Job shadows...do you bother?

That's awesome Baron...and yes, all my best ones have been athletes I've covered as well. One went on to J-School, but I don't know what happened with her beyond that.

 

I've worked at the same place for nearly seven years, and I cannot recall even one high school job shadow for our newsroom. Not sure if we're not open to it or if the school isn't.

 

We always have them around it seems...1) our paper is open to it and 2) the local high schools seem to all be requiring it toward graduation these days.

 

I had one once that was a really good kid. By the end of the shift the entire staff was busting his chops and he was like one of the gang. Ended up offering him some high school stringer work, which he accepted, and now he is on the staff at his college newspaper covering sports. I think it all depends on the kid. If you have a dud kid the entire experience will be worthless. If you have a good kid that wants to learn it can be a great experience for both of you.

 

The kid probably wanted to shadow a TV guy.

 

I've only had one kid come in for job shadowing. But he came in on a Wednesday during the spring, when there was absolutely noting local going on. So he got to see me paste up a page full of AP and bowling results. I figure he left assuming the job was incredibly boring.

 

When I was in newspaper, I had similar experiences. Like some of the others, the athletes seemed to get the most, and I even had a couple of guys end up doing agate on Friday and Saturday nights. Some of the best shadows, though, were middle school-age kids. Those were the most rewarding ones.