CARIBOU — High school students and educators in Aroostook County have a new tool to better explore career opportunities, thanks to Aroostook Partnership.
The partnership has purchased access to VirtualJobShadow.com. It is an online career planning and career exploration resource that provides all the tools and resources for charting a career path by choice, not chance.
“I first became aware of Virtual Job Shadow as the Gear Up grant program had paid for it for those high schools that had received the Gear Up funding,” said Aroostook Partnership President Bob Dorsey. “The teachers were very pleased with the program and introduced it to me. They also said the students liked it as it was easy to navigate and use.”
Dorsey and the Aroostook Partnership board of directors decided it was too valuable a resource for only a few schools in the region to have access, so funding was dedicated to make it available to all schools in Aroostook.
“The Partnership decided to purchase Virtual Job Shadow as our Education to Industry initiative is focused on securing our future workforce and we have been encouraging all high schools to promote job opportunities, tours of local businesses or inviting local business owners in to speak to students in an effort to increase awareness of County businesses and jobs that are increasing as more folks reach retirement age,” said Dorsey.
“We asked the Virtual Job Shadow program folks if we [AP] could purchase the program for all schools and get a discounted rate and they said yes — thus, instead of paying roughly $15,000, we got a quote for $8,900.”
Dorsey said the online program is comprehensive. Students can see videos of different professions and learn about the education and skills needed, job environment, typical salaries and more. He said students can access the program from any computer or tablet anytime they wish.
Educators can get access for their students by contacting customerservice@virtualjobshadow.com to get added to the roster and obtain a password. Also further information should be available in high school guidance offices or, if your district is part of Gear Up, from the Gear Up coordinator.
“The end game for purchasing Virtual Job Shadow is to provide students a continuous access to job and career information in hopes that they may be able to decide earlier on potential jobs or careers here in Aroostook County,” added Dorsey. “Also, this approach is more cost effective for schools in the long run than busing students all over Aroostook County to on site job shadow opportunities which requires a lot of time and money to accomplish.”
The Aroostook Partnership is a public-private partnership, representing nearly 100 businesses, Northern Maine Community College, Husson University, University of Maine at Fort Kent, University of Maine at Presque Isle and Northern Maine Development Commission, dedicated to aggressive and effective results-oriented economic development actions that leverage the financial commitments and talents of the private sector in close partnership with the public sector.
