Emily Cohen is a 24 year old TV production employee who graduated in 2018. Emily has been out of full-time education and in the working world for the past two years. She has decided to create a podcast series to help other students cope and navigate through this difficult transition.
Impact Features spoke to Emily about her new podcast in general, as well as what she hopes addressing this topic will achieve.
Isabelle Raikes: Have you thought of a name for your new podcast and what does this new series aim to focus on?
Emily Cohen: The podcast is called Working It Out and it explores the challenges that people face during the early years of working. It’s all about that difficult transition from education to employment
IR: Why do you think it is important to create a podcast on this topic and who is your target audience?
EC: I feel that this topic is incredibly important as it is something that we are not taught about. At school and university I received advice about how to land my first job, but no one ever told me how to deal with the situations that I would face once I started that job. I have therefore created the podcast with two types of listeners in mind.
“It will make them feel more prepared and empowered for when they do begin in the working world”
The first type is those who are in the early years of their career and who might have experienced, or are experiencing, the same dilemmas as myself and my guests.
The second type is those who are just about to complete education and are about to embark on their first job. It will make them feel more prepared and empowered for when they do begin in the working world.
IR: Have you ever had any personal experiences which have led to you creating this new series?
EC: I was so excited to start working because it gave me the opportunity to do something that I was truly interested in and passionate about. I soon realised that aside from the work itself, there were lots of aspects to being part of a workplace that were so alien to me.
For example, gauging the different dynamics between colleagues or judging whether it’s appropriate to speak up about certain subjects. This meant that, although I was enjoying doing the work, the other accompanying elements often seemed to take over and sometimes overshadowed the progress I was making.
When I was facing these tricky situations, I realised that, before starting work, I hadn’t expected any of these things to occur and I hadn’t been prepared for how to tackle them. After chatting to friends who were also just starting their careers, I discovered that I was not the only person facing these challenges during the transition from education to employment.
This is why I wanted to start the podcast, to share stories and experiences with people in a similar stage of life and to give advice to students who are about to start their careers.
“I will be joined by a guest from a different industry and they will discuss the topic that they found most challenging at the start of their working life”
IR: Will the podcast be hosted by yourself or will others be involved in the process? If so, who?
EC: The podcast will be hosted by myself but each week I will be joined by a guest from a different industry and they will discuss the topic that they found most challenging at the start of their working life.
We’ll both talk about this particular topic and share our own personal anecdotes. We’ll aim to give some advice at the end of the episode to those who are facing similar issues.
IR: What platform will the podcast be broadcasted/hosted on?
EC: You can listen to the podcast by following this link: https://workingitout.buzzsprout.com/. It is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast, Stitcher, Castbox and most other podcast platforms.
The trailer for Emily’s new podcast series is out now so make sure to go and check it out! Also make sure to keep up to date with her series for useful information and tips on navigating the working world after full time education!
Isabelle Raikes
Featured image courtesy of EpicTop10.com via Flickr. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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