What Do People Do All Day?

Sara Isabel Seymour
  • 4.7 (15)
  • CAREERS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
What Do People Do All Day?

Don't know what you want to do professionally? Welcome to adulthood. Find out what it is that people do all day through a series of informational interviews with people three to ten years out of college. Hear about what they were looking for in a first job, how they found a job, and how it all turned out. Have a suggestion for a career path you'd like to hear about? Send your suggestions to whatdopeopledoallday2022@gmail.com! And if you're three to ten years out of college and want to share your own story, let me know!

  1. 11/16/2022

    Elena on being a podcast producer

    Before I started this podcast, I listened to podcasts. But I had never really thought about all of the jobs that go into making those podcasts possible. In this episode, I speak with Elena Schwartz, a producer for Slate Magazine's daily news podcast "What Next." In college, Elena thought that she might want to go to law school. Much of what she did in college, both academically and extracurricularly, was geared towards examining the intersection of race, class, and the criminal justice system. But during her junior year, she got an itch to do something in the audio-journalism world. She was worried that she was "behind" her peers, but managed to graduate with a temporary role with WGBH. She decided to give herself a year to test out this alternative career path, and now she's been at it for over three years.  Best for: breaking into the audio-journalism world even when it feels late in the game; working in an industry that requires multiple temporary roles before you can get a full-time role Contents: 1:00 - Introduction 4:20 - Deciding that she wanted to pursue an audio-journalism career and her first gig out of college 12:40 - Day-to-day as an assistant producer at WGBH 15:07 - Her junior year internship and how it helped her pivot 18:46 - Elena's next role; finding and starting a role at Pineapple Studios 22:23 - Pros and cons of these early roles 27:41 - Applying for and starting as an intern at All Things Considered at NPR 37:37 - The challenges of an industry that starts with mostly temporary roles 41:12 - Looking for and finding a full-time role 45:26 - Day-to-day as a full-time producer at Slate 52:28 - Lessons learned

    58 min

  2. 11/09/2022

    Jessica on project management at an energy storage start up

    In this episode, I speak with my former co-worker, Jessica, about her path to becoming a Project Manager at an energy storage start up. In college, Jessica majored in computer science and minored in ethics and philosophy. Like me, she worked as an analyst at a boutique financial litigation firm after college, but after two years decided that it was time to move on. In deciding what she wanted to do next, Jessica looked to find a job where she felt more mission-aligned and where she could achieve better work-life balance. Now at Form Energy, she focuses on commercial strategy, business development and customer acquisition.  Best for: people looking to pivot after their first job out of college; working at a start up in a non-technical role; learning more about clean energy jobs Contents: 1:00 - Introduction 5:04 - Goals for her first job out of college 9:30 - Pros and cons of working as an analyst at a boutique financial litigation firm 15:50 - Pivoting after her first job and the job search 24:07 - Day-to-day as a project manager at an energy storage start up 29:19 - Pros and cons of working as a project manager at an energy storage start up 33:50 - Lessons learned

    41 min

  3. 11/02/2022

    Ogechi on balancing a dynamic career between filmmaking and healthcare

    In this episode, I speak with a fellow graduate of my high school, Ogechi Musa. Ogechi is now a full-time writer, director, actor, and producer. But that's not where she started. While a student at Boston College, Ogechi thought that she would pursue a career in medicine. Initially she thought she would be a doctor, but she ultimately landed on healthcare IT consulting and training. She was always passionate about acting and filmmaking, though, and pursued that, as well. After years of balancing two careers, Ogechi recently decided to follow her purpose, quit her six-figure job in healthcare, and pursue her career in independent filmmaking full-time.  Best for: learning about independent filmmaking; hearing about the importance of being in-tune with yourself at different stages of your life; considering different careers in the healthcare space Contents: 1:00 - Introduction 9:43 - First steps coming out of college 13:03 - Taking time out of college to pursue filmmaking 17:41 - Healthcare IT day-to-day 24:32 - Pros and cons of healthcare IT 27:30 - Deciding to not become a doctor 32:28 - Balancing healthcare IT with filmmaking 36:53 - Day-to-day of being an independent filmmaker 40:52 - Pros and cons of independent filmmaking 47:32 - Looking back and lessons learned Edited by Dylan Smith from Valle Verde Studios. You can follow him @valleverdestudios on Instagram and Tiktok.

