In two years or less, students can prepare themselves for a great career! Each program in this 11-part series gives an overview of two or more of the top occupational fields open to those with appropriate education or experience through interviews with people currently working in them. Required education, necessary skills and traits, typical job-related duties and career paths, and tips on achieving success are covered.

Communications and the Arts

In today’s world, “communications” and “the arts” mean more than just the things you’d find on a newsstand or in a museum. This program introduces viewers to three Digital Age communications professionals—a video editor, a desktop publisher, and an audio technician—and a trio of somewhat unconventional artists: an animator, a photographer, and a fashion designer.

Business, Finance, and Government Administration

For every high-level executive or municipal official, there are an untold number of office workers in key positions that help them keep the wheels of commerce and government turning. In this program, an office manager, an executive assistant, a fitness manager, an accounts payable administrator, an insurance adjuster, a loan officer, and a court reporter describe what their work is like.

Construction and Trades

About a quarter of a million new workers are needed every year in construction and the trades to meet the demand for assembling and maintaining buildings and keeping vehicles running. This program focuses on an electrician, a plumber, a mason, an interior designer, an HVAC repair technician, and an auto service technician.

Retail, Marketing, and Sales

People who love dealing with other people—and connecting them with stuff they want, in the process—are a natural for a rewarding career in retail, marketing, or sales. This program spends some quality face time with a retail sales manager, a merchandise manager, and a distribution manager…a marketing manager, a promotions manager, and a public relations specialist…and an advertising sales agent, a real estate agent, and an e-commerce specialist.

Health Care, Medicine, and Science

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about half of the 20 fastest-growing jobs in America are in the healthcare, medicine, and science areas of the health industry! This program spotlights a dialysis technician, an LPN, and a physical therapist—people who help fight illness and repair injury—and a dental hygienist and a dispensing optician—people who help improve the quality of life. And because pets are “people” too, the program also interviews a veterinary technician!

Hospitality, Human Services, and Tourism

The United States has long been a “service nation” because Americans at every stage of life are willing to pay a premium for good service. In this program, members of the hospitality, human services, and tourism groups—a chef and a caterer, a massage therapist and a retirement home manager, and a hotel manager and an event planner—describe what their professions are like.

Computers and Information Technology

Over the course of just a couple of decades, technology has totally transformed the workplace—and the world. This program talks tech with a webmaster, a multimedia specialist, a computer-aided drafter/designer, a network/systems administrator, a cybersecurity expert, and a computer repair technician—a few of the people working with today’s high-end hardware and software to shape the present and create the future.

Education and Social Services

Directly or indirectly, people working in the education and social services fields make their living by helping others live better lives. This program profiles a preschool teacher, a vocational education instructor, and a school administrative assistant as well as a drug and alcohol abuse counselor, a social and human services assistant, and a recreation worker.

Public Safety, Law, and Security

The U.S. Department of Labor predicts a 29 percent jump in criminal justice-related positions within the next few years! This program introduces nine individuals who help protect others in very different ways: a firefighter, a police officer, an EMT, and a park ranger, careers on the front lines of public safety; a forensic scientist, a paralegal, and a legal secretary, behind-the-scenes careers in the legal profession; and a security specialist and a corrections officer, careers that involve keeping businesses secure and convicts in custody.

Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources

This program rounds up a diverse group of workers in the fields of food, agriculture, and natural resources—a food service manager, a dietetic technician, a dairy farm manager, a landscape supervisor, an environmental science and protection technician, and a water treatment plant operator—to illustrate what they do and how they go about doing it.

Manufacturing and Transportation

Living in a world of cutting-edge technology hasn’t eliminated the need for turning out-of-this-world concepts into real-world products and then delivering them exactly when they’re wanted. This program spotlights three professionals in manufacturing—a robotics technician, a machinist, and a chemical technician—and three professionals who help get products from point A to point Z: a quality manager, a distribution manager, and a dock supervisor.