By: Yaa Haber
When I first started my career shadowing experience I was a bit unsure of what to expect. After all, what does career shadowing involve? Will I be asked to bring someone their coffee? Am I going to just show up and be thrown into ongoing projects? These questions are legitimate and, although extremes of one another, highly relevant. My experience has been neither, I have not been asked to bring anyone their coffee, and I have chosen to do projects that strengthen my skillsets. I have had the opportunity to think more about my future career plans in a safe environment while getting exposure to the possibilities of a non-traditional career following obtaining my PhD. My shadowing experience has improved my efficiency in my current lab, increased my productivity as a doctoral student and brought me to fantastic events where I can network, as well as helped me to capitalize on my current skillsets.
In a lot of ways, career shadowing has afforded me the opportunity to better define whom I want to be in the workforce, identify what type of people I want to work with, as well as given me strategies of workplace conduct that I can utilize starting in my current lab and developing them further for the future. Dr. Janet Alder, an advisor in the iJOBS training program, recommended the Rutgers Foundation to me based on my interests in development and innovation and I could not have selected a better environment.
When I started shadowing at the Rutgers Foundation in Newark, I had the opportunity to observe, firsthand, the strategy and planning that goes into building a team of highly qualified talented individuals who are responsible for actualizing many of the items listed within the strategic plan that has been outlined for the University at large. Building a team is the first and most fundamental step and acts as the foundation for the future of the organization. As I watched my career mentor do this in a very strategic and calculated way, I learned much about how to build an effective organization.
Secondly, once the team is in place, training is next. Sometimes good training requires unlearning inefficient ways of thinking and doing certain things. This time, I watched my career mentor have one-on-ones with his team members to explain and train them on concepts that would lead to quality improvement in a way that has been shown to create results. In addition to all of this learning, my network and networking skills have grown as a result of attending many events with key personnel. Shadowing has given me more confidence to utilize the skillsets I have gained during the PhD program in a safe, low stakes environment so that I am better prepared to make bold decisions when the opportunity presents itself.
Lastly, I absolutely enjoy going to my shadowing sessions because with each 
experience I learn, I grow and I am inspired in my studies. I realize that some may think that doctoral students may be pulled away from their studies if they are not always in the lab. However that has not been my experience. As I watched the ways in which individuals at the Foundation solve problems, I gained better perspectives on how to solve issues that I may have been experiencing. The opportunity to shadow has been powerful for me and I hope other students are afforded that same experience.
Students interested in career shadowing may benefit from reaching out to an iJOBS Advisor as well as seeking companies that they are interested in shadowing with. Now of course when there is no formal program in place, students may face some pushback but persistence pays off. Similarly career mentors tend to be extremely busy and may not look highly on students who need handholding. In fact shadowing works best when the student maintains flexibility and an open mind to the mentor's schedule.
For more information on iJOBS Phase II Training and Career shadowing, checkout http://ijobs.rutgers.edu/other/Rutgers%20iJOBS%20Phase%202%20Frequently%20Asked%20Questions.pdf.