is bartending all night and then showing up to auditions as an exhausted sickly wreck the only way? surviving on retail pay is impossible and temp jobs are never as flexible as they promise to be. there has to be another way.

i'm desperate for more stories or advice from people who have figured out a way to do this.

nevermind. just ventingdreaminghoping.

sorry!
i just need a ft job & pay bills
but you can temp or look for another job that REALLY is flexable

Hey,

I know just what you mean. Figured I would post my two cents, for what it's worth, and I'm sure others will have feedback for you too.

Needing to have a "survival" job really sux sometimes, especially if it's not giving you a good quality of life. No, feeling exhausted and sickly doesn't sound like a good way to do it, it's pretty counterproductive actually. I know there are a lot of people who work as bartenders or servers and they're also actors, and it works out well for them. But I don't do that kind of work so I'll leave it to them to advise you.

I do office work/temping and I'm not crazy about it sometimes. But, I couldn't handle a restaurant job. I have often had problems with my feet and wouldn't be able to be on my feet all day long. Temping, for me, is really not so bad - good working conditions and at a lot of my jobs I have some downtime where I can (discreetly) surf the net, submit to online casting notices, write letters, do research, read actors blogs, etc. I do use the computer sometimes when I get home at night but honestly a lot of the time I'm too exhausted to stay on it long. Being able to use it during the day (during my paid hours) really helps a lot!

Yes, temp jobs are not 100% flexible, but a lot of them can work out well, depending on factors like length of the assignment, who you are working with, what kind of work you're doing (is it deadline-driven? are there other people who can cover your phones if you have to leave?), and how often you have to leave. If you have auditions *all* the time, then yeah temping is probably not for you. But if it's sometimes or occasionally, you can often make it work. It helps when you're at a long-term assignment where they've gotten to know you, like you, and trust you. In that case, they want you there (even if you miss a few hours here and there) b/c they like you and they don't want to bother getting some new person.

If that doesn't work for you, and restaurants don't work for you, you may just have to brainstorm. What can you do, using your skills, that is flexible and you can do on a freelance basis (planning your own hours)? If you're good with computers and can do a lot of work from your home, you can advertise your services for typing, web design, stuff like that. (You'll have to post up notices in different places or online, letting people know you're available for this work. Networking/asking around can help too.)

I'm sure there are lots of other things you can do on a part-time basis. You may end up having to do a few different part-time assignments or jobs to make enough money. Check craigslist to see what kinds of jobs people advertise -- the ones where employers are looking for a worker, and also the ones where workers are looking for a job themselves.

Hope that helps a bit- -- if not, hey I tried

I feel the same way. Actually, I've been depressed lately.

Be encouraged. Keep pushing!

you guys are really sweet.
thank you for taking the time to respond with encouragement to someone you don't even know. it's inspiring.

in continuing what justine was saying---you could try and find a particular skill that you can offer to people....like some aspect of design, retouching, editing, photography, freelance writing for newspapers/magazines/websites, etc. You might even need to take a bit of time to learn a skill that you can then in the longer run use to make money.

You know it's funny I've been thinking about this a lot lately...

I think I've really lucked out. Over the years, I've done the retail thing, I've done the temp thing (for 4 months and KNEW that any day longer in an office would surely be suicide for me - I HATE OFFICE WORK), I even had my own online business going where I had a huge website that catered to The Sims 2 and made money from that. But my most favorite thing I've done is actually personal training. I've been a trainer for 10 years - I've worked in some major gyms in NY over that time, and I took a needed break for about 2 years which is when all those other jobs happened as well.

I just got back into training again within the last year, and I LOVE IT! I'm working with a very well known upscale bi-costal gym that has locations in NY as well as in LA (so when I move in August, I already have a job). In fact it's really funny that one of my friends is Taye Diggs trainer here in NY, lol - I have worked with some B'way lead actors and major publicists and other industry folks through my location. I'm getting paid A LOT of money, I dont have to work as many hours, I set my own schedule (I only work 5 hours a day by choice - Mondays I choose to work 8 hours - Sundays I dont work for ANYONE), I have time for auditions, I can leave to do work (I left for a few months to do an off-Bway show in 2007 - trained on a limited schedule though, and did a commercial for 2 days, no problems getting off).

