25 Engaging Activities for Virtual Job Shadowing Videos

March 3, 2025

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Pathful's virtual job-shadowing videos offer powerful career exploration opportunities. Here are 25 practical activities to maximize the learning value of these resources.

We've included the amount of time recommended for each activity. Most videos are about 3-5 minutes, which means you can incorporate meaningful career readiness education in your classroom in as little as 10 minutes

Pre-Viewing Activities: Setting the Stage for Career Discovery

1. Career Misconception Quiz (10-15 minutes) - Create a true/false quiz about the featured career to identify misconceptions that the video will address.

2. Prediction Charts (15-20 minutes) - Have participants create charts listing what they think professionals in the career do daily, then revisit after viewing to correct misconceptions.

3. Skills Inventory Worksheet (20-25 minutes) - Provide a worksheet for self-assessment of current skills related to the featured career, identifying strengths and areas for development.

4. Guided Career Research (30-40 minutes) - Assign research on basic information about the career pathway to establish context before viewing the video.

5. Key Terminology Introduction (15-20 minutes) - Present industry-specific terminology with definitions before viewing to enhance comprehension.

6. Question Development Activity (10-15 minutes) - Facilitate a session where participants develop 3-5 questions they hope the video will answer about the career.

7. Industry Trend Analysis Assignment (25-35 minutes) - Guide participants in researching current trends, challenges, and innovations in the industry to better understand the context of the featured career.

During-Viewing Activities: Active Engagement with Professional Insights

8. Structured Observation Worksheet (Duration of video + 10 minutes) - Provide a form (or use Career Journals) for recording key responsibilities, skills, and workplace characteristics observed in the video.

9. Skills Spotting Guide (Duration of video + 5 minutes) - Create a guide for identifying when and how professionals demonstrate specific technical and soft skills throughout the video.

10.  Quote Capture Cards (Duration of video + 5 minutes) - Distribute index cards for recording meaningful quotes or advice shared by professionals for later group discussion.

11. Education Pathway Flowchart (Duration of video + 10 minutes) - Provide a template for documenting the educational steps professionals mention taking to reach their current position.

12. Workplace Challenge Log (Duration of video + 15 minutes) - Create a structured log for noting workplace challenges or problems mentioned and how professionals address them.

13. Career Journey Mapping Template (Duration of video + 20 minutes) - Offer a visual template for mapping the education, experiences, and decisions that led to the professional's current role.

14. Workplace Culture Detective Sheet (Duration of video + 15 minutes) - Design an observation sheet for analyzing aspects of workplace culture including teamwork dynamics, communication styles, and environment.

15. Technology & Tools Checklist (Duration of video + 10 minutes) - Provide a checklist for cataloging the specific technologies, software, equipment, and tools used by professionals in the video.

Post-Viewing Activities: Transforming Insights into Personal Action

16. Follow-up Question Carousel (20-25 minutes) - Facilitate a rotation activity where small groups generate additional questions about aspects of the career not fully addressed in the video.

17. Day-in-the-Life Comparison Chart (25-30 minutes) - Provide a side-by-side chart template for comparing current daily routines with the professional's workday.

18. Career Fit Analysis Discussion (20-30 minutes) - Guide a structured discussion analyzing how different personality types, values, and interests might align with the career portrayed in the video.

19. Skill Development Roadmap Project (30-45 minutes) - Assign the creation of personalized plans for developing key skills highlighted in the video, including specific action steps and resources.

20. Career Advantages/Challenges Analysis (15-20 minutes) - Facilitate a balanced analysis of appealing and challenging aspects of the career based on video insights.

21. Alternative Pathway Research Project (30-45 minutes) - Assign research on alternative routes to enter the same career field beyond what was mentioned in the video.

22. Industry Problem-Solving Simulation (45-60 minutes) - Organize a collaborative exercise to identify a problem in the featured industry and develop potential solutions, considering implementation steps.

23. Professional Network Web Activity (30-40 minutes) - Guide participants in creating a visual web of potential professional connections in the field, with strategies for making contact.

24. Future Vision Collage Project (45-60 minutes) - Facilitate the creation of visual representations showing how the career might fit into participants' future plans, including both professional and personal impacts.

25. Related Careers Comparison Matrix (35-50 minutes) - Provide a matrix template for researching and comparing related careers in the same field, highlighting key differences in requirements, responsibilities, and rewards.

Youth (middle school age): Focus on activities #1, 2, 6, 8, 10, 14, 17, and 24
Adolescents (high school age): Emphasize activities #3, 5, 9, 13, 16, 20, and 21
Young adults: Concentrate on activities #4, 7, 11, 12, 18, 19, 22, 23, and 25