I'm the high school podcaster that just got featured by Spotify for my podcast, Major Jobs, where I interview people with different jobs to teach other teens about them. AMA!

Have you ever had an opportunity to interview for skilled trades, such as metalworking, craftsman carpenters, potters, mechanics of big machines, things like that; and if not, would you? There's huge opportunities for folks to get into fields like that with little to no formal education, great pay, and tons of folks have no idea.

Yes! I have some in my queue but I would LOVE to have more

I am a welder who has done work on pipelines, in plants, and overseas. If you are interesting in the welder gypsy lifestyle I’d be more than willing to talk with you.

Sure, pm me

I’d like to add arborists to that list because I freaking love my job and wish teens would know it existed.

Pm me!

I drive dump truck for a construction company on the west coast if you would like my take.

Sure, PM me

If you had Paul Sellers on the show I would drop everything and subscribe and listen. I don't think it's audacious claim to say he's done more to keep hand tool woodworking alive in the 21st century than anyone else.

I'll look him up.

How are careers featured chosen?

I just think about someone/a career that might be interesting, reach out to them, they agree to talk and voila.

Where do you typically look the careers up to find those people?

It really varies - just careers that pop up in my head and think, "that's interesting!"

Other times it's specific people I want to interview so I reach out to them as well

How many people have said no?

Tons - people are busy and I totally understand

If you want to talk to tradesmen, a good option is going to their union and asking for someone. That invites a fuckton of bias of course but... if you getting low on ideas it's a shot. You'll want to talk to an apprentice (not a brand new one) or possibly longtime journeyman and develop a rapport with them so theyll eventually not give you a bullshit PR answer that makes it seem like heaven.

Carpenters, plumbers, electricians, shipwrights, longshoremen, Teamsters, ironworkers, engineers, Boilermakers, machinists. All trades and if in the right place at the right time can make a very good living. You'll never be rich but also you'll never have people in school lieing to you about how you can make 80,000 immediately out of college as a programmer (have fun in tech support unless you have a stellar resume and git profile).

Oh shoot, I never would have thought of that. Definitely going to be asking tons of different unions soon. Thanks a lot. I know a lot of people wanted "regular joe" jobs and that's my priority next.

I'm a second year trades apprentice and would love to reach out to a wider (and younger) audience. Most of the problems with getting people into the trades that isn't money related is information related. Any information we can get out there is important.

PM me!

Can I make a suggestion for an episode?

Urban planning, or urban design.

It's what I'm studying now and the vast majority of people have never heard of it. Basically, urban planners design cities. It's far more technical than that, but they are responsible for zoning, transportation Planning, TIF districts, allocating growth in certain areas, and deciding how and where the city should grow.

If you would like to make a podcast on this topic, you can reach out to the Congress for New Urbanism, the American Planning Association, Streetsblog, Planetizen, the Urban Land Institute, NACTO, or any urban planning firm or municipal planning agency

Interesting. Are you an urban designer?

Do you feel an obligation to cover more “normal” jobs after interviewing people in the entertainment industry?

Yeah - I've been having more enetertainment industry jobs recently because that's what I'm interested in, but I've got some "normal" jobs coming up soon :)

How did you go from 'i want to do this' thought to actually start the podcast?

Not sure. Just one of those "screw it, I'm doing it" feelings, and went with it ever since

What’s a career that you’d love to have someone on the podcast discuss but you haven’t been able to do so yet?

I've tried to get a professional sports player to be on but it's really hard. I also have a series where I interview teenagers and think it would be awesome to get to talk to a teen actor (maybe from Stranger Things or of the sort) because I feel like they are like regular teenagers but also have differences, and I want to learn more about what it's like being in the limelight for most of your life.

Edit: I hear your comments about "normal jobs" and completely agree. I'm reaching out to more and more people and going to be interviewing a lot more. Thanks everyone for the advice!

I think it would be much more interesting to hear about "boring" average Joe jobs considering that's the truth of the matter

considering that's the truth of the matter

Opening this thread i fully expected that's what it'd be. I guess at my age I'm so far detached from the dreams of high schoolers and the fantasy job ideas that many have and yet almost no one actually gets.... Ahh, I remember the days of wanting to be in the NBA and an astronaut.

Was really hoping the podcast it was going to be something inspirational and helpful to teens about actual job fields that are attainable to the majority of the population without sheer luck or natural physical talents/genetic luck.

I'm definitely going to be interviewing more "average joe" jobs - it's been pretty hard to reach out as it's such a vague job and I don't know how exactly I would contact someone, but there are so many people commenting and PMing me asking if they wanted to be on, I think it'll be easier now. Usually it's me asking people, but now people are asking me - Thanks for the advice u/memtiger

Definitely. I'm trying to get more and have some in queue.

I've tried to get a professional sports player to be on but it's really hard.

Have you tried getting a recently-retired pro sports player on? They might have more time and willingness than a player that's still playing.

Yes! I have. Some are busy too, but I'm trying my best.

What job/career are you looking at doing after high school and (possibly) higher education?

Podcast content creator is pretty lucrative lol

Maybe, but I'm not sure if I'd want to do it as a career

No clue

How did you get such high profile guests?

Ask ask ask

Hi Great podcast idea. I shall check it out with my 15 year old! Would you consider making your podcast available for iTunes/Apple?

