Students visit work sites, explore career options and connect with industry professionals.
The University of Toronto Mississauga Career Centre has run a Job Shadow Program (JSP) for many years, allowing students to visit work sites, explore career options, gain workplace knowledge and connect with industry professionals. University students benefit from experiencing careers with a hands on approach. When COVID entered the picture, the activities had to change to virtual programming. Our campus was able, during COVID 19, to engage with hosts in various industries to give students a chance to learn and explore in a job shadow placement with project based learning. This program provided an opportunity for hosts to stay involved with students and the University even during times with no hiring activities. It represents a lower level of resourcing that might encourage hosts to become more involved in WIL. Students were able to learn and use their skills when paid and volunteer opportunities are challenging to find.
We had some wonderful hosts who agreed to provide more work-integrated learning experiences during the job shadow program. In addition to virtual meetings with the student to help them understand the occupation and the industry, the hosts also developed a project for the student to complete. These projects were developed around questions, problems or challenges that the host was facing, something they thought students could give insight into due to their studies, interests, and perspectives. The transition to a virtual setting allowed for new and innovative ways to provide one-on-one support to JSP students. Zoom, Skype, and phone calls were used to help students navigate our database, have conversations about career exploration within the JSP context, and provide feedback and support on the application process. Students continue to appreciate the Career Centre's commitment to hands on support, especially during this unprecedented situation We were able to maintain a good level of host placements compared to pre-COVID times. Student interest was high, resulting in more applications than placements. Students gain valuable insight into an occupation, organization or industry and our hosts gained some insight into their challenge. With this positive exposure to a WIL activity, there is the possibility that hosts may be interested in engaging in more intense WIL experiences.