My Shadowing paper....read if you want to be bored...

My Shadowing Experience...
On Tuesday August 24, 2004, I had the opportunity to "shadow" a professional business figure for a project in my Senior English class. I had a lot of fun on my day off from school, with my shadow person, Mrs. Allison Johnson.
Before starting this project, I did know a few things about the Real Estate business. For instance, I knew where the office of Mrs. Johnson was as well as the fact that realtors lead a very hectic lifestyle. I've known Mrs. Johnson for a long time, so the ladder, I know, is especially true.
Since I had the opportunity to shadow Mrs. Johnson, I knew that I could ask this professional figure some questions regarding her profession. So, I made a list of things that I wanted to find out about the Real Estate business. I wanted to learn about realtors salaries, educational requirements needed to do this job, any license requirements needed to do this job, the working conditions that realtors have to deal with, and if there were any advancement opportunities for people working in this particular field.
When asked if this shadowing project was just a school assignment or if it was a professional opportunity, I had to answer, "both." This was a school assignment. I had to complete a day of shadowing so that I could write this paper, and do a presentation about this job. If you want to pass Senior English, you have to complete this assignment. But, this was also a professional opportunity. This project gave me the ability to go, on a regular business day, and follow a real person doing this job. It gave me the chance to see if I would be interested in doing this job in the future. It helped me to see, also, what a normal day in the real world is like (a day without bells controlling a person).
There were a couple of benefits to doing this shadowing project. I got to get out of class. I also (as I said above) got to experience some of the real world.
Some of my "likes" of the day were how I was treated, and some of the things I got do do. First, I was treated very nicely by all of those I encountered. Everyone was very professional with me, and I wasn't treated like a high school student, but rather a young professional. I also enjoyed meeting lots of new people. Realtors are constantly dealing with the public, and meeting new people. And, on my shadowing day, I went to Rotary with Mrs. Johnson. Rotary is a weekly meeting of townspeople ranging from realtors, doctors, lawyers, and even our ex-mayor, Emily Taylor. Rotary was a very fun event of the day.
As much fun as I had while shadowing, I did have a few things that I didn't like very much. One of the things that I didn't like (at all) was a nasty home that Mrs. Johnson and I had to go look at and take pictures of. Doing the market analysis of the "nasty house" wasn't very much fun, either. I also wasn't very fond of all of the traveling that we had to do. Realtors literally live in their cars.
I was very happy with the way that I was treated by the people that I encountered. I was treated very well by all of the Town & Country office staff, as well as the many listers that I met with during the day. I really liked that I was treated like a young adult, not just a high school student.
There were some things that I was surprised by on my shadowing day. The amount of hours that realtors have to work was one of them. I really had no idea that realtors had to work so much! Mrs. Johnson said that, in a normal week, she works anywhere from sixty to seventy hours. I was also surprised by the amount of "random" things that realtors have to do. Not only must they maintain a large client list, take a million phone calls, have tons of meeting throughout the day, but they also have to take care of little small things that normal people would let slip through the cracks. Small things like remembering to play yard signs for homes, or going to a clients home to re-check room measurements or going by a clients work to speak with them about updates on their contracts.
My shadowing experience was very good! I enjoyed the entire day and had fun. On my shadowing day, I got up at 7:15 am (an hour later than usual) because I had to be at the Town & Country office at 9 am. I took a shower and got dressed, then I ate breakfast at home. I read the paper, and then I was off to see Mrs. Johnson!
When I arrived at Town & Country, Mrs. Johnson was not in the office yet, so I waited in the lobby for about ten minutes before she arrived. When Mrs. Johnson did arrive, she introduced me to the office staff, and we talked a little bit about the days' agenda. Mrs. Johnson informed me that I would be the photographer for the day. Then, she told me that we needed to go to a home and take pictures of the interior and exterior. Mrs. Johnson called this a "drive by" shooting.
We were on our way in Mrs. Johnson's SUV when we were discussing some of the questions that I was given for my shadowing day. I basically just fired off questions for Mrs. Johnson, and she answered them. She also threw in a few funny realtor experiences of her own.
We arrived at the home (in the middle of nowhere!) and Mrs. Johnson had already briefed me on what we were to do. We started off with taking pictures of the "grounds" of the home. It wasn't very impressive, at all. The grass looked as if it hadn't been mowed in months, and as we walked around to the backyard, it only got worse. There was an outbuilding that resembled a lean-to and I felt sorry for anything that might be stored in the building. As we explored the outside of the home, we saw that as the home was beginning to settle, that the foundation was cracking, and would eventually give way. Mrs. Johnson had me take pictures of all of the "grounds." After taking pictures outside, we went inside the home. It was just a little scary. The doors and almost all of the windows had cracks in the glass.
The first room that we entered was the living room. Littered with paper and trash. We took pictures of the living room and the "den" (as we called it) that was halfway broken through. Then, we moved on to the kitchen. In the kitchen, the first thing that we saw was rotted floors, and a gaping whole in the side of the back wall. We weren't sure how it got there, but maybe we didn't want to know. When we looked more closely at the kitchen, we saw that the ceiling and the tops of the cabinets weren't even touching. Because of the way the home was settling, and the way that the foundation was unstable, the kitchen wasn't even safe to be in. When we had had enough of the kitchen, we wandered around the hall.
