This year, after finishing their IGCSE examinations, all Year 11 students at Century Park Campus took part in a new “Job Shadow” programme.

Through this unique opportunity, students spent five days at a company in Shanghai to get a taste of the “real world”.

Ms Kelly Flannagan, University Guidance Counsellor at the Century Park Campus, organised the programme to help students begin to prepare for their future careers aspirations by understanding the professional workplace, learning about appropriate business attire and proper workplace etiquette, as well as giving them a venue to ask questions about the business world and the professional experiences of the people they met.

“Most students aren’t able to have a professional work experience until they finish college,” explains Ms Flannagan. She adds, “The goal of the Job Shadow programme is to give our students insight into various careers, and to prepare them to join a professional environment with a strong understanding of the basics of professional workplace expectations.”

Hospitals, hotels, chambers of commerce, law firms, management groups, amusement parks, and other companies from all across Shanghai welcomed the students during the Job Shadow programme. Each company provided a host employee for the student to shadow, helping them to gain an understanding of the company and certain careers. One student who shadowed in an education group had a particularly valuable experience, as she was asked to prepare a presentation based on a relevant topic which she then presented to the entire company!

Initiatives like the Job Shadow programme are part of the career and college planning guidance that YCIS’s University Guidance Office (UGO) offers to all Secondary students. To learn more about UGO at YCIS, click here.