HLG Shadowing Network – Guidance for Shadower

Before arranging a visit:

• Visits should be organised and approved in accordance with your workplace’s CPD guidance
  • Reflect on your current professional knowledge and skills base by using CILIP’s PKSB and match a host or job role to your requirements
  • If you wish to develop particular skills, consider using CILIP’s eLearning Hub to develop your specific skills and knowledge before arranging a visit

• Consider your learning needs and objectives that you would like from a visit. For example, are you looking to:
  • View a typical ‘day in the life’ of a different job role?
  • Gain greater understanding and knowledge of a different service or sector?
  • Benchmark or compare your job role or service to another library?
  • Obtain a new skill or gain confidence in something you wouldn’t normally do in your current role?

Practical things to consider are:

• How far are you willing or able to travel?
• If an in-person shadowing experience is not possible, would a virtual visit allow you to meet your learning needs and objectives?

Arranging to shadow someone:

• Tell a potential host about your current work experiences and what you are looking to achieve from the visit
• Share your preferred pronouns
• Share any accessibility requirements and information about any reasonable adjustments they may have to make
• Remember that hosting a shadowing placement requires thought and time on the part of the host. You may need to be flexible to a host’s availability and current workload and staffing

---