By Kimberly M. Johnson

The flashing blue light. That’s what I remember about Mrs. Lake’s third grade class. Show-and-tell was the best part of my week; especially when that sheriff’s deputy gave a bunch of us a sightseeing tour of his patrol car. It made a lasting impression.

Conducting a job shadowing event at your office will provide a lasting impression of our chosen profession in the minds of the millennials and the Justin Bieber crowd.

We have plenty to share with them:

• Think about it. We create an indelible footprint everyday: handling administrative tasks, sifting through personnel matters, building and maintaining relationships, plus mining through the cloud.

• Think about it. We acquire blocks of knowledge on a consistent basis: CLEs from the North Carolina Bar Association, specialized certifications, certificates and on-the-job training.

• Think about it. We are adept at adapting: collaborating with courthouse personnel, figuring it out with the IT support service guy, discussing the next action with a partner and smoothing out the rough spots with a client.

• Think about it. We use our skills in “pressure cooker” situations: When a paralegal abruptly quits and leaves no instructions or when a computer glitch wipes out a document that you did not save on the F drive and did not have a back-up copy located on a portable thumb drive.

Job shadowing is a picture-perfect way to explain your routine and how it relates to other positions within your firm or company. Consider these tips when you start planning: get buy-in from department leaders, encourage your co-workers to participate and provide a take-home packet or business cards.

We can be the flashing blue light for the next generation.