Tips for Mentors
- Provide a shadow experience that is a minimum of 4 hours and a maximum of 8 hours
- Provide a dress code to students if your firm requires one
- Provide lunch
- Remember: students are there to observe and accompany you on a typical workday—not to act as an assistant
- Reiterate to students that client and project material learned on-site is confidential
- The shadow experience should not be treated as a recruiting event
- Do not feel obligated to answer every question asked
- Do not pay the students for time spent at the work location
- If the student has traveled a significant distance for the shadow experience, firms and private practices are encouraged to subsidize some of the travel costs incurred.
- Follow up with students after the shadow experiences
- Do not judge a student based on what type of design program he/she attends Even if business is slow, there are still much a student can learn from you (see below)
Examples of Shadow Day Activities:
- Attend client meetings
- Attend team meetings
- Attend vendor meetings
- Visit design center
- Visit past projects
- Explore library
- Explain bookkeeping
- Review client binders and/or contracts
- Visit construction sites
- Review student’s resume and/or portfolio
- Demo CAD, Revit, SketchUp or other software programs
- Demo rendering
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