The key here is that I found a skill that I was good at, and ran with it.

I personally think it's soo important for us to be able to support ourselves in a job that doesn't make us insane while we accomplish our goals of becoming steady working actors who survive off of the industry alone. I think the good thing for people in my situation is that work doesn't feel like work, you become passionate for what you're doing, and it leads to stability and sanity. It's funny because I ask myself if I'm selling out because I'm not "struggling" like others are in the industry... I wonder if I should be doing a job I hate which would keep me hungry for striving for that next role. At the end of the day, I think I was just being an idiot for asking these questions.

I think you should look at your skills and turn them into income to support yourself while you continue on your path as an actor.

Roxie/Foo/etc...

Hang in there. It can seem like forever until you find your niche, but you'll find it. I used to train, too, and that's a great option. Also telesales. Not the most fun job in the world, but it pays well and usually you can get evening hours. I've also gotten into a great niche doing industrials and I know of a super seminar happening in January by a woman who hires actors directly for this kind of work. If you're interested, PM me and I can get you the info. But most of all, hang in there. It seems impossible, but we all did it and eventually made a living acting. You will, too, if you stick with it.

Thanks Darbi! Funny thing for me is that I dont mind my "day job" at all. Maybe because I dont see it as such, it's more like a secondary career where I get paid to have fun when I feel like having fun.

Of course I'd love to see the point where I can say that my main job is ACTOR, but I think there will always be a part of me that loves to share my knowledge and continue to train for fun (well until I book a series regular role, lol).

Another avenue that will work for some and worth consideration - overnight word processing. Law firms still do this and it's a decent paycheck that leaves your days free. Albiet, you're going to have to sleep at some point.

Sorry to engage in "thread necro"... but:

quote:

Another avenue that will work for some and worth consideration - overnight word processing. Law firms still do this and it's a decent paycheck that leaves your days free. Albiet, you're going to have to sleep at some point.

bcoleman, or anyone out there, got any ideas on how to find this kind of work?

I'm getting to the point that my dayjob is interfering with my auditioning, but I still need to make money. plus I'm a night-owl anyways...

Any "graveyard shifters'" advice would be much appreciated!

David

This was a long time ago(1990) but, I used to have a job at macy's herald square(34th st in manhattan) as a security dispatcher, and worked a 12midnight-8am shift. there's people in that store 24/7, far as I know. Maybe try that or something similar...security works all hours at office bldgs, etc..

I don't know if this job exists anymore, but ..... many years ago I had a night-shift job at CBS, transcribing the audio on interviews and such for one of their news radio programs. (The idea being that if they lose the audio, the announcer would be able to continue the story by reading the transcript.)

You could try contacting the news networks and asking if this is still a possibility.

Get out the phone book and look under law firms. Then go to their websites and look under careers. They'll have their positions posted. Firms seem to be doing it that way and not doing the newspaper advertising as much as they use to. The other thing you can do is medical transcription or legal transcription. This you can do at home on your time. Not sure how to look into that though. My neighbor use to do it while her kids were little. I think she enrolled in a medical transcription course and they have her a list of companies looking to hire someone. Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Apropos of nothing - what happened to my post-count? I mean, sure, I don't post here very often, but I know I've posted more than 2 times!!

quote:

Apropos of nothing - what happened to my post-count?

That's a TomCat question. Oh, Tom!

i have been thinking about work as well. I found a job working with DJ companies. The pay is really good. But in the summer there are not as many parties. I am 18 and going to community college to persue acting and dance, and I want to begin auditioning soon. I was thinking about getting a job working at a camp but I was not sure if that was smart or not. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Wow, the DJ gig sounds great. Catering is a good one, too. Camp? Hmm, that would be okay as long as you weren't up and running. Once you have an agent, etc, you need to be available for auditions and if you are busy at a camp, you won't be able to get away. Who else has good day job stories?