Imagine getting career advice and insights from some of the most successful people in their fields, like Bill Shultz (former producer of the Simpsons) and Steve Forbes (president and CEO of Forbes Magazine). Combine this advice with the internet, streaming video, 24/7 access and a look and attitude created for just for teens, and you’ve got Streaming Futures.

What is Streaming Futures, exactly? It’s a website designed just for teens searching for free information on possible careers, except the info isn’t in textbook format. Instead, it comes through interviews with people that have the coolest and oftentimes the highest-ranking jobs in their respective fields. “Teens need a way to learn about different careers based on real world advice, not from prepackaged information provided by schools or books,” the website states.

The videos are played through Windows Media Player and load extremely fast for those with a good internet connection.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gary Cradle (VP pf Administration at Warner Bros. Studios), and Assistant Majority Whip Gerry Weller are just a few of the sixty people whose interviews are on the website so far.

There is a live interview with a different professional every month, and viewers can nominate interview subjects.

The interviews are categorized into law, Hollywood, technology, multimedia, marketing, journalism, art, politics and business. One section that the website is currently lacking is science and medicine, but contacts for this area are being established.

While the specific content of each interview varies, every interview has several main divisions. First comes the job description, which not only tells what the interviewee does from day to day, but the ups and downs of the job—the meat of the career—as well. Next the traits and skills needed for the job are discussed, and with it comes advice on what high school clubs and organizations would be beneficial. This helps to reveal who the job is suitable for, and what to do to become suitable for the job.

An interesting aspect of the interview is the college advice; many successful people’s majors were not directly related to their careers.

Though some interviews are more comprehensive than others, every interview ends with the guest’s “final words of wisdom” to teens.

A relaxed atmosphere is a signature of the interviews on this site. Instead of just getting down the cold facts, the coverage integrates the interviewees’ personalities and backgrounds with their professions, and the advice offered by the people seems more personal.

The mastermind of Streaming Futures is 18-year-old Joel Holland, who is both the producer and interviewer. Holland became involved with Kidz Online (now NNKOL, Nortel Networks Kidz Online), a nonprofit educational organization for teens to teach each other technology skills one-on-one.

When the available one-on-one training could no longer satisfy demands, NNKOL built a Digital Studio at Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology, and began producing short video clips. The new content is delivered through streaming video over the Internet, and it is this technology that Holland utilizes for his site. In fact, Streaming Futures is a part of and is funded by NNKOL Content Program.

Since Holland got the idea for Streaming Futures when he was doing research on career possibilities, there is an added flair for teenagers. His goal for the site? As it says on the website, to “…become the premier stop for career information and college planning—the online show that helps teenagers take charge of their futures.”