Inaugural Job Shadow Week, open to rising juniors and seniors, occurs June 8-12, giving Daisies the opportunity to explore career options by shadowing professionals at alumnae organizations. Laura Day, Director of Innovation and Collaboration, developed the program with the aim of making job shadowing more accessible to everyone.
“I was learning that a lot of people got internships if they knew someone; but if you don’t know someone and you want to do something, then it wouldn’t work out,” Day said. “It didn’t seem fair.”
Day collaborated with Amy Spence, Director of Alumni Relations, to pilot the program.
The 16 organizations participating this year run the gamut from management consulting to an animal clinic. Day plans to grow the program year by year.
“My hope would be next year we have more alums who want to participate,” Day said. “So then eventually we have so many [organizations] that we can place everybody.”
Spots right now are limited; each host organization determines who they are able to accommodate, with some organizations requesting blurbs, resumes or interviews from applicants.
“No matter what happens, it’s a good process for our students,” Day said.
Fifty-two students applied this year, including sophomore Claire Mennel.
“I just was really excited when I got the email [introducing the program] because I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up,” Mennel said. “It’s something that sometimes stresses me out.”
Mennel selected HCA Pathology Services and Cathy Kincaid Interiors as her top choices, and she sees shadowing as a chance to explore her interests.
“I definitely have a lot of interests that are in different areas,” Mennel said. “So, I thought job shadowing is going be a great way to experiment with different areas and fields, and figure out what I really am most interested in.”
She appreciates the effort Hockaday makes to build a network for students.
“I think Hockaday does a great job at connecting you,” Mennel said. “In Upper School, there’s a lot of ways you can get connected with alumni, which is really nice for future jobs.”
Kelsey Robertson ‘25 plans to host students through the Job Shadowing program at her business, Swingle Collins and Associates.
“Daisies in the wild love meeting other Daisies in the wild, and we love helping each other,” Robertson said. “That goes for people older than me who help me, me helping my peers, them helping me, younger people and vice versa. The Daisy Network is incredible, and learning to utilize that at an early age will make you so much more successful.”
Robertson works in insurance and risk management. She says that while these fields may not appear exciting on the surface, there is much more to them than people believe.
“Every day there’s a question [at work] I don’t know the answer to,” Robertson said. “The ability to reason through problems and try to come up with a solution is really important in my job, and it’s something that I know Hockadaisies do well.”
Job shadowing is a valuable way for students to gain exposure to unfamiliar workspaces.
“I think nothing can replace real world experience and seeing how you apply everything you learn in the classroom to a job,” Robertson said. “There’s also so many soft skills that are really difficult to develop in a classroom, but you can develop from just a little bit of exposure to the working world.”
Mennel and Robertson are both excited that the school is able to offer students this opportunity.
“I’m really grateful,” Mennel said. “It not only helps me figure out what I’m most interested in, but also, it helps me make connections with alumni, which I think will be very helpful in the future.”