It is! Check out my bio it's up there

Which jobs where you felt most connected/attracted to at this point in your podcast ? and why ?

Technology related / media related

What’s the coolest job you’ve ever interviewed someone about?

Band

Have you considered going international, with the intend of letting the more international audience to know their options?

Yes!!! I've been trying so hard but it's so hard to find interviewees overseas.

Do you interview people with less "interesting", but more practical/realistic careers? Things such as a tradesmen?

From his other replies, appears the answer is that he hopes to. He mentions that he's interested more in entertainment industry careers, and mentions pro athletes, too. It's all well and good, but I think the concept would indeed be better realized by interviewing more practical jobs, otherwise, what's the difference between this and any interview ever done with an entertainer or professional athlete.

I sent him a PM about my job and I encourage the rest of us to do the same. These kids are not served by furthering the idea that they can all be entertainers for a living.

I suppose there is also the possiblity that this is a thinly veiled way for a teenager to meet celebrities. If so, damn good hustle lol.

Lol, i totally agree. Lots of people have been pming me and I would like to interview everyone if I could. Not a thinly veiled way to meet celebrities though, haha. If that were the case I'd have lost motivation failing to get any

Hey, dude-- no judgement either way lol. If you're doing the interview in a way that actually provides the information your audience benefits from, then your motivation is moot. Glad that your heart is in the right place, though : )

Thanks mate :)

Is Podcasting your real job or is it your hobbie ?

If it's your hobby, is it difficult To find times to réalise and prepare your podcast ? Would you like to make podcasting your real job ?

How much time do you spend in average for one podcast episode ?

It's a hobby.

One episode is usually around 20-40 minutes, the editing process takes an hour or two

I checked your anchor page - do you have any plans to interview people on the more technical side of things? I'm a computational biologist and I know that there are TONS of STEM kids coming out of high school that know they want to do science, but don't have a clue how to narrow that down!

yes, definitely. I'm trying to get a wide array of different jobs.

What's been your biggest challenge since you started doing this?

How have your peers reacted?

Interview suggestion: look into law enforcement professionals. Depending on what you want to do in law enforcement, there's no straight path to do it. Especially if you want to go federal. Also they have some interesting stories.

Challenge - getting ignored/rejected for interview requests

Peers reaction - Mostly "why are you doing this?" and then "wait this is actually really interesting" and they listen more.

I would love to talk to law enforcement professionals! Those careers are so interesting.

Our boy Ethan Lindenberger is gonna be on the podcast? Niiiiice.

Already on it, check it out

What do you see yourself doing next? Do you have any goals/guests you would want to have on the podcast in the future?

Not sure

When you started making podcasts, did you interview someone or just do you own thing for awhile?

I don’t really get how someone starts something like this in all honesty.

Own thing, then started interviewing

How do you have time to do the podcast? Since high school consumes so much time, it must be tough managing responsibilities.

I pull it through, it get hard at times but this is something I like doing and I make it all work out

This is a great podcast idea with an incredible intention.

I’m an aspiring UX Designer and know I would be inspired if I heard about the field while I was in high school.

Who’s the most interesting individual you’ve interviewed yet?

There's so many interesting people I can't count - all are unique in certain ways

How did you get started with podcasts, and how long have you been doing it? - What are some immediate challenges that you think most of us viewers wouldnt know about, and what are some of the most difficult parts about this “job”, if you will. ~ Thanks in advance and best of luck with everything!

Started this year (January).

Challenges - getting people to be on the podcast

Difficulties - editing process - long and tedious.

Are there any jobs you've found that were something you've never heard of, or incredibly unique? Not like "professional eyeglass duster" but something society actually needs (lime the re-icer guys on bridges)

Language Creator

What kind of gear are you using?

USB microphone, audacity

I definitely will check you out, before I do, weird question, but how is the language on the podcast? Like would it be appropriate for my 4th graders to listen to as part of career education? I think it would be awesome, but don't want my principal walking in as someone drops an f-bomb.

It should be fine, just stay away from the one with the junior systems administrator

How hard would it be to edit out any inappropriate language?

Not very hard

Have you ever considered having a guest on to discuss basic financial skills for young adults? This would be very beneficial for young people. Things like applying for scholarships, doing taxes, saving for retirement, the power of saving, scams to avoid, company benefits, student loans (how much debt is too much for the specific major), and many more topics.

Young people don't realize how important these skills are and how beneficial they can be in getting ahead in life. If you need some guidance or ideas in this area, feel free to PM me.

Yes! I wanted to get Dave ramsey on the podcast because he's pretty knowledgeable in that stuff and i think he could help a lot of people.

What job do you want when you’re older? Do you feel like the podcast has influenced your current choice?

I still have no clue, but it definitely has me swerving in a certain position

What you're doing is amazing, I really wish someone did this when I was in High School. The world is so big and as a kid you only understand jobs like Firefighter, Nurse, Teacher, etc.

How are kids reacting to your pod?

Thanks- most people just laugh at first, but then they actually start listening and thinks it's helpful

So you do the show "Dirty Jobs?"

Oh goodness no

my daugter wants to be a singer and loves taylorswift, are you able to do a podcast with her and my daughter please?

haha