Career Areas

Participating in the Extern Job Shadowing Program allows you to explore a career area of interest. If you are undecided about your career placement choice, your campus career centre can suggest workshops and resources to assist you in discovering your options. You can also access many online resources including Getting Started (http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/careers/getting_started.html) and Careers by Major.

Each year, the program places hundreds of students in a diverse variety of career areas. We encourage you to apply in the career area that you are most interested. Some of the more popular career areas include health care (doctors, nurses, technicians), lawyers, teachers, however you are not limited to these areas. Please review the following restricted career areas before you submit your program registration form.

Career Areas where Job Shadowing Placements are Not Possible

Airport Services/Customs/Immigration
Due to security reasons placements with pilots and other airport personnel are not possible.

Consulates and Embassies
Due to security reasons, placements are not possible in any consulate or embassy.

Policing
Accompanying police officers in police cruisers is not permitted. For most policing agencies, a placement is usually restricted to an information session.

Career Areas Restricted to Informational Interviews/Tours

Accounting
February through May is audit, tax, RRSP, and fiscal year-end periods in Canada. For this reason, large accounting firms will not sponsor Extern Job Shadowing Program participants. On occasion, the program has been able to organize group information sessions with accounting associations.

Investment Banking/Corporate Banking Sector
The banking sector is regulated by privacy legislation. Participants will not be placed with hosts who have access to financial data, such as those in investment and retail banking. Most placements in this area are restricted to informational interviews.

Forensic Sciences
Placements are restricted to tours and presentations.

Management Consulting
Due to confidentiality issues, placements in this career area are rare and are limited to informational interviews.

Psychology/Psychiatry/Formal Counselling
Exposure is usually limited to informational interviews due to confidentiality issues.

Other Program Restrictions

Medical-related placements
While we have found placements in many different medical areas (including nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and some doctors), there are a number of privacy regulations in this industry. Participants will not have access to any medical records. In addition, it is rare to sit in on appointments with hosting doctors, dentists or nurses, since patients always retain the right to refuse any job shadowing during their care. In addition, placements are not possible inside operating rooms and emergency rooms.

Pharmaceutical/Biotech Research
These organizations have various confidentiality and safety concerns. Placements may be possible in hospital or university labs.

Software Development
Confidentiality issues and competitor concerns means that participation by the software development industry is limited.

Teaching/Placements in schools
Most schools require that you have a recent police check. Police checks can be done at the Toronto Police Services Head Office (40 College Street). Further information is available at the Toronto Police Services website (www.torontopolice.on.ca).