The big thing really is partly people around my age and younger don't really become aware of the industries that don't affect their immediate lives without reeeaaally reaching out there. I became aware that shoemaking and tailoring was a thing more because I read about it in a fantasy book and then went on an ADHD-fuelled learning spree. It also has a lot to do with how parents want to prepare their kids for the future (or live through their kids in some cases). We hear a lot about how, oh, we should be doctors and engineers and so on, anything that requires going to college because Somehow College Is Important. I, personally, was specifically told I'd make a lot more money in a college-degree-requiring job than in a trades job like plumbing. I also wanted to be a high fantasy-science fiction author in school (and still want to, so we'll see how that pans out).
When I graduated, I knew that my (at the time future) boss ran a marine electronics store that also did shirts (the shop did my NOSB team's shirts with my design) but that was it. I tried a different job for about a year, hated it, quit, and came to work at the shop because I knew it'd be more interesting than sitting in one spot, under fluorescent lights, in the cold, getting yelled at all day (surprise surprise, if you're going to sit in front of the deli debating the fat content of a ham for six hours, you're going to hear "Do you want a sample?" more than once during those six hours).
It really is so much more interesting, but requires a lot more work than one would think coming right out of high school. Most sign shops are looking for long-term employees where most kids are thinking "where can I work for my gap year to have enough money during college" because, again, it feels like everyone wants you to go to college, whether you want to or not. Heck, I own a car I'm not prepared to own because apparently I need a car when everything I need is within walking distance (we're ignoring the super rare "somebody needs letters on his boat that he has on stilts 5 miles out the road" for work). There's also the matter of needing experience, but my situation is more I was the only applicant before the tech before me left for film college.
The job fair in schools is 1,000,000% a great place to start, and so is making social media like TikTok. With TikTok, just showing what you do can really get a kid's attention -- especially if you have some goofy signs on the wall behind you while you work (I follow a signs shop account myself, and I find a new sign I like every time I watch a video, even if it's the same one. I do like seeing the kinds of equipment other shops have too).
