Hi All,

I just moved to NY from SC. I'm currently living with a relative while trying to get on my feet. I want to pursue acting but I'm a little overwhelmed with all of the steps that it takes. I have my B.A. in Sociology but I was advised that the best type of job for an actor would be waitressing because it is so flexible...is this the only flexible job because I honestly don't enjoy the service industry that much, I'm more of an office person. I only have a few hundred dollars saved up for the move from my relatives into the city. So my questions are a) how do I go about finding an apartment/roommate in an affordable area in or near the city, and b) how do I go about finding a job to pay the bills while I pursue my career in acting? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much. )

You can always temp. Try searching for "Robert Half " in google. There worldwide and with a bachelor's i'm sure you'll find something. You can pick your hours, salary and jobs. It's pretty sweet and better than waiting for you i'm sure. I am currently a temp so i am speaking from experience.

I would try being a logistics consultant--they make about 200G a year, and pretty much set their own hours. You might have to get a math degree though. Try the national ass'n of logistics coordinators.

quote:

Originally posted by CSilvera:
I would try being a logistics consultant--they make about 200G a year, and pretty much set their own hours. You might have to get a math degree though. Try the national ass'n of logistics coordinators.

Or you could try sherpa-ing, or maybe work a bit on the space shuttle. CSilvera!!???

Temping is a great suggestion if you like offices..I loved temping in my NY days and did it through Norrell, perhaps, just a regular temp agency. Sign up at about 3 of them and see who calls and who offers you the best gigs. Remember you can raise your salary by training on more software, which you can do for free in the temp office itself. I used to take my "lunch" hour whenever I had an audition and sometimes stay late to make up lost time....

As for apartment hunting, I'm told that Craiglist.com had a lot of reasonable listings and roomate situations. (Obviously, as with anything on the Internet, be CAREFUL.) Also, as obvious as this may seem, I'm a great believer in e-mailing everyone in your address book. You never know who might know someone with a place to rent, share or sublet.

quote:

Originally posted by SparklingEyes:
So my questions are a) how do I go about finding an apartment/roommate in an affordable area in or near the city,

Apts - Studio $347.00/month, 1 BR $421, INCLUDING G & E
Government Subsidized Apartments for working actors
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/assistance/workingfamfaq.shtml

quote:

Originally posted by Ray and Rita:

Apts - Studio $347.00/month, 1 BR $421, INCLUDING G & E
Government Subsidized Apartments for working actors
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/assistance/workingfamfaq.shtml

The projects? Seriously ???

I just want to say thank you to everyone who has responded to my post . Some of you have great advice. I'll definitely be looking into various temp agencies...not so much into getting a math degree though, lol. Also, I suppose there's no better time than the present to start learning how to network, so I guess I'll be asking around if any of my friends know of apartments or people looking for roommates. I'm also going to post an ad on craigslist, I already have one on roommates.com but the only real bites I'm getting on there are from perverts...seriously. I'm just nervous about finding an apartment and then not finding enough work to pay my rent at the end of the month. I know in SC work is really hard to find, you can be signed up with a temp agency and NEVER get a call, or get one after a month or two, etc. I'm very used to having the security and comfort of a salary, so this "struggling artists" thing is going to take some serious getting used to. Do ya'll think I should find an apartment first and then work, or vise versa?

The rental market in New York is completely different than what you're probably used to. It's highly unlikely that you'll be able to find an apartment without a job. In fact, most landlords require an income of 40x the rent to qualify.

Your best bet is to find a roommate situation but, even then, they'll probably want you to have a job, so that they have some assurance that you can pay the rent.

Ideally you can find a situation through someone you know because, yeah, online resources are often, well, questionable.

quote:

Originally posted by Jackie:

quote:

Originally posted by CSilvera:
I would try being a logistics consultant--they make about 200G a year, and pretty much set their own hours. You might have to get a math degree though. Try the national ass'n of logistics coordinators.

Or you could try sherpa-ing, or maybe work a bit on the space shuttle. CSilvera!!???

I was not being facetious--99.9% of "actors" aren't going to ever make a living at it, but while they are trying, why shouldn't they be earning a great wage? And it's the executives/professionals who have freedom to take time off when ever/wherever they want--not temps--is a temp office ever going to hire you again after your 3d day of not showing up because of a last minute audition? Otoh, can my friend take 3 hours off from work to watch her son's baseball game? Yes.

Yeah, that makes perfect sense, I can understand a landlord or tenant/roommate not trusting someone without an existing job to be responsible, etc etc. I guess I have a little dilemma then...I don't have a car (because I flew here) and where I'm currently living is a terribly inconvenient (2 hour bus ride there and 2 hour bus ride back) and expensive commute into the city. I did the math and it would cost me upwards $150 a week just to get to and from the city and 20 hours of my life sitting on a bus. Would working through a temp agency even count as a "real" job...yuck...I wish this was easier. I don't know how I'm supposed to get an apartment without a job, but I don't know how I'm supposed to get a job without already living there in an apartment.

Hi Sparkling Eyes!wow girl i'm in that same hole that you are in. I'm a dancer planning on moving into the city mid. Aug. only two problems- don't have a job or an apt. I've spent the past month trying to get those two problems fixed. ITS VERY HARD! i believe that you are going about it the right way. JUST let everyone that you know , ther you're moving to the city and start your network from there i guess. Let me know how the search goes!!!

BALLET dancer that is---with a voice. I'm from SC. I've been a pro. with carolina ballet theatre for the past three years and i'm just ready for a move!

Hey MindZ!
I see that you're from Greenville, my boyfriend is from there as well. I wonder if the two of you know each other, he went to Mauldin High School'04. So have you found a roommate? I used to dance as well, I'm from Irmo, SC, I danced at Southern Strutt. It's super hard trying to transition from one place to another without any money so if you're able to, I would suggest saving as much money as possible before you move here.

I'm all for temping. Atrium was really good when I used them. They were great for getting some longer assignments. I agree with Jackie- register with a bunch of agencies, call them early in the morning, get on their temp boards, and pretty soon you'll get some nice paying assignments.

Substitute teaching and tutoring are also some other avenues. I did some catering work and enjoyed the atmosphere, there isn't much running around and in the spring and early summer, there can be lots of work.

Women, especially attractive women, can make a fortune cocktail waitressing or being bartenders. It seems that every trendy place in Manhattan has female bartenders. My friend cocktail waitresses in the lower east side and can pay her $1300 rent in only 2 days. Not for everyone, though.

I think Craigslist is the absolute best way to find an affordable (well, more affordable) place. Brokers run a few thousand dollars and you can usually find a decent place off Craigs. Thats how I found some great deals when I first moved to the city.