Ellie McFadden

10th Grade Job Shadow

This year, I chose to job shadow on-site at Esther’s Hair Haven with
Julia Petrick, an esthetician. I chose this because it’s a career that I
didn’t know a lot about, and I was excited to learn more.
During my job shadow, We followed her around and watched
her do everyday tasks, asked her questions, and she showed us how
she does facials on people and determines what’s right for their skin.
She was responsible for simple day to day tasks to help around the
workplace, such as checking the mail and washing people’s hair for
the hairdressers whenever they’re really busy. People either book
appointments in advance, or sometimes walk in for her to give them
facials.
She first became interested in this field because when she was
little, she had problems with her skin, so as she grew older, she
wanted to help other people facing the same problems. Everyday
she fulfills her typical work duties of doing facials, answering the
phone, doing inventory, assist stylists with shampooing, and assist the
owner with secretarial duties. To prepare for this field, she
recommends going to a licensed cosmetology or esthetics school,
and in high school focusing on chemistry, biology, and everyday
math and english. Being focused, friendly, positive, knowledgeable,
and reliable are traits that help her in this field. She said that every
job she’s ever had has prepared her for this job, and that you can
always learn something from every job you have. Difficulties of being
an esthetician include demanding clients, but she says that the
good clients make the job worth it.
This job shadow helped my career goals by opening me up to
more career ideas that I’m not too interested in. I didn’t think that
this job shadow would be too amazing, but I actually had really fun
and I was really interested in it. I definitely don’t think I want to be an
esthetician, but it was a very interesting career to explore regardless.
It’s not something I necessarily want to do with my life, just because
I’d rather have a different type of job. My next steps will be to figure
out what I want to do with my life.