► Tell us about you and your podcast
I'm a software engineering manager who by now has seen lots of different projects, technologies and industries.
But I did not start out in the software industry - quite the opposite. I grew up in a small town in rural Germany, and none of my family, friends or relatives had anything to do with software, technology or even business in general. In short, even when I graudated from college I was utterly clueless about what life as a software developer was really like, or how the industry really worked.
By now, I have become the person who others who are just starting out come to for advice. I noticed that I get the same kind of questions a lot, so on this podcast I answer them in a way that benefits everyone who is looking for answers.
Of course, I'm also interested in exchanging ideas and experiences about the situations in software projects and when managing engineers that I am currently working on, and see how others handle that.
My listeners generally fall in 3 camps:
1) Young people thinking about a career in the software industry, or trying to change careers, who need advice about what skills are important, how to build skills, and how to get jobs
2) Software engineers who are already working in the industry, and are interested in advancing their careers, and working more effectively with their team and manager
3) Engineering managers that are dealing with a certain kind of situation, and interested in how I would handle it.
But I did not start out in the software industry - quite the opposite. I grew up in a small town in rural Germany, and none of my family, friends or relatives had anything to do with software, technology or even business in general. In short, even when I graudated from college I was utterly clueless about what life as a software developer was really like, or how the industry really worked.
By now, I have become the person who others who are just starting out come to for advice. I noticed that I get the same kind of questions a lot, so on this podcast I answer them in a way that benefits everyone who is looking for answers.
Of course, I'm also interested in exchanging ideas and experiences about the situations in software projects and when managing engineers that I am currently working on, and see how others handle that.
My listeners generally fall in 3 camps:
1) Young people thinking about a career in the software industry, or trying to change careers, who need advice about what skills are important, how to build skills, and how to get jobs
2) Software engineers who are already working in the industry, and are interested in advancing their careers, and working more effectively with their team and manager
3) Engineering managers that are dealing with a certain kind of situation, and interested in how I would handle it.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
I listen to a lot of podcasts myself, and find it tremendously useful to be able to listen to experienced people. With my podcast, I want to contribute in my own small way to the body of knowledge about technology and business.
From the first idea to writing episodes, buying equipment, recording and editing and so on, it took a total of almost six months. Partially because this is purely a passion project, so I am working on it during the occaional rainy weekend, but also because I set myself a relatively high bar in terms of recording and content quality.
From the first idea to writing episodes, buying equipment, recording and editing and so on, it took a total of almost six months. Partially because this is purely a passion project, so I am working on it during the occaional rainy weekend, but also because I set myself a relatively high bar in terms of recording and content quality.
Demystify the podcasting process
Get the weekly email where the podcasters share their creative experience of podcasting. Stay informed and inspired, for free.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
I release a new episode every second Sunday night.
But new episode releases are scheduled beforehand - since the topics I am covering are mostly timeless, and therefor not urgent to release, I try to stay at least a few weeks ahead of the release schedule with recording new episode.
My episodes are typically between 15 and 30 minutes long, and total time spent per episode is about 2.5 hours - most of that is spent on writing and editing the outline, notes and talking points that I use when recording.
All of the writing, editing, recording and marketing is done by myself - not only to save money, but because I wanted to gain experience in all of the steps for producting a podcast.
How do I find the time to create the podcast? Mostly by fitting it in however makes sense. Researching, writing and editing the content for an episode can be done whenever inspiration strikes - the episodes live in documents on google drive, and might spend a few weeks in hiatus between the initial inspiration, and fleshing things out in a structured way in preparation for recording. Recording and editing takes a lot of time, and requires quietness and focus, so works best in a big batch of 5-6 episodes at once.
But new episode releases are scheduled beforehand - since the topics I am covering are mostly timeless, and therefor not urgent to release, I try to stay at least a few weeks ahead of the release schedule with recording new episode.
