I am planning on moving to LA in a couple of months. What is the job market like in LA. Is it extremly difficult to find a job? I do have money saved for the move but I would prefer not to go through it if I don't have to. I want to find a survival job as quickly as possible.

Good luck.

most jobs pay $8-11 an hour, and honestly, $11 is a LOT, good luck getting that much. expect $8-9.50

no flexibility whatsoever unless you are in retail or sales of some kind.

and every job is met with hundreds of applicants.

take the first thing you get. there may not be anything else for a while.

quote:

Originally posted by americangirl:
most jobs pay $8-11 an hour, and honestly, $11 is a LOT, good luck getting that much. expect $8-9.50

no flexibility whatsoever unless you are in retail or sales of some kind.

and every job is met with hundreds of applicants.

take the first thing you get. there may not be anything else for a while.

^^^^^^This sums it up nicely.

I've been noticing the job market getting better in the last couple weeks. I have been working steadily for a couple weeks on film related stuff (a couple art department jobs and some background work.) My friends are all currently working too...a couple months ago the opposite was the case.

I have also been noticing a LOT of help wanted signs around. Kind of laying low from the day job since film stuff has been coming my way, but I looked all summer and didn't really see any around!

This is the most work I've had or seen in at least a year and a half. I have a pretty good job on the horizon too, but I don't want to jinx it by even mentioning it! But after months and months of being borderline homeless, the little bit of breathing room I've had lately has been very welcome and refreshing!

I've had two day jobs in LA, and the price range is correct. One was 8 something an hour and one was 9.50. And the 9.50 one never gave me enough hours...

Retail jobs are not that flexible, mine cut my hours to about 15 hours a week, because most of my stuff happened during the weekend and they want you to work weekends. I know they're doing that to keep from paying me unemployent money, by not firing me and wanting me to quit before I find another job. They like you to be availiable 9am-10pm M-Sa and like 11-7pm on Sun or during normal retail hours.

skeeter- haha i should i have been more specific. they are flexible in that they give you so few hours that you can be flexible with your "downtime" hehe which you'll have to fill with another job, maybe two, so you can even pay your rent.

thats kind of the issue. from what i know, ALL actors have multiple jobs- catering, restaurant, babysitting, office temp, extra work, PAing, etc. i don't know anyone who has 1 job that allows them flexibility. you MIGHT be able to find that in NYC, but not in LA, unless you "know" someone. j/k

and everyone else? well, they all have multiple jobs too. seems companies out here want you for 5-20 hrs a week. so you need a second job, since they are only paying you $8-10an hour. but don't forget the 10 yrs of experience and graduate school degree you'll need for that $9 an hour job... and oh yea, most of these gigs have a set schedule of hours they need covered (like, 9-1pm daily for office work, or 4-7pm daily for babysitting, etc)... set schedule= no flexibility during those hours (unless they "get it" and are willing to work with you, but i bet thats rare).

OR-

they want you for some ridiculous schedule of 40+ hours a week (which ok, is mostly film crew people i know).

and restaurants? let me tell you about the job interview where they had like, 3 openings, and they interviewed over 100 people, and got several HUNDRED submissions.

you will kinda have to get here and find your schtick. i found a job, stayed for 3 months, hated it. tried the restaurant scene, hated it even more, but have found my "thing" now. so we'll see if it works. but i freelance with 7 companies right now to try to fill my days.

i may be looking to get a night gig somewhere for weeknights. we'll see.

california is broke. don't move here until someone gets it fixed.

Again, BRILLIANTLY put.^^^^^^^^

People, this is dead-on.

LA job market is flooded with labor. Job postings for legit servers are down.

For a new restaurant open call, they will get about 250 people per day.

If it is resume submission only, they will get about 500 submissions for front of house positions.

If you are qualified in their area of focus (by region, by style, by volume, with name LA restaurants) then your chances at an interview or a job are much higher. In that case I would say you are only competing against the other top 20% for your position, or less than 100 others.

When I got here 2 years ago I had no fine dining experience per se. I've worked at 4 establishments since and I do have shots at the best places now. But I even wonder if I wanna do it anymore...

:P

Honestly, I would save an extra $2000, come here and buy a job. I am serious.