    1h 3m

  4. 10/26/2022

    Carrie on working in marketing for an independent publisher

    As an English major at UC Berkeley, Carrie felt like the expectation was that she would immediately continue on to get a PhD. But instead she decided she wanted to take some time off and consider a career in publishing. In this episode, we talk about how she explored the publishing field through internships, what the different roles are within the publishing space, and how different publishing companies function differently. Carrie now works as a marketing coordinator for children's books at an independent publisher, so we do a deep dive on what she does on a day-to-day basis, what it's like to market a product when your audience aren't the buyers, and what she's learned along the way. Best for: English majors considering an alternative to pursuing a PhD straight after college; those hoping to learn more about the different roles within the publishing industry; gaining perspective on the intimidation factor when you first start your career  Contents: 1:00 - Introduction 3:33 - Finding jobs and internships in the publishing industry 8:22 - Interning in the publishing industry 9:40 - Deciding not to go straight through to graduate school  13:07 - Applying to publishing jobs and deciding where to work 15:59 - Day-to-day in marketing at a publishing company 19:32 - Different jobs within the publishing industry 22:36 - What's tough about marketing 24:13 - Working on children's books specifically 28:05 - Additional details on the day-to-day of marketing at a publishing company 30:51 - Marketing when your audience aren't the buyers 33:05 - Working as a marketing assistant vs. marketing coordinator 34:12 - Lessons learned

    41 min

  5. 10/19/2022

    Jordan Daniel on fundraising, marketing, and finding your way

    After growing up in a small town in Indiana and after attending Bowdoin College, Jordan Daniel knew that he wanted to move to a bigger city. He knew he was interested in public health and health care, but wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to pursue. Hoping to develop his analytical skills, as well as to prepare himself for a graduate degree, Jordan Daniel took a job as a fundraiser for a Chicago-based non-profit in the public health space. After a while, though, he felt he had learned everything he could in his role and found himself drawn back to the east coast, so he moved to D.C. to do prospect research for American University. His role there, along with a CFO role for an online LGBT resource, helped him develop the hard quant skills he needed to apply to business school. In business school, Jordan Daniel found a passion for marketing in the pharmaceutical industry. Tune in to hear more about the thought process that went into each twist and turn. Best for: learning about the ins-and-outs of different fundraising roles; stretching oneself and getting outside your comfort zone; knowing when it's time to move on from a role Contents: 1:00 - Introduction 10:11 - Finding his first job out of college (fundraising at a non-profit) 21:22 - Day-to-day, pros, and cons of fundraising for a non-profit 29:50 - Deciding to move on and finding the next role (prospect research at university) 31:51 - Day-to-day, pros, and cons of prospect research at a university 42:12 - Serving as the CFO of an online LGBT resource (Pride Pocket) 49:27 - Deciding to go to business school and picking the right school 58:32 - Finding his way to a pharmaceutical marketing 1:08:20 - Lessons learned *Note: Jordan Daniel does not speak for Pfizer and any opinion or perspective shared in this episode is his own. Edited by Dylan Smith from Valle Verde Studios. You can follow him @valleverdestudios on Instagram and Tiktok.

