Exploring Career Opportunities Through Job Shadowing at OHSU
OHSU and Local 328 have recently finalized a Letter of Agreement (LOA) regarding job shadowing, which will be appended to the current Local 328 AFSCME contract. This could potentially be added to future contracts, like during bargaining next year. Job shadowing can be a sort of informal training to a certain extent. Exposure to different job roles can potentially spark interest in further education and specialized training. The language of the new LOA is as follows.
“The Employer supports opportunities for education and training, career development, mobility, and personal growth. In addition to the support provided within Article 22.1 the employer would like to provide employees the opportunity to job shadow in another department within OHSU. Employees should work with the managers of both departments to facilitate the job shadowing time. Employees that would like to job shadow may use up to 4 hours of education and training hours per fiscal year.”
How could you determine where you would like to try and shadow? You could look through iCIM’s for roles that are of interest, maybe a good fit, and might be inline with your knowledge, education, and experience (or might be once you obtain the needed training, certification, or education). Additionally, you could take a career aptitude test or consult with a career counselor to determine what sort of shadowing opportunities might be a good fit. Once you determine which job role you may want to try and shadow, then reach out to someone in the department to determine the next best steps forward (“Employees should work with the managers of both departments to facilitate the job shadowing time.”). The following are some additional resources regarding job shadowing – the benefits/why and process/how.
Job Shadowing Guide
https://www.nwciowa.edu/uploads/files/pdf/compass-center/Job-Shadow-Guide.pdf
What is Job Shadowing & How Can it Benefit You?
https://connections.villanova.edu/blog/2024/04/12/what-is-job-shadowing-how-can-it-benefit-you/
Job Shadowing
https://www1.wellesley.edu/careereducation/resources/job-shadowing
For Local 328 union members, job shadowing can be valuable; job shadowing can help to demystify various aspects of what a day in the life of a future job role might actually be like, and how different departments operate and what their subculture might be like. By seeing how various job roles operate in different departments, one can gain valuable data about whether or not a certain job role or department may be a good fit or would be of interest. Job shadowing can potentially motivate one to obtain the necessary skills, training, or knowledge to move forward into roles that may be more fulfilling occupationally, and also may lead to more financial compensation and responsibility. Job shadowing can be a potentially fruitful learning experience.
Furthermore, job shadowing can potentially help foster greater understanding, community, and teamwork at OHSU, which may positively impact the culture at OHSU. Per contract section 22.1.1, over the course of the three year contract between OHSU and our union, we each have minimally 72 hours of paid education and training that we can partake in. These hours are use-em or lose-em, so please maximize your utilization of these hours in a way that will be mutually beneficial to you and all of OHSU. Move to advance your career, whether it be through job shadowing, CWE center classes, LinkedIn Learning, consulting with a career counselor, or another opportunity that relates to your current or future job roles at OHSU, of which there are many!