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| Topic: Day Job | ||
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| Owing to several profit share jobs I did last year (and having just moved to London) I've currently been at a proper job as a receptionist for the past three months. However, it's been nigh on impossible to get to auditions, and I'm worried I'm missing out on my actual career. Does anyone have any advice? Do you think I should chance it, leave the job and rely on temping? Or in the current economic crisis, which they just love talking about everyday in the metro, should I just grin and bear it? | ||
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| Reply #1 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| Yeah keep your day job it pays the bills but acting jobs wont help you in the long run unless you're keen and you strongly feel you could be the next anglina jolie. Most girls like you would love to have a reception job so consider yourself lucky and keep grinning. Reuben | |
| Reply #2 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| Hi emily, to be honest at the moment there isnt a great deal that your missing out on! very quiet for most people......current climate.blah blah blah! xxx sorry its getting you down, but maybe a few months of stability will help when things pick up, much better to take the risk when theres more paid work about! | |
| Reply #3 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| Hi Emily That's a toughie, if not THE toughie! Having temped & had office contracts to supplement my acting for a couple of years, I think the most difficult of office jobs to work around your acting is reception, because any office needs someone on reception all day, and if you're not there they need to find cover. Generally more flexible is a team assistant or general office job where your actual work isn't work where you have to be at a fixed desk for fixed hours. I would say at present, most temps unless they're on a contract are going to be struggling, and i'd be loathe to give up a good job with nothing else to go on to. Why not use this acting-slump time to have a look at other jobs that are out there which might be more flexible and allow you to go for auditions without leaving them completely in the lurch? Then, when the audition calls start to pick up you're in a good place to start from. If you play it right in a new office, and are honest with them from the start, they will support what you do and let you go off and do your acting, so long as you put in the hours and effort when you're there. I hope that helps a bit - in my current office they've allowed me time off to do 4 plays & a couple of films let alone auditions, and somehow I've been able to balance it, but I could never have done that working on a reception… pm me if you want any more info Suzanne xxx | |
| Reply #4 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| As someone who has been working full time - not acting unfortunately - here are my 2 cents worth. It really depends on how you feel about your chances of being able to "make it". You don't mention whether you have an agent. If you have an agent, then it would probably be easier for you to get auditions although that's not a guarantee either. If you don't have an agent and are finding casting notices via places like Casting Call Pro or Spotlight Link, then you probably have a better idea of how many auditions you get called for. Just talking about my own experience, I had an agent for a year and a half and got no auditions. Since being on my own, I get my own auditions - both paid and fringe. This has allowed me to make the decision of whether to stay in full time work or to temp. I do not get that many auditions - I average 1 a month if I'm lucky. I don't know the reason why and won't even try to guess. That 1 audition a month allows me to have a full time job and either take that day off to prepare and get to the audition, or to throw a sickie. Both of which you are able to do if you are in full time permanent work - you get paid holidays so you can just take the odd day off when you have an audition or are filming. If you were temping, then you wouldn't get paid if you took the day off. Furthermore, if you prove yourself unreliable, agencies will not want to send you to their clients. You can choose to only do long term temp assignments which pretty much is the same as permanent work, except that you do not get the benefits of paid holidays, sick days, or anything else. So the decision to work - or not - really depends on how you feel. Study the acting market and see if there is any work out there. You can still do student films to build on your portfolio but they are only worth it if you are a lead, if it's a graduation film, and if you can film on the weekends or evenings. There are also some fringe plays that only rehearse in the evenings or weekends so that's another possibility. I would say that taking time off the job that pays your bills is only worth it if you get a paid acting job. I hope this has helped somewhat. Sorry for the length of the reply. Good luck! | |
| Reply #5 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| This is a tough one. I'm in a similar situation except tham I'm not working, therefore earning little money. I've been temping as a receptionist for a long time to suppliment my dreams but I'm new to this game and now seriously have to think about getting an ongoing job. Work in reception is proving scarce at the moment. But there are agencies that deal with promotions and that can be good money. | |
| Reply #6 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| I forgot to add that corporate work is also good money, and does allow you to flex your acting muscles a bit. Work varies between a day or a week, and can pay upwards of £200 a day, and expenses are paid too. | |
| Reply #7 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| Hi Emily, I'm in a very similar position too! Except I'm in a long-term temp Reception role (which yes, is worse because I don't have the benefits but still have to commit myself!). I spent 5 weeks temping ofr short term assisgnments in order to give myself flexibility and not let people down and ended up getting now ork and getting myself in debt. My long-term role was a god-send. But I feel bad because I have all these actor-friends doing acting work (un-paid) and I'm not acting at all. I'm only really applying for paid acting work unless the rehearsals are evening and weekends. Even though I could now afford time-off for a run, I would probably lose my job and I worry if I'd be able to find another one in teh current climate. But it is so disheartening to not be doing any acting, and it makes me so sad that I see unpaid roles sometimes that look interesting, which I cant apply for and risk losing my long-term temp job. | |
| Reply #8 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| Dear Emily My heart went out to you when I read "Day Job". There is really no easy answer to this one. I have called myself a professional actress for 30 years but many years out of that have been spent earning real money (funnily enough mainly as a Receptionist). Sometimes I would get lucky and work for a firm that didn't mind me taking the odd bit of time off but mostly I found temping easier as long as the agency know from the start that you may need time off at short notice. Even that doesn't always work, firms will say they don't mind but it's a different matter when faced with losing their Receptionist for the afternoon! Where possible just try to be up front with employers, you'll be surprised how often they are flexible & think it interesting to employ an actress. Just don't tell them that if you get a stage tour you'll be gone for months! Good luck. Judith Ellis-Jones | |
| Reply #9 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| You have to try and be available for auditions otherwise you become the job you are doing. i sometimes worked at night so i was availaable. | |
| Reply #10 | |
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| Posted : 06/01/09 | |
| Emily. This is a constant problem. I don't think you will have any trouble getting temp work but use the F/T job to gain as much experience as poss to offer temp agencies. I used to employ temps when I ran an office and I think its easier for women to temp (not a sexist comment) as companies prefer women as receptionists/secretaries etc. Try promotions work - there are 100's of companies and the £ is good. Let me know how you get on. Don't panic you will find a good compromise. | |
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