Job Shadows: A Friendly Reminder

Just a reminder that during this semester you will be required to do a job shadow. It's easy, but it takes prep work you can't blow off until the last minute. We need to start now.

This is what I want: I'd like you to seek out a professional who is working in a media occupation you might wish to pursue. It could be some working at a newspaper or a magazine or a radio station or a TV station or an online media site or whatever. Email me about what your job shadow plan proposal is, and if I approve it (NOTE IN BIG FREAKING CAPITAL LETTERS: YOUR SHADOW IS SUBJECT TO MY PRE-APPROVAL!) then contact your shadow and get their okay to shadow them.

Some local and regional shadow opportunities where previous JRN 200ers had luck include the Lansing State Journal, WILX-TV Channel 10 (the NBC affiliate in Lansing), MLive Lansing (an online news site) and WXYZ-TV Channel 7 (the ABC affiliate in Detroit). If you're having problems coming up with a shadow idea, please contact me and we'll problem-solve through it.

Arrange with them to follow them around their daily duties for anywhere from an hour or two, to all day long. Your call. Interview that media pro about their job and keys to success. You may also do a shadow as part of a group of students. Again, get my pre-approval before you do anything.

Then, write up a 200- to 300-word report on what you saw during your shadow, and what you learned that you believe will benefit you in the future. Please include the phone number and email address of your shadow subject, so I can confirm your attendance.

Your job shadow proposal will be due via mail to omars@msu.edu during the final week of class in December. I must warn you, quite often people strike out on their first or second choices, and getting an agreement and setting and date and time take some time. So, I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO ANY OF THIS!

Just get it knocked out and out of the way. While it's due in December, you can turn it in as early as you'd like. Completing the assignment correctly and on time automatically gets you a 4.0; not doing it gets you a 0.0.

So, please do it and get yourselves an easy A. More importantly, get a look at what you may want to be doing a few years from now, and take that opportunity to start judging the lay of the land.