My episodes are typically between 15 and 30 minutes long, and total time spent per episode is about 2.5 hours - most of that is spent on writing and editing the outline, notes and talking points that I use when recording.
All of the writing, editing, recording and marketing is done by myself - not only to save money, but because I wanted to gain experience in all of the steps for producting a podcast.
How do I find the time to create the podcast? Mostly by fitting it in however makes sense. Researching, writing and editing the content for an episode can be done whenever inspiration strikes - the episodes live in documents on google drive, and might spend a few weeks in hiatus between the initial inspiration, and fleshing things out in a structured way in preparation for recording. Recording and editing takes a lot of time, and requires quietness and focus, so works best in a big batch of 5-6 episodes at once.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
For now, this is purely a hobby project. I am happy if someone finds my podcast, and my advice helps them with their life and career.
In the long run, I would love to use the podcast to get in touch with authors or bloggers in the field as potential co-hosts.
Since I am actively hiring, I will also use it to give candidates more information about me. "Want to know what it's like to work with me? Here's a link to hours of me talking about it" is a pretty awesome recruiting tool.
In the long run, I would love to use the podcast to get in touch with authors or bloggers in the field as potential co-hosts.
Since I am actively hiring, I will also use it to give candidates more information about me. "Want to know what it's like to work with me? Here's a link to hours of me talking about it" is a pretty awesome recruiting tool.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
Recording and audio editing/mastering is done in Audacity - it's free, does the job, and I was already familiar with it.
I use a Rode NT-USB microphone - sounds great, it's plug and play, and it's not too expensive. Tried using my regular video conferencing gear first, but the Rode makes a huge difference in sound quality.
The content of each episodes is prepared in a text document on google drive - this way I can access and expand it wherever I am. Episodes usually start out as a bunch of hastily typed unstructured thoughts, and when preparing for recording are edited down to a set of talking points, quite similar to e.g. slides you would use for a conference talk.
This way, I can talk freely, but make sure I do not forget important points, or lose my train of thought while recording.
I use a Rode NT-USB microphone - sounds great, it's plug and play, and it's not too expensive. Tried using my regular video conferencing gear first, but the Rode makes a huge difference in sound quality.
The content of each episodes is prepared in a text document on google drive - this way I can access and expand it wherever I am. Episodes usually start out as a bunch of hastily typed unstructured thoughts, and when preparing for recording are edited down to a set of talking points, quite similar to e.g. slides you would use for a conference talk.
This way, I can talk freely, but make sure I do not forget important points, or lose my train of thought while recording.
► How do you market your show?
I am present on all the major channels (Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon, Soundcloud, Stitcher etc), and have a podcast website with a dedicated domain (askanengineeringmanager.com)
Too early to tell what works for marketing - for now, just linking on social media, telling people I know about it, supplying good metadata and show notes for SEO, and trying a bunch of things.
Too early to tell what works for marketing - for now, just linking on social media, telling people I know about it, supplying good metadata and show notes for SEO, and trying a bunch of things.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Spend money on reducing the amount of time you have to spend on maintaining your podcast, so that you have more time to actually make episodes. For example, as a tech person, I could easily set up my own web server to host the RSS feed and save a few bucks per month, but there's not point in spending that time when my host (libsyn) and domain (AWS Route 53) are less than 10 bucks per month.
Don't use an intro, music or jingles - I did it, and it was fun (i even edited down a multi-track recording to a custom jingle), but it can suck up way too much time, and that time is better spent making episodes.
Don't use an intro, music or jingles - I did it, and it was fun (i even edited down a multi-track recording to a custom jingle), but it can suck up way too much time, and that time is better spent making episodes.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
Podcast website: https://askanengineeringmanager.com
Personal accounts:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elmarschraml
Website: http://www.elmarschraml.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elmar-schraml-345908/
Personal accounts:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elmarschraml
Website: http://www.elmarschraml.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elmar-schraml-345908/