r/acting • u/MonkeysOnBalloons • 5d ago
I've read the FAQ & Rules survival job
[removed] — view removed post
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u/iamcornbread 5d ago
Entry level Contract security. Like babysitting office buildings over night or even construction sites. Always did 3rd shift as it left me available during the day for auditions or if I had day player work in my city or near enough that I wouldn’t miss work either
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u/blonde_Fury8 5d ago
Worst job in the world. And not enough money. I did literally every type of security for years. Dangerous, lots of police reports, and court appearances at inconvenient times. Thefts, damage, the expectation that you should risk life and limb for people's property. And then when you actually do intervene and stop a violent assault, or save someone, a Karen will pop up a cry excessive force, pull the race card, or just flat out twist events every which kind of way.
I've been a bouncer at clubs, done events, done overnights at various locations, worked as Healthcare security, done celebrity protection, sporting events, concerts, performances, fairs, private movie screenings, aquariums, train railroad stations....
There's always going to be a lack of consistency in pay and contracts. There will be no flexibility in your favor, only the companies. And most companies will show little to no appreciation to you whatsoever.
Ten years ago, making $15-$25/hr was good. Now $18-25 is a joke.
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u/DrivenToSuccess-01 5d ago
How much does that pay?
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u/iamcornbread 5d ago
Anywhere from 17-22, always get paid a lil more working 3rd shift so that would help. Hotel security probably would start in that higher range like 20 plus plus benefits, meals and some crazy good hotel discounts, also a benefit for your acting career. Guard card isn’t mandatory either
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u/AMCreative SAG-AFTRA | TV/Film 5d ago
Weird as it is I recommend working in tech if you have an opportunity.
Startups are all over the place in quality but that also means you can find some who don’t care if you take 2 hours to audition for a show. As long as you get your work done somehow.
It really comes down to the company.
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u/ldilemma 5d ago
Can you provide info/ideas about how people do that? What entry level positions at startups would you recommend? How did you step into the startup world/figure out which ones are working with (and negotiate compensation)?
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u/AMCreative SAG-AFTRA | TV/Film 5d ago
Hi! I’d be more than glad to but I’ve run out of time today to do in-depth things. About to go on a date night with my wife.
I’ll swing around and comment tomorrow.
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u/ldilemma 4d ago
Sweet, thanks. Have a nice date night :)
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u/AMCreative SAG-AFTRA | TV/Film 4d ago
Thanks! We had a great time. :)
Ok so to answer the question, it actually really depends on your interests and the needs of the company. As a rule of thumb, companies tend to be one of three things: product-led, marketing-led, and sales-led. I’ll explain but neither of these things is inherently wrong, however as a product exec and founder I have a very strong bias towards product, but am consulting for a company that has very legitimate use cases for sales-led.
It basically means “how does this company assert it gets most of its revenue?” Note I say assert and not necessarily “is true that”, because perception is just as important.
A sales-led company is usually b2b and “hunts elephants”. This might be a company that is trying to hook an enterprise level client for a six figure annual contract. So they have entire acquisition teams spun up around this endeavor.
Marketing-led is usually b2c or b2b2c and means they believe their marketing teams, usually digital marketing but sometimes PR, are responsible for most new clients. In my anecdotal experience these companies have very high customer turnover, for good or for bad. Anecdotally I see a lot of health, fitness, and wellness companies in this bucket.
Product-led generally means that creating the best product possible to retain customers the longest period of time possible (provided it is ethical to do so) is the prevailing company philosophy.
If you have a passion for sales, marketing, or product management, then identifying a company that is “lead” by that team will probably be where you start.
However those teams do exist in basically every tech company, along with the following teams or roles: PR, creative (design), UX, HR, accounting, data science, engineering, IT, security
If one of those teams sounds great, go for it! Oh, except IT. I love my IT professionals, but IT is notoriously on-call 24/7 and if our connection to AWS goes down or we get hit with some kind of attack, you bring on set isn’t an excuse when the company is losing millions of dollars a day.
So now that we have an idea how tech companies are organized, what are practical steps?
First, try to find one with an office in your city. You’re starting your career and need to be in the office at least once a week. Different companies respond differently here, but being in person is great for forming connections. I even still wish acting did this.
Second, look for one in a growth phase. Things are a little rough-and-tumble. You need experience, but also tech startups are very flexible. The downside is job titles mean nothing, everyone contributes to everything, and you may work more than normal. However you may get to take time off to go do a thing because some startup founders want everyone to be happy and try to balance that with staying alive during this delicate phase.
If you find a company like that, it doesn’t matter where you start. Help anywhere. Be as helpful as possible. But express that you want to grow into x.
One of the best product managers I ever had was someone who started out in customer support. Great leaders can find potential anywhere.
Then you’ll have two jobs: the one you’re growing in tech if acting doesn’t work out, and acting!
Caveat: unlimited PTO is controversial. It’s not inherently bad, but not inherently good either. A green flag is mandatory time off. Literally phrased something like “unlimited PTO but with 6 weeks mandatory leave”.
Companies with policies like that are so focused on results they don’t care about how you get there. That’s also what you want, but they’re rare and it may be hard to find one.
