Career Readiness: How Job Shadowing Can Help Teens Find Their Career Path

May 8, 2025

6 min to read

A student speaking to a working professional

High school students often have more on their minds than just classes and homework; they are also thinking about what they want to do after graduation. As the college and work landscapes change, Gen Z is focused on finding the right career path while still in high school. This often means finding not only jobs that pay well or have steady job security, but roles that matter and meet their personal goals and values. Many students also feel the pressure to make career decisions as earlyas possible, since students who want to go into competitive college programs such as engineering and nursing usually have to declare those majors on their college applications. Apprenticeships in the trades are also highly competitive, pushing students to apply to those programs early so they can secure a spot.

With a recent survey by Connections Academy finding that 68% of high school students have started thinking about their careers before 11th grade and 14% are thinking about their careers in elementary school, it is more important than ever for students to be sure about their career path before graduating high school.

But how can students better explore what a career is actually like? Through workplace job shadowing.

Career Exploration Through Job Shadowing

Workplace shadowing or job shadowing is when a student follows an employee working in a career they hope to pursue for a day – or even a few hours – to observe what they do.

Job shadowing gives students a glimpse of what they could experience in a typical day on the job if they choose that career. The student shadowing the employee isn’t responsible for producing any work. They instead are there to listen, observe, and ask questions about the specific job role and the career path in general. The employee they are shadowing may give them simple tasks to perform to get hands-on experience, but mostly they are there to mentor students and answer questions about that job and career.

Is Shadowing an Internship?

While both job shadowing and high school internships give students insights into potential careers, they offer very different experiences.

Job shadowing is typically a one-day experience and is unpaid. Internships can be either paid or unpaid and can last several weeks or months.

In an internship, students have a manager, and they are responsible for producing assigned work. Job shadowing is more about observing; the student doesn’t report to a manager, and they aren’t assigned work outside of simple tasks that can be performed the day they are there.

For students looking for a more in-depth experience with the possibility of earning money, they may want to consider an internship. Job shadowing is really designed to give students a glimpse of what that job or career is like rather than experience they could use to build a resume.

Why is Job Shadowing Important?

In a 2022 study, 52% of high school students felt pressure to make decisions about their future too soon. That pressure, along with the difficulties of breaking into competitive careers, can lead students to worry that they are making the wrong career choice.

Job shadowing can take away some of those uncertainties. For example, a student may think they want to go into nursing, but after shadowing a nurse for a day, they may realize they don’t really like how much paperwork nurses have to do. They may realize they enjoy another aspect of healthcare more during their job shadowing experience and look into pursuing that instead.

Benefits of Job Shadowing

In addition to giving students confidence that they are making the right career choice for them, job shadowing also helps them explore a variety of careers without long-term commitments or costs.

Students can also build their professional networks, find future mentors, internships, or apprenticeships, improve the soft skills they will need when they enter the workforce, and add the experience to college applications and their resume.

How to Get the Most Out a Job Shadowing Experience

The purpose of job shadowing is to learn about what it’s really like to work in that job. To get the most out of the experience, students should:

Ask questions! This is the perfect opportunity to ask questions about the role and industry. Students should come prepared with a list of questions and should be inquisitive throughout the job-shadowing experience.

Research the organization. Students should know something about the industry and organization before showing up on job shadow day. This will help them put the role they are shadowing into context; they will better understand how the role supports the company and how the company fits into the industry.

Introduce themselves to other people they meet throughout the day. Job shadowing is a great way for students to make connections that could help them down the road. Introducing themselves, making eye contact, and asking questions will help them stand out.

Students should also remember to dress appropriately for the work environment, be punctual, limit cell phone use, and send thank-you notes to the person they shadowed after the day is over.

How to Describe a Job Shadow Experience on a Resume

Students can add their job shadow experience to a resume along with any of their other job experiences, especially when applying for an internship, apprenticeship, or job within the same industry. They should include the company name, role they shadowed, and what they did throughout the experience.

They can also add the job shadow experience to college applications under the Extracurricular Activities section.

Job Shadowing Opportunities

There are several ways to find job shadows for high school students.

Take Your Child to Work Day. Take Your Child to Work Day is a global event that takes place on the fourth Thursday in April. It is the ultimate job shadow day. Parents and caregivers bring their kids to work with them to showcase what they do. Many organizations schedule planned activities on this day to help students learn about the company and industry. While this day is often geared towards younger students, high school students can participate as well – or choose another day to shadow their parents.

School guidance counselors. The student’s guidance counselor can help them find appropriate job shadow opportunities. They often have relationships with businesses and community partners and can help students make connections to schedule a job shadow day.

Community Network. Students already have a network of working adults in their lives. These could be family members, neighbors, a friend’s parents, or people they know through extracurricular activities or part-time jobs. Students should reach out to this network to explore job shadow opportunities.

Cold calls. Students who are interested in specific industries but don’t have a contact there can call businesses directly. Doing this shows initiative and many organizations are eager to bring in the next generation of workers or answer any questions about breaking into the industry.

Prepare for Life After High School with Connections Academy

Connections Academy is passionate about helping students feel confident and prepared for their journeys after high school. With flexible class schedules, students don’t have to miss schoolwork when they participate in job shadowing.

Through our College and Career Readiness initiatives, we help students gain the knowledge, skills, and connections they need to succeed after graduation. We offer career pathways in information technology, business, and healthcare. These career-readiness initiatives, along with many other extracurricular clubs and activities, help students learn important skills they will need for their post-graduate path including access to hundreds of virtual job shadowing videos.

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