Harrell Remodeling

Groundhog Job Shadow Day in Mountain View

Thirty continuation students form San Jose Conservation Corps and Charter School recently had the opportunity to learn about the various aspects of the remodeling industry from Mountain View’s Harrell Remodeling, Inc., opening their eyes to new possibilities.

Preparing to enter the work force and curious about their options in remodeling, students from 17-27 years old spent several hours at Harrell Remodeling head quarters getting a feel for what it takes to be in the business. While normally this kind of job shadowing is limited to one or two students shadowing a CEO, Harrell Remodeling invited all who were interested and presented a series of speakers representing various jobs in the industry.

Led by CEO Iris Harrell, a PowerPoint presentation on the history of the company was given, which then led into a Q and A session between the Harrell Remodeling staff and students. Focusing on the various aspects of being a remodeling CEO, contractor, designer, production manager, and estimator, the education, skills, and business practices necessary to build a successful company were of particular interest to the students.

“[Harrell Remodeling] presented the good relationships and teamwork needed for a successful company, and the students really caught onto that,” says Jacqueline Richberg, SJCC teacher. “They also emphasized that no matter how old you are, you are always a student – I thought that was a really good point too.”

Richberg also noted that in thank you letters to the company, many students commented either they were now considering jobs in the remodeling field, or that because of how they learned careers develop they now know it is important to study so as to keep their job options open.