Job Shadow Program gives students "A day in the life of an engineer"
By Kari Fox
In elementary school, Take Your Kid to Work Day offered children an opportunity to shadow their parents at work and get a peek into a real job setting.
Engineering Career Services offers Ohio State engineering students a grown-up version of that day with the Job Shadow Program.
The Job Shadow Program arranges for OSU engineering students to observe engineers at an employer’s site and learn more about professional roles related to their major. The shadow takes place at 50 company locations throughout Ohio including General Motors, American Electric Power and Cardinal Health.
This year, 180 students participated in the program over the week of Spring Break.
The program gives students a unique chance to gain insight to possible engineering careers related to their major and to experience a “day in the life” of an engineer.
“The best part was learning more about companies that I will potentially work for in the future,” said one student. “Although it was just a day, I gained a great amount of information about the company and how they operate.”
To some students, this was an opportunity to see the correlation between their studies and working as an engineer.
“I learned how my major can be directly applied in the future,” said another. “I also got an internship offer.”
Not only did the students benefit from the program, the employers also enjoyed the chance to interact with each of them.
“It was great to allow the students to come into the plant environment to see firsthand how some of their classroom teachings apply to the real world,” said Hirschvogel representative, Ryan Wagner.
“The best part about Job Shadow is getting to connect with the students and learn about their goals and interests in a low-pressure format,” said Cierra Graham from Diebold.
Job Shadow Coordinator, Rachel Kaschner said this was the program’s 7th year and the largest yet.
“ECS filled 340 job shadow spots with 50 companies,” she said. “The program continues to grow annually and attract employers in Ohio that host, and oftentimes hire, our engineering students.”
Students and companies interested in participating in next year’s program should contact Rachel Kaschner at Kaschner.4@osu.edu.
Kari Fox is a student communications assistant with the College of Engineering.
