadowing has a finite period or is meant to last only as long ꧑as necessary—that is, until the person new to the role feels comfortable enough to handle the responsibilities on their own.

Understanding Shadowing

Shadowing an employee at work gives the new hire (or future role-taker) an idea of what a typical day is like in those shoes. Suppose a fresh college graduate with a deg💮💧ree in computer science begins work at a tech company. This company has a shadowing program for its new employees, assigning them to senior-level employees who have mentor-like qualities (i.e., they enjoy teaching and are patient).

In the above example, the new hire shadows a software engineer who is responsible for codin🍰g a platform for a banking application. They will sit next to each other at a workstation, and the new hire will observe as the software engineer carries out their main tasks. The new hire should be encouraged to ask questions along the way to help them understand what they would eventually be responsible for.

It is important for new or prospective hires to learn about the workplace culture. One way to accomplish this is to have them attend informal brown bag meetings and events. The host employee, as well🦩 as supervisors and coworkers, should make the new hire feel comfortable, accepted, and part of the common team.

Shadowing over a number of days or weeks—whatever ℱthe case may be—warms her up to hit the ground running when she is given her own desk and first job assignment at th🍸e company.

Interning Versus Shadowing

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Interning is a popular way to initiate a potential employee into a firm. Internsh🍨ip programs can be formal or informal, but they are dif🅷ferent from shadowing in at least two aspects.

First, not all interns return to work full-time. An internship program is a type of courtship in which a prospective employee and a company learn about each other to see if there is a good fit for a full-time employment relationship. Individuals ꦫshadowing others are already employed by the firmܫ.

Second, internship programs generally involve the farming out of simple or routine tasks under a set of supervisors. Interns are given tasks; they perform them and report back to their supervisors. The supervisors guide their work and provide feedback at the conclusion of their internships. Those who shadow existing employees are not expected to ♋perform the functions of the job. Instead, they follow around senior employees to learn how to effectively carry out the specific role that they will assume in the near future.