Grade 11 Job Shadowing | CEO For A Week, Two Students Travel to USA and Albania for Experience

Grade 11 students have returned from a whirlwind week of job shadowing. One student, at the age of 16, was the CEO of a company for the week. Another travelled to Albania to learn more about coaching football, while a classmate learned the ins and outs of a theatre in Memphis, Tennessee in the United States. Today, Grade 11 students at AIS have a better understanding of life after school by spending one week job shadowing and broadening their learning experience.

The Diploma Programme students discovered more about their skills, talents and interests and were able to see the links between their schoolwork and the essential qualities needed for a job. This experience also helped some of the students determine what they want or don’t want to do in the future and gave them an indication of what to study at university. 

Hugo, Kelsey and Cedric are sharing their experiences with you. Hugo stepped in as CEO for one week at a recruitment company, Kelsey gained insight into what it’s like to work in a theatre in the USA and Cedric travelled to Albania to see what is involved in being a football coach. 

CEDRIC

Cedric had a unique opportunity to do his job shadow assignment in Tirana, Albania at the Y4 Academy, a football academy for children. “They scout around in the top clubs and the people whom they find talented, they ask them to join their academy,” Cedric said. He trained with a former Beveren player (a Belgian football team if you aren’t familiar with the sport).

Cedric says football has been his passion his whole life and when he heard of the opportunity, he reached out and grabbed it with both hands. “I just wanted to see how it was done at a high-level academy,” Cedric shared. “The football that they play there is really good. I’ve seen it myself; for their age, their football skills are really, really good.”

During school holidays, Cedric has trained young footballers and his goal for this job shadowing experience was to see how high-level training works. “They train five days a week, that’s every school day. I was only there for a week and I learned new ways of training. I would like to return, just to get even more information,” Cedric explained. “It’s just a whole new experience for me. I never experienced a culture like that or working in general. I’ve done vacation jobs, but it’s not the same. This is something that I’m potentially interested in and it widens my options.” 

KELSEY

Kelsey has wanted to be an actor since she was young and her interest in the performing arts led her to a job shadowing experience in the United States. “I had a week-long internship with a theatre company called The Orpheum in Memphis, Tennessee. They had two different theatres that I had the pleasure of working in,” Kelsey shared. Kelsey gained experience she likely wouldn’t have gotten until university. She said, “I got to sit in on company meetings and give input on the current performance that was being given that weekend. I also got the pleasure of joining in on a company picture on the Marquee,” she explained. 

Kelsey says her supervisor taught her how to use the sound and lighting equipment at the theatre, skills she put to the test immediately. Kelsey ended up being the light and sound operator for the play on performance night because of a sick call. “I learned a lot of things through my work experience that are going to benefit me in the future,” Kelsey concluded.

HUGO

It’s not very often a secondary school student can say they were the CEO of a company, but Hugo can! He job shadowed at a Human Resources recruitment company called Select Group, based in the Antwerp area. They mainly work with other companies but also with individual clients in need of a job. Hugo said, “I shadowed two of the co-CEOs. I always wanted and still want to be the CEO of my own company one day and being able to attend this job shadowing week gave me just the right insight into how it is.”

Hugo says he learned how to organise and run a business from the perspective of highly valuable people. “Their contributions to the company are massive and without them, the company won’t survive. I also met the original owner of the business. He’s a very inspirational and kind person and I definitely took a lot of valuable advice from him. Attending the meetings and driving to other partnered companies to go and talk to them about their operations gave me the opportunity to meet and see new people and expand my knowledge and network,” Hugo shared. 

Hugo enjoyed the experience and even made it onto the company’s LinkedIn feed. He said, “I had the best week ever and I learned a lot and met some wonderful and inspired people. Now although HR is not the career I want to go into, I acknowledge that hiring the right people for your company is super important and for me to see how companies like Select Group do it is the best way to get first-hand experience and understanding.”

After school, Hugo wants to study at Erasmus University in Rotterdam where he would pursue an International Business Administration career. He is also aiming to get a scholarship, so he is working hard to get good grades in his final two years of attending AIS.

Hugo adds that he absolutely loved job shadowing and would recommend it to every single person. “If you are given that opportunity,” Hugo advises, “take it by the heart and go gain as much knowledge and experience as you can. It’s an unpaid and free experience that you will never forget. Don’t take it for granted!”