Experience a Day in the Life
The Alumni Job Shadow Program is an opportunity for students to gain insight into an industry/organization/job function of interest, make connections, and further discern how their skills, interests, and values translate to the workplace. Using Eagle Exchange, the Career Center will match students with Boston College alumni who will serve as hosts for half or full day shadowing experiences
Details
Shadow an Alum for a Day
A job shadow is a half or full day experience where you'll have the opportunity to connect with a working professional and learn about their career field. While job shadows vary based on the organization, a typical job shadow experience may include the opportunity to:
- Conduct informational interviews and network with BC alumni and other employees
- Explore potential career paths within the organization and the profession
- Review a current project or case study
- Conduct a simulation of a real situation being faced by the company
- Attend staff meetings
- Review current trends in the profession
Note: For May 2022, there will be both virtual and in-person shadowing opportunities. The format will be dependent upon student/employer preference in addition to current safety protocols.
After participating in the Alumni Job Shadow program, you will be able to:
- Identify at least one skill you hope to incorporate into your career paths that aligns with the skills employers are seeking in recent college graduates.
- Connect the skills, interests and values you are gaining at Boston College to specific opportunities of interest.
- More confidently demonstrate effective networking skills to communicate with alumni and professionals about your industries of interest.
- Articulate 1-3 next steps in your career discernment and planning.
The Alumni Job Shadow Program is run through Eagle Exchange. You will need to activate your account in order to sign up for the program. Questions? Email us at eagleexchange@bc.edu
2022 Key Dates:
| Alumni Host Registration | February 11–March 4 |
| Student Registration | March 14–25 |
| Student Orientation | April 4 at 7:00 p.m. or April 7 at 7:00 p.m. |
| Match Notifications Sent | April 11–15 |
| Shadows Occur | May 18–25 |
How Job Shadow Registration Works
Alumni Hosts Register
Alumni sign up on Eagle Exchange between February 11 and March 4 to host students for job shadows (virtual or in-person).
Students Register and Favorite Hosts
Students sign up on Eagle Exchange between March 14 and 25 to participate in a job shadow. Once registered, students favorite alumni hosts that they would like to shadow.
Student Orientation and Match Notifications Sent
Registered students are required to attend a student orientation on April 4 or 7. Match notifications are then sent out between April 11 and 15.
Job Shadows Occur
Students participate in a job shadow with their matched alumni host between May 18 and 25.
2021 Opportunities
Opportunites by Cluster:
- Business, Consulting, Finance
231 Opportunities - Communication, Arts, Media
92 Opportunities - Education, Nonprofit, Social Service
128 Opportunities - Government, Law, Public Policy
99 Opportunities - Healthcare and Nursing
109 Opportunities - Science, Technology, Engineering
19 Opportunities
Featured Hosts:
- Amazon Web Services
- Liberty Mutual Insurance
- IBM
- Oracle
- Pricewaterhousecoopers
- Wayfair
- West Elm
- Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC)
- HBO
- ESPN
- Betches Media
- International Cinematographers Guild
- The Wall Street Journal
- NBC Universal
- Museum of Science, Boston
- Fred Rogers Center
- International Youth Foundation
- U.S. Department of State
- U.S. Department of the Treasury
- The Bronx Defenders
- FBI
- The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
- VA Boston Healthcare System
- American Psychological Association
- Dell
- Pfizer
- Bayer
678
Total shadowing opportunities
227
Unique alumni hosts
Why do a job shadow?
“Instead of just having one day dedicated to the job shadow, my host used our virtual meeting as an opportunity to extend the job shadow and see it more as a journey. We continue to stay in contact and I frequently talk with him and other employees, which has been very helpful.”
Student FAQs
The program is designed to be an opportunity for undergraduate students to explore fields of interest while still enrolled at BC. However, given that shadowing opportunities are limited right now due to the pandemic, we invite interested graduating seniors and graduate students who are exploring career interests to apply as well. Please note that undergraduate students will be prioritized and matched with hosts first before moving on to graduates.
Each job shadow opportunity will occur on one half or full business day from May 18-25, 2022.
Using Eagle Exchange, the Career Center will match students with Boston College alumni based on a combination of factors including overlap in availability and industry interest areas. Once registered, students will have the opportunity to select their top three hosts. “Favoriting” is taken into consideration during the matching process.
Once a student has registered for the program through Eagle Exchange, they will be able to search through the list of alumni hosts and indicate their top three preferences. We highly recommend that students take the opportunity to favorite by the March 25 deadline.
There is not funding available for completing job shadows. If financial burden would prevent you from completing a job shadow, please apply for a shadow and contact eagleexchange@bc.edu with your specific question once you’ve been matched.
Our matching process will make every attempt to match you with a host with overlapping interest areas. Please note that we cannot guarantee that all students will be matched. Matches are primarily based on availability and industry area. Once registered, filter through the list of alumni hosts to determine who is offering shadowing opportunities in your industry of interest and geographic region (if interested in participating in-person).
You will be contacted via email by a member of the Career Center staff with your job shadow match details by April 15.
There will be a mandatory job shadow orientation that will help prepare you. The session will include questions to ask during the day, what to wear, how to follow-up, etc.
We strongly encourage students to participate in job shadows that they have been matched with. Failing to complete a job shadow or canceling at the last minute will reflect negatively on you and on the reputation of Boston College students. In the event of an emergency that requires you to change your plans, please email your job shadow host directly, and CC eagleexchange@bc.edu at least 48 hours in advance. Failure to honor this commitment can result in loss of Handshake access. In replacement of your job shadow experience, we ask you to reflect on the following questions:
- Is there an opportunity for you to reach out to your job shadow host to thank them, even though you are not able to participate, and arrange a time to speak briefly to facilitate an exploratory career conversation?
- In addition to the above, what is one thing you can do over your summer break to help you move forward with clarifying your career goals?
Please reach out to eagleexchange@bc.edu to see if you may be reassigned.
Send a personalized thank you note to each of your hosts including what you appreciated and found helpful from the shadowing opportunity.
Job Shadow Thank You Note Example:
Dear Ms. Hawk,
Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to gain more detailed information about the (BLANK) industry. It was very helpful to learn about your position and hear your insight about the direction/growth/rewards and challenges of the (BLANK) industry. As a result of meeting you and your colleagues, I am even more interested in (major/industry of interest) and plan to take further classes in (BLANK) as you suggested. I hope to have more conversations with you in the future.
Thank you for your time!
Sincerely,
James Jones