Shadow an employee

2009/11/07

A STUDENT’S world is in some ways out of sync with the real one. Job Shadow Days have many advantages and one is that they help students to make a smooth transition in the workplace.

“Job Shadow Days expose students to actual working situations, which help them explore jobs in the market. “This enables students to decide what jobs would suit them and how to work towards them,” says Sunway University College director of student services Lee Siok Ping. Recently a job shadow exercise was held for 37 Sunway University College students to acquaint themselves with jobs in the subsidiaries of the Sunway Group. The companies which participated were Sunway Lagoon Theme Park, Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall, Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, Sunway City, Sunway Lagoon Club, Dekon Holdings, Information Technology (IT) Shared Services Centre and Group Human Resources. Students were divided into groups of two. Each group shadowed an employee for three hours. The range of jobs that students shadowed were varied and ranged from a chief executive officer to employees in marketing, finance, operations, construction management, human resources, front office and IT. After the shadowing, students made a presentation on what they learnt. Business Management student Choong Kar Wai of Lancaster University joint honours programme with Sunway University College says it was a great opportunity to learn.

Shirley Peh, a Monash University Foundation Year, Sunway University College student added that the mentor “explained it all very well”.

Lefa Albert Chamba from Botswana, who is pursuing the Canadian International Matriculation Programme, felt the visit was “mind-blowing and informative”. Job shadow day is not the only programme organised that provides a holistic learning experience. There is an internship programme which gives final-year students hands-on experience. In addition, the Networking Tea session held during the annual Career Fair enables students to meet and network with prospective employers.

Sunway University College students acquaint themselves with jobs in the subsidiaries of the Sunway Group.