Resources

You can also find some tips on how to be a good work shadow host and ensure you are also benefiting from the experience:

Internal Work shadowing is an excellent opportunity to develop your existing skills, learn best practice, share ideas, discover how to advance your career, and connect with the wider Imperial community. Work shadowing is beneficial to both the host and the 'shadower'. We encourage people to initiate their internal work shadowing. However, we have listed some tips and advice to help you find a good match.

  • First, ask yourself why you want to job shadow – do you want to meet with your equivalent in another area to share good practice? Are you looking for a new career path, or are you preparing for a potential promotion? This will focus your search.
  • We would recommend you begin the process by having a conversation with your line manager. You'll need their support if you're going to spend time away from your role, and they might have some good ideas about who and what would be helpful to shadow.
  • There are several ways to find a match:
    • If the area is more important to you than the role itself, use the Imperial web pages to browse by Department or Faculty to find a contact person.
    • If you want to shadow a specific role or duties, use the search function on the Imperial web pages and use keywords to see which staff members come up. If the exact role you want does not appear in the results, you can find someone in your area of interest and ask them to point you in the right direction.
    • Networking – word of mouth and meeting people is always a great way to find a match. By attending courses run at Imperial, networking sessions and socials, you are bound to meet new and interesting people who will open many avenues for you to explore.
  • Once you have found your match, send them a polite email introducing yourself and explaining your objectives. If you do not hear back, follow up with a phone call; if that's unsuccessful, contact someone else.
  • Be flexible and realistic! Remember that different departments across Imperial will have varying workloads and busy periods. Do not approach this experience with rigid dates and time frames.