Promoting IT Careers

A: Job Shadow Day is an initiative that gives students the chance to learn about real workplaces and explore career pathways by “shadowing” people who work in their field of interest. The first Job Shadow Day was conducted in Boston, Massachusetts in 1996. The following year, the National Job Shadow Coalition was formed to encourage participation in a shadowing initiative across the United States. The goal was to help young people explore the skills and education needed to succeed in the job market, and to encourage the development of relationships between students and professionals. More than one million students and 100,000 businesses will participate in Job Shadow Day this year.

A: Cisco and the Networking Academy program have hosted and participated in Job Shadow Day events for the past four years. This year, our goal is to host Academy students in over 100 sites ranging from Cisco offices and other industry settings to colleges and high schools across all 50 U.S. states.

A: If it is your first time hosting a Job Shadow Day event, we suggest keeping it simple. Start with just your class, school, or school district. Invite a single speaker, such as your school district’s technology director to talk about the school computer network. If you are near a Cisco office, we can help you identify field engineers or sales executives. You can also contact technology vendors that serve your school or those in the local community. If you have the experience and resources to host a larger event, invite prospective students to attend. If you are a Regional Academy, consider hosting an event for your Local Academies. Recruit Cisco employees and other industry representatives to lead small groups and invite representatives from local colleges to speak about programs in computer science and technology.

A: Wednesday, February 2 is the kickoff for Job Shadow Day 2006. If this date is not convenient, you can commit to another date or host a series of events to reach more schools and students.

A: A survey released by Junior Achievement indicates that American middle and high school students have unrealistic views of their future careers. Job shadowing is important because it acquaints students with on-the-job experiences and helps tie education to the workplace. For more information, read the Junior Achievement report on the impact of job shadowing at http://www.jobshadow.org/press/statistics/ja_eval.html.

A: Job shadowing supports future leaders within our industry. It also promotes interest in IT careers. In addition, job shadowing helps motivate students to set and achieve career goals.