The first door that we came to was the bathroom. When we walked into the bathroom, we saw that it had two different floors, and the sink was no longer attached to the wall; it was sitting on the floor. We saw the shower, and it had trash and bowls and spoons in the bottom. Of course, we took lots of pictures and went on. Our next stop, the "master bedroom". When we entered the bedroom, we saw that all of the windows had been broken out, and all of the walls looked as if they had been punched in. The wood paneling had been painted over with, quite possibly, the ugliest color green ever. The closets had no doors, and the light switches no longer had faceplates.
There was one more room in the house to photograph, and then we could leave. The other room was the second bedroom. It was like the master bedroom. Painted in the horrible shade of green, and the windows had been completely broken out. There was a lot of trash and papers and kitchen things on the floor. We got our pictures, and made our way back through the home, and out the door.
Once we had gotten back into the car, Mrs. Johnson shared with me a few more stories of how this wasn't the worst home she had ever seen. She also answered more questions from the question sheet I was given.
We made our way back to the Town & Country Office. We started off, back at the office, with Mrs. Johnson telling me that we were going to do a market analysis on the home that we just surveyed. Mrs. Johnson explained to me that we were going to go on the internet and find three homes that were worse than the one we just viewed, and that we were going to find three homes that were around the same level of pricing and liveablity, and finally, we were going to find three homes that were better than the home in question. We started our search and it took about thirty minutes before we found our nine candidates. Next, we started our market analysis. We went to a webpage and did the work. Basically, we entered in all nine of the homes and placed information about each of them (square footage, amount of rooms, extra utilities, etc.) that we found of the pages of the homes. I was dreading this market analysis, but it wasn't bad, at all. Mrs. Johnson was very patient with me, since I had no clue what I was doing.
After our market analysis was finished, we stayed at the office and heard of some more stories of realtors experiences. I also had the chance to ask some other realtors some of the questions from my question sheet.
It was almost lunch time now, and Mrs. Johnson and I got into her car and headed to Cross Creek County Club for her weekly meeting of Rotary. Rotary, I discovered, was a club that most business people in Mount Airy were involved it. It is somewhat of a charity organization. They help children at Christmas get toys and presents, and they also give money to a colony of lepers in Africa. Mrs. Johnson informed me that it was a good idea for realtors to be members of Rotary because it helped them maintain relationships with people in the town, and also helped her get new clients with recommendations from club members, to her.
We ate lunch (soup and salad) and then the meeting began. I was introduced to the room by Mrs. Johnson as her quest (any guest must be introduced) and Mrs. Johnson told the club that I was shadowing her for an English project at school. As "club stuff" got underway, we heard many speakers on the, then, upcoming event of Mayberry Days and Rotary's ties to the Mayberry Day golf tournament and other events.
After Rotary, Mrs. Johnson and I were on the road again. We made our way to the out-skirts of Surry County to begin listing a grocery store that was located there. We met the owner of the store and talked about the different steps that were going to take place after all of the contracts were signed. This part was mostly between Mrs. Johnson and the owner of the store. We talked for a bit more, and the owner asked lots of questions regarding all of the things that he should do.
Once we finished up out meeting with the client, we went made our way back into town. Once we were back, Mrs. Johnson drove around town to various homes that needed yard signs. While we were out placing signs, we dropped by a home on Grace Street to speak with a client of Mrs. Johnson's on the status of the home on the market. Mrs. Johnson told me that other realtors may just send out an e-mail, but that she thought it was important to talk to clients personally.
After placing yard signs, we returned to the office to do another market analysis on another home. Mrs. Johnson kind of let me do this by myself, since I knew how. Then, we made contact with a couple that was thinking of placing their home on the market. The couple was going to use the market analysis to determine the price of their home, if they places it on the market.
After the last market analysis, Mrs. Johnson and I talked for a little while longer about some of the questions I had. Then, she told me that I was free to go. The day had flown by, and it was already 3:30 pm!
From my shadowing day, I learned a lot of things. I learned that realtors work around the clock, having to cater to clients needs. I also learned that realtors must be very organized and keep up with lots of things. I learned a lot about the educational requirements for realtors. I learned that realtors have to pass a Real Estate class (60 hours), then they have to pass a state exam in the state where they are an agent, and they also have eight hours of "Continued Education" (a class to teach new Real Estate laws, etc.) a year. And I learned that salary is based on commission alone.
With regards to myself one day being a realtor, I can say that it is a possibility. I think that I would enjoy the job but I would have to work on my organizational skills. With the major I have in mind for college, this career is a possibility in my future.
I think that this assignment is very beneficial to students, especially seniors trying to decide what they want to do with their life. This assignment let me be able to take a step into the real world, see how I liked it, but also go back to being a student the next day. This assignment also let me see if I would, in fact, like to become a realtor in the future.
I do, however, have a few suggestions for improvement in this project. I think, that it would be great to have two excused days for shadowing, so that students could explore two different occupations, or shadow two different people in the same profession and contrast their experiences. But, I am glad that the resposiblity for setting up this project was given primarily to the student. It made the students do their own contacts and learn more responsibility.
As you can see from this paper, I had a BLAST on my shadowing day. I am really glad that I was given the opportunity to go and shadow a professional figure in my town, and learn the ropes about a profession.