    1h 17m

  6. 10/12/2022

    Eshani on becoming a dentist and splitting her time with her dance business

    In this episode, I speak with Eshani. Eshani initially started college thinking that she wanted to become a doctor, but ended up switching to a pre-dental major and then went dental school. Throughout her life, Eshani spent a lot of time dancing, but found that, during dental school, she fell out of practice. Once she finished up her residency at a VA hospital, Eshani picked up dancing again as she waited for her exam results. After spending several months dancing and building an online presence, she decided that rather than being a full-time dentist, she would split her time between dentistry and promoting her dancing career.  This episode is best for: people looking to balance an existing career with their passion-project-turned-side-gig; people hoping to learn about the process of becoming a dentist; people interested in learning about how to turn your side gig into something more. Contents:  1:00 - Introduction  2:52 - Deciding on dental school instead of med school 6:53 - Applying to dental school 8:17 - Dental school 18:02 - Applying to residencies 29:17 - Day-to-day of residency 35:17 - Post-residency and starting up her dancing business 46:47 - Day-to-day of running a dance business 51:37 - Lessons learned

    1h 1m

  7. 10/05/2022

    Kristen on building a career at the intersection of sustainability, buildings, and sports

    In this episode, I speak with Kristen Fulmer about how she has built a career at the intersection of sustainability, buildings, and sports. She knew coming out of college that she wanted to work to make buildings more sustainable, but how exactly she wanted to approach that evolved over time. Tune in to hear more about why she chose each role along the way, how she navigated tough situations (including age differences in the workplace, gender-based biases, and getting laid off), and how she managed to pull her interests together in a way that works for her. Best for: taking personal consideration into account when making job decisions; navigating tough situations; tying your interests together Contents: 1:00 - Introduction 6:34 - How Kristen became interested in pursuing sustainability through the lens of buildings 9:07 - Kristen's first job out of college (building manager) 17:14 - Being taken seriously when you're younger than some of the people you manage 20:14 - Pros, cons and the day-to-day of building management; deciding to go to graduate school  26:00 - Masters program in sustainable design 28:49 - Pursuing sustainable design consulting after graduate school 39:31 - Pivoting to construction management and real estate development, partially for personal reasons 45:01 - Being a woman working in a male-led industry 51:07 - Pivoting to WeWork as a project manager 59:20 - Starting her own sustainability consulting firm 1:06:30 - Next steps 1:08:05 - Lessons learned Note: Since recording this episode, Kristen has started a new role as the lead for sustainability at Oak View Group. OVG recently launched a membership platform called GOAL (Green Operations and Advanced Leadership), which will help venues operate in more environmentally friendly ways. Edited by Dylan Smith from Valle Verde Studios. You can follow him @valleverdestudios on Instagram and Tiktok.

    1h 13m

  8. 09/28/2022

    Andrew on pursuing a MD/PhD

    In this week's episode, I speak with Andrew, a MD/PhD student at the University of Washington. After initially pursuing environmental biology in college, Andrew took some post-baccalaureate classes to apply to medical school. While taking those classes, he also worked as an EMT. Then, while applying to medical school, he started working in a cancer biology lab, which caused him to realize that he wanted to continue to pursue research in tandem with his medical degree. Luckily, the medical school he got into allowed him to add a PhD after he was accepted. But before all of that, Andrew spent some time rock climbing full-time after he graduated college. Tune in to hear more about what pushed him to apply to medical school, how he decided what kind of career he wanted in the medical field, and why he decided to pursue a dual degree. Best for: people considering medical school who need to complete some post-baccalaureate classes first; those considering pursuing both a PhD and a MD Contents: 1:00 - Introduction 6:43 - Rock climbing after college 13:03 - Deciding that it was time to go to medical school 16:43 - Other medical professions considered 19:15 - Post-baccalaureate classes 21:46 - Applying to medical school 25:38 - Working as an EMT 31:19 - Working in a cancer biology lab 38:48 - Pursuing both a PhD and a MD 48:18 - Lessons learned

    53 min
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About

Don't know what you want to do professionally? Welcome to adulthood. Find out what it is that people do all day through a series of informational interviews with people three to ten years out of college. Hear about what they were looking for in a first job, how they found a job, and how it all turned out. Have a suggestion for a career path you'd like to hear about? Send your suggestions to whatdopeopledoallday2022@gmail.com! And if you're three to ten years out of college and want to share your own story, let me know!

Information

  • Creator
    Sara Isabel Seymour
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    26
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Sara Isabel Seymour
  • Show Website
    What Do People Do All Day?

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