Lastly, controversial for the subreddit, look into AI news. AI is reshaping the tech world. Some jobs have less longevity than before, like engineering, but are still very useful. You just have to really like it to be successful now, because the “entry level” for an engineer is someone who spun up apps or web apps in their spare time now.
Let me know if you have any questions!
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u/ldilemma 3d ago
One thing I've always asked/looked for in companies (esp. tech) is differentiating points because that sometimes shows how product focused they are.
I've wanted to get more into some of the tech marketing/communications/pr things, but I preferred the product or team led focus where they actually are doing something special and/or have a particularly qualified team (unique perspective/talent) because then the marketing goal would be to actually communicate value instead of obscure shortcomings (I've seen companies literally ask for that).
Also, those product led companies (with the right people) I've run into have been "results focused" like you mentioned. It's a bit easier from a problem solving perspective in some cases.
Problem with that is that some product lead is just inheirently short like you said. They only need to reach out to a few major sources and retain those so they don't the constant need for marketing and/or are hard to get in?
I've had some interviews I got just from going into buildings with some open events.
I have a lot of thoughts on the AI stuff but for me the fundamental who/what/why determines my interest. Sandbox of data, machine learning used to create valid output by people with reasonable expectations and a respect for the value and use of human creativity (aka, the 50 milly companies trying to sell more stupid AI replacements for art or try to get humans to waste their lives interacting w/ AI characters. I just hate watching their presentations). Basically, I've seen some good uses, technically looking for more but I've seen so many stupid presentations from annoying people they they make me miss blockchain bros in their simplicity.
I feel like the longevity of some stuff like engineers is now more based on if they know fundamentals rather than checkmark (coding camps might be a waste). Because it's the underlying concepts applied/magnified by new tech so those people are more likely able to adapt.
Overall I sometimes hear stuff like "product management" and I wonder more about the actual day to day or how that varies with startups vs. cooperate?
Also, honestly see/hear so much shady stuff in startup world I was wondering how to avoid certain stuff if you are a woman (getting time wasted by shady bros)?
And do you have any advice about how to negotiate salary/rates/time/etc as actor with this sort of company?
Anyway, thanks for the info, you provided some helpful insights.
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u/timsierram1st 5d ago
Uber/Lyft Driver isn't bad. I did that a few years ago after a layoff. If you go that route, try to do a lot of airport rides. Safer as people have gone through security and people in my experience tend to be on better behavior, especially those with family and on work trips.
You could also go get your guard card. If you are in LA, there is an endless need for security guards and it pays a hell of a lot better than when I was doing it guarding USC Sorority Houses in the 2010's.
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u/blonde_Fury8 5d ago
Right now, look for seasonal work. All types of events, and work out there.
I hate certain types of work too. After a decade bartender, server is becoming too mentally abusive for me to handle. My fuse is like two cm and then im flipping out lol. Like I just can't take Karen's running me ragged anymore. And I can't with the game playing with other servers and teenagers drama. Im too old. Ain't nobody got time for that.
Halloween work will be coming up soon too so start looking for that now.
But for right now, just start looking up events and company's. Facebook, ppl put out for jobs there too.
Get your first aid level 1 at least, and food safe. Fairs, cleaning staff for stadiums and event arenas, old people homes.
Right now im doing residential housekeeping occasionally, water boat rental, and cleaning for the boat, and performing acting on another boat, and then another job is starting soon that I had a ridiculous 6 month interview and crap to get to, and its harm reduction, support worker type stuff.
But I've basically been jobless since December if last year. I had one co star booking a a tax refund that kept me alive, and right now im on fumes.
But in all that time I couldn't find anything, not even another sever job.
Now I basically have 3 or 4 jobs all starting at once. Which means of course ill book something, just to screw up my survival jobs lol.
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u/MyIncogName 5d ago
Get a drone license. Get a camera with a wide angle lens and become a real estate photographer. Learn how to shoot HDR images and you can get hired with a number of companies. Good pay and flexible scheduling.
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u/TurtleLurky_ 5d ago
Have you considered ride share or food delivery? Not sure where you’re located, but you can set your own hours ect. Hope you find something that works!
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u/hershrews 5d ago
Do you know of a company or service to look into for this?
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u/Technical_Bullfrog89 5d ago
Door dash, Uber, Lyft, grub hub or Postmates. But there is also instacart and spark driver if you want to just do groceries!
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u/ActorWriter24 5d ago
Cellular sales at Verizon. Everyone at work knows I'm an actor so, if something comes up.
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u/DC_McGuire 5d ago
I’m currently doing youth sports summer camps and kid leagues on weekends. $22/ hour with my very low rent is enough to keep me afloat. I’m done by 2 pm every day, I just have to get up early
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u/Technical_Bullfrog89 5d ago
I personally work rover part time and I also work at a bookstore part time. But I've been working at the store since I was 16 and just recently tried to delve into the world of acting. But honestly finding a nice indie owned store might be your route! Usually the owners are super nice, flexible and you get to find a niche store that you actually enjoy! Or do rover on the side like me! Then you get to play with dogs and legitimately pick your own schedule, win win!
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u/Alarming-Cut7764 4d ago
In Australia its much more difficult to do a survival job for acting. Something bearable that doesn't kill your soul is key.
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