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Job Shadow applications for students open on March 1, 2025!
Want to get a real-life look at a career you're interested in? Apply for the Job Shadow Program, where OSU students can explore potential career paths by shadowing someone in their place of work. The Career Development Center facilitates matches between students and working professionals, giving students the chance to gain realistic insights into the industry they're interested in exploring. Most job shadows last one or two days, and many offer both in-person and virtual options.
Are you an employer looking for information on hosting a job shadow student? Visit our Job Shadow host page.
This is your chance to explore an industry, organization or specific position during a full or half-day experience, in-person or virtually. Job shadows will take place during summer break.
In a job shadow, you will follow your host(s) through their daily activities and learn what it’s like to work in that field. You will work with your Job Shadow host to create a schedule that works for you.
This is a free but unpaid experience.
There are more than 100 different options for job shadow host sites in last year's Job Shadow program. When you apply, you will list your top three choices for hosts you would like to be matched with.
See Job Shadow 2024 Host Sites
Depending on the host, activities can include an observation of daily work, informational interviews, meetings within the organization, coffee/lunch at the office or worksite, a tour of the organization, hands-on experience and meet-and-greets with current interns and/or college hires. Students will have the opportunity to communicate with their sponsor about what they want out of the job shadow in order to make it as beneficial as possible for both parties.
After you’ve applied and the application period closes on May 3, 2025, the Career Development Center staff will review all applications and match each student with a host. Students will then be notified May 5 - 9, 2025.
Job shadows typically take place in June and July and are normally a half-day or full-day experience.
Job shadow opportunities happen both virtually and in-person. Virtual job shadows may happen at locations all over the United States; Job shadows with in-person opportunities are onsite at the employer location and primarily available in the Willamette Valley (Portland, Salem, Corvallis and Eugene), with some in Seattle, Vancouver (Washington) and Northern California.
Sponsors include Oregon State University alumni and partners who have graciously donated their time and expertise in order to support the Beaver community.
The student is responsible for all expenses.
A job shadow is a way to gain valuable information about a prospective career. Through observation of an individual employee’s activities during their workday, students can gain exposure to career paths, strengthen their job application for internships and employment opportunities and build professional skills pertinent to the workforce.
No, job shadows are unpaid experiences.
*Note: The listings below are for 2024 job shadow experiences. Host sites for 2025 have not been added yet. Please check back in March 2025 to see 2025 job shadow host sites.
When applying to the Job Shadow program, you will be asked to select up to three preferred placement locations. We will do our best to match you with one of your top three placement requests.
Our team has divided job shadow host sites into categories based on industry and job focus, but you may feel free to explore job shadow possibilities in any industry you are interested in. Please note that some job shadow possibilities may span multiple industries and are listed in more than one category.
Contact us at career@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-4085.