Innovation Scholars

100-plus organizations offer job-shadowing for
USF St. Pete students

ana Zolla was a huge fan of the TV show “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and its spin-offs. So, when the USF St. Petersburg student got the opportunity to shadow a real-life crime scene investigator, she jumped.

It helped her land a job with the Lake County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office after she graduates this month with a bachelor’s degree in forensic studies and justice.

Zolla participated in USF St. Petersburg’s Innovation Scholars Career Exploration Program, which offers job-shadowing opportunities for incoming first-year and transfer students. The program provides an introduction to career possibilities, which can help students determine their academic major early in their university experience.

It has grown in popularity since it began in 2019. Each cohort has 50 to 70 students, and mentors come from more than 100 organizations throughout the Tampa Bay region, says Rita Zwiefel, MEd ’22, career experience and internship coordinator at USF St. Petersburg’s Center for Career and Professional Development.

“It really shows how much the community is willing to help students carve out pathways for themselves,” she says.

Job shadowing inspires students’ career ambitions — and helps them cross some off their list.  

“Both outcomes are a win-win,” Zwiefel says. “If a student is matched with their mentor and they really love their experience and they’re able to get plugged into that community, that’s great. But the other side of it is the benefit of a student realizing early on that they aren’t interested in that field and they’re able to put their time and energy into something else.”

Zolla was paired with a St. Petersburg Police Department forensic technician during the 2022-23 academic year. She worked the night shift, going to crime scenes with her mentor about once a month. Her mentor introduced her to other forensic technicians, arranged for Zolla to tour the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center and connected her with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office — which led to an internship.

“I was able to see so much,” Zolla says. “That’s what lit the fire underneath me to pursue this career.”

She’s encouraged many high school students to participate in Innovation Scholars.

“It offers something for everyone,” Zolla says. “The program shows you what you need to learn about a field, which classes you need to take, how to map out the rest of your college experience in order to make your career the best that it can be.”