Students and graduates often use work shadowing to get a taste for a particular job. This has become more popular over the years with professionals who want to explore other occupations or business areas of interests.
Shadowing also allows you to experience how the same job can be different depending on its setting.
Job shadowing differs from internships and work placements as it’s generally informal, unpaid and only lasts for a couple of days broken up over a week or as agreed. The purpose is to get an insight rather than to gain hands-on and practical experience.
The CCG wants to encourage staff to take part in job shadowing. Details of what job shadowing is are included on this page. If you would be happy to be ‘shadowed’ or you would like to shadow another colleague or team, please contact Nclccg.od@nhs.net
Types of job shadowing
The kind of job shadowing you’ll undertake is often determined by the time and resources that the, “Shadowing Host” or the person you’ll be shadowing has available. It is best to agree beforehand how much time both parties can do. Please do note that not all areas of the business can support Job Shadowing due to the sensitivity or confidential nature of their specialism. There are three main types:
- Observation– Time is spent observing the work of your host, watching what they do on a day-to-day basis. This type of job shadowing is particularly useful for insight and understanding the area of work/role and career. This can be organised as a single activity or over one or two sittings as agreed appropriately.
- Regular Briefings– Shadowing a host over a period of time, to view growth or progress in a particular area of work which can be ascertained during discussions, meetings or verbal updates. You’ll have an initial conversation to ascertain your interests and work out whether the briefings or topics offered will match what you are looking for or not. This may be team meetings or larger staff settings where you can get an idea of how the team or directorate work.
- Hands-on– A progression of the observation method, hands-on job shadowing is where you start to carry out some of the tasks you’ve been observing under the supervision of the host. This type of shadowing can be time consuming for the host and so isn’t always possible.
You may also be able to sit in on meetings, watch client interactions and there may be time set aside for you to ask questions or speak to other departments.
Make sure you have some questions prepared. The person you’re shadowing or organising the opportunity may need a steer on what you want from the opportunity.
Benefits of job shadowing
The main outcome of work shadowing is an increased knowledge of an area of work or role that you might be considering in the future. It will help you gain an understanding of the workplace and how the role you’re interested in fits in with and supports the wider business.
Shadowing also builds your network of contacts and helps you to develop vocational awareness.
Most of all, work shadowing brings a job to life and can help you understand the area more fully.
Consider: Why do you want to gain shadowing experience in this particular area?
Here are some questions you could ask during initial discussions:
- How are you able to get into this area of work?
- Is there any formal experience/qualifications required?
- What does a typical career path look like for this role?
- What challenges does the role and sector face?
- What would you look for if you were recruiting for this area/position?
- Are there any specific elements of the role that you’d like to see demonstrated? Ask if possible and how you can gain an insight into those elements
Steps to take once dates and times have been agreed
- You are clear and it is confirmed what you will gain from the experience eg activities etc
- Know where you need to be, times and frequency
- Who you’re reporting to and what you should wear if going into the office/online
Following up after your experience
Follow up on your experience by writing a thank you email expressing your appreciation of their time and the opportunity.
It would be beneficial to ask for feedback on the time you spent shadowing your host.
You could also give feedback to your host on how you found the shadowing experience.
How to apply
To apply for Job Shadowing, please complete the Expression of Interest Internal Shadowing Form and send to NCLCCG.OD@nhs.net