And What Do You Do?

Yes, it is another tedious placeholder non-episode! The usual requests to get in touch, and set up an interview if you’re interested, but otherwise a bit of a waste of time. Sorry… Back soon with new episodes. [email protected]

This time, not a job (well, not a salaried position, is what I mean to say); I spoke with Nickie a mother of four (all under four years old)! We discuss… well, mainly what it takes to do that, logistically. We touch on attempts to project-manage babies, and a few things like UK-US cultural difference about having children (actually, we get more specific than that).

I found this one really fun, and it broadened what the podcast has covered. Remember, if you’re interested in taking part, it’s super simple. Get in touch at [email protected] and we’ll get the ball rolling!

Something a little different this episode - a conversation with Richard, who has recently completed training to become a life coach. We talk about the coaching itself (and how it differs from something like mentoring, for example), what it is like to make a change in your career, and finding new passions for different ways of working. Have a listen!

Time for another episode! This time, Emmanuelle talks to me about her role as a metadata operations specialist, which you have to admit is a pretty cool job title. Listen to find out what it actually involves, why we still need human input, the pain of launching an ultimately unsuccessful project. Also, a small change to the typical ‘would you rather’ gets an enthusiastic response…

A slightly more abstract episode, in that my guest Matthew has multiple jobs with a common thread / theme / purpose. Not quite sure how to describe it best, other than to say it involves connecting people at work, so you’ll have to listen to get the full story! Regardless, a fun ramble through topics like creativity and how to foster it, motivations and the future of work, and… well, I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Check it out, let me know what you think.

I was joined by Elisabeth, a collections care manager. We spoke about what that entails, which is quite hard to describe; we have to delve into what you actually mean when you think of ‘an object’. We also touch on some ethical issues that arise when caring for a research collection, who is doing this sort of thing really well, and the ever-popular (?) question of what other jobs people might be willing to swap their existing job for…

I spoke to Toby, a project support officer working at the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs national park in Scotland. As well as being envious of where he gets to work, we talked about what makes his job unusual compared to my -possibly completely wrong- notion of project management, and what led him to that work. We also touch on retraining and changing the course of your career.

Hi everyone, Ed here again, with another little placeholder episode.

Apologies to anyone who has subscribed and is automatically updated with what might an unwelcome not-really-an-episode episode (I think that’s how I described the last one, and I think it fits).

I don’t particularly enjoy doing them, but realistically, the short proper seasons are necessary for me to keep up with even the altered schedule.

Anyway, this isn’t supposed to be a moan. In fact, I’ve had some very kind comments about some of the episodes, so its actually an excuse to thank everyone who has listened. It means a lot.

In the meantime, please get in touch. Most of the episodes so far have been either people I know personally, or perhaps only one or two steps removed from that. I’d love to talk to complete strangers, if you’re willing. I want to know what you do!

As always, it’s [email protected]

to say hello. Comments and criticisms welcome, as always.

I’m working on new episodes for you and they’ll be up as soon as I can get them sorted. Speak soon.

I spoke to Michaela, an artist (and Doctor of Art, no less!). We talked about specific works (check out a light-study in the post thumbnail), creative approaches, caring/not caring about what an audience thinks, and lots of other stuff.

I really enjoyed it. Some very different approaches from my own, so there was some really thought-provoking ideas for me personally, and I hope you’ll like it too!

As always, get in touch at [email protected]

Sorry for the late episode everyone! I won’t bother making excuses; let’s get on with things instead.

This time around, I’m talking to Brendan, at the Science Gallery Dublin: https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/

We talk about the ethos of the institution, its place in the local community, and take a look at science/art collaborations.