Job Shadowing
As a complement to the Concordia Mentor Program, Job Shadowing creates opportunities for students to shadow a professional in a desired career field.
The hosts are professionals, usually alumni, from a wide variety of career fields who may dedicate a few hours or up to a day to show students their daily responsibilities at their places of work.
The Job Shadowing program is open to all Concordia students and recent graduates looking to embark on new careers or career paths.
How does it work?
- All Job Shadowing sessions take place in the summer.
- Hosts are recruited and matched with potential students on a first-come, first-served basis. Alumni Relations does the matching based on students' career interests or desired companies. Since this is a volunteer-based program, certain fields and companies may not be represented.
- We will notify hosts and students once they are matched. It is the student's responsibility to contact the host to schedule the date and time of the visit.
- Each student is responsible for his or her travel arrangements.
Student Emmauel Lianoudakis with Antoine Labranche, BA 09.
Information for students
To register:
- Browse the list of available hosts [PDF].
- Select two (2) hosts.
- Send an email to Rose.Wangechi@concordia.ca with your FULL NAME, Student ID and your two selected hosts.
- Job Shadowing is designed to benefit current students as well as young alumni from all Concordia faculties. It will be useful to those who:
- Already know their career path and want to learn more about a particular field or company
- Are looking to explore a particular career path
- Want to learn about a particular job or company by experiencing it first hand
- Want to explore the different cultures across organizations
Your responsibilities
- It is your responsibility to contact your host. Once matched, contact your host as soon as possible to make arrangements to visit him or her at a mutually convenient time, between June and September.
- Out of respect for the generosity of our hosts, we hope that once you sign up, you'll follow through on your commitment. This will help keep the hosts engaged with the program and therefore help future student participants.
Before your visit:
- Prepare your questions in advance to get the most out of the experience.
- Dress appropriately, just as you would for a job interview with the company.
- Arrive on time and be courteous and enthusiastic.
- Ask questions, observe and learn.
- Keep an open mind.
- If the host asks you to join him or her to attend a meeting or job fair, take advantage of the offer.
- Let your host know as early as possible if you must change or cancel your visit.
During the visit, do NOT solicit or ask your host for a job.
After your visit:
- Show your appreciation by sending your host a thank-you note.
- Please send us your feedback to help us improve our future activities.
Information for hosts
The program offers a great way to support Concordia by helping students or recent graduates. It also provides an opportunity to interact with young minds and possibly identify future interns or employees.
As a host, you’ll choose the number of students you would like to host at your most convenient time of the summer, between June and the end of September. You and the student(s) will schedule the visits.
If you choose to host more than one student, you can schedule them at the same time. However, we recommend separate meetings to give each student ample time to learn from you.
We also encourage retired Concordia alumni to participate in the Job Shadowing program by hosting informational discussions with students.
The Job Shadowing program is also open to alumni outside the Montreal region. Students may be visiting other cities or countries during the summer months.
The program is not intended to be a job interview or provide students with employment. It is a learning opportunity for students to see and better understand a work environment in a chosen career field.The program offers them a great way to support Concordia by helping students or recent graduates. It also provides an opportunity to interact with young minds and possibly identify future interns or employees.
It is the host's responsibility to ensure the student's visit complies with company regulations. You'll be provided with a confidentiality agreement template.
