Tag Archives: job

Finding A Work/Life Balance (or Preparing to Not Be Unemployed)

Posted on December 28, 2012 | 4 comments

When I was hired at my current day job, I was informed that it was seasonal. The job went from May until October, had October and the beginning of November off, came back before Thanksgiving, and ended just after New Years. I was a little concerned on what my financial situation would be like from January to May, but once I understood how much I’d receive in unemployment benefits I calmed down a bit.

Working 6 days a week every week leaves very little social time. When you get out of work at 9pm (8:30pm now) and sometimes have to be at work at 9am the next day, you just want to go home and sleep. I couldn’t attend anything at The Actors’ Network since everything there pretty much happened during my work hours. I had the same problem with Women in Film events. But I was ok with that because I would have all the time I needed to attend these events during my (f)unemployment (as my friends referred to it).

But now, it seems pretty sure that the job is going to be year round and not seasonal anymore. There is a chance that this could change because they’ve never kept my office open year round in the history of the company. They might decide that we aren’t work the cost.

But if we are year round, I need to find a way to have a life and work too. I pay for my memberships at The Actors’ Network and Women in Film and want to enjoy those benefits. I want to have time to see my friends and go on dates.

We’ve been told at my job that on the nights we work until 8:30pm, we aren’t supposed to ask for the evenings off. Those evenings are the best times to work on those days. But I think I need to start asking for a couple of evenings off a month so I can at least go to some industry events.

I want to be able to focus on my career and not just my job. But I also don’t want to risk losing my job because it pays well and let’s me go to all my auditions.

I am starting to look at other job opportunities out there. I’m not leaving my job, not anytime soon. But if I can start trying out another job (maybe freelancing) and see if it’s something that I can survive on, then I’ll see what I should do.

I have no idea how everyone else has a work/life balance. Maybe I’m only comparing myself to those trying to balance work and life. I’m trying to balance work, life, and career. But of those three, I’m not willing to give up any of them (well, maybe work if I won the lottery or something).

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff, Work

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Making Ends Meet (or Needing a Side Job to My Side Job)

Posted on November 9, 2012 | Comments Off on Making Ends Meet (or Needing a Side Job to My Side Job)

Most of the money I make at my day job are commissions. This was great when it was the high season and I was making in a day what it would take a week at my old day job to make. But now it’s the low season and I’m making much much less.

If I wasn’t worried about paying off credit card debt, this wouldn’t be a big deal. I would have saved up the “extra” money that I earned over the summer to cover me for the lean times now.

But I put all money above and beyond my living expenses to my credit card (I’m pretty sure you’ll all agree that that is the smart way to do it). So I’m back to trying to make my budget as tight as I can. This month, I’m only going to be able to pay a little bit over the minimum on my credit card. It’s still going to make a dent in my debt, but I wish I could make a bigger dent.

This day job will most likely be ending in January (although that is up in the air too). I’m not going to look for another full-time day job for a few reasons. I like this job and plan on returning next season in May. Also, I’ve found it so tough to find a day job that works with my acting. I’ll go back to my old day job of substitute teaching, but because I work for a small district, I know it won’t pay for all my bills.

So while it’s the slow time right now at my day job, I’m looking for something to do on the side. I already babysit for a friend’s kids, but most of the time I do it for free as a favor because my friend will do my hair sometimes for free because I can’t afford to pay her. I might look into adding some more babysitting clients, but since that isn’t guaranteed income, I need to look for more.

I’m not really sure what I’m going to do. I’ve been given a writing job on another blog (when I can tell you which one I will), but that job doesn’t pay. Maybe I could use it as a reference for a paid writing job, but to be honest, I never thought of myself as a writer. Maybe I should.

If anyone out there has ideas of what I could do as a side job, I’d really appreciate it. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I know somehow it will turn out ok.

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Posted in Saving, Tough Stuff, Work

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Another Day Another Audition (or This Is The Life I Love)

Posted on October 25, 2012 | Comments Off on Another Day Another Audition (or This Is The Life I Love)

I’ve got another audition today. This time, it’s for a commercial.

Commercials can be interesting to audition for. Sometimes, all you have to do is walk in, say your name, and they take a photo of you. That’s it. Other times, you do have lines to say. For my audition today, according to the online information, I have no lines to work on. There might be something to read at the audition, so I’ll get there early today.

The audition I had last week went really well. But the day after the audition, the show I auditioned for was cancelled so that episode won’t be filmed. I personally find this funny, but other non-industry people found this weird. They couldn’t understand why there was an audition when they show was getting canceled. I tried to explain that the show might not have known that they were about to end, but this is a weird industry to try to understand if you aren’t in it.

I’ve got today off from my day job today (I was the only person who could work and my supervisor didn’t want me to have to work 8 hours alone), so today is the type of day that I dream about. I have an audition this morning, a headshot shoot tomorrow to prep for today, and I can focus on me. I wish this was my life everyday. As a friend said to me yesterday, my job is getting in the way of my career.

I’m lucky because I know that I can always go to auditions, but it would be nice to not spend 6 days a week at a job and not focusing on my career. There are always more things that I want to do. I’m working on filming some new scenes for my demo reel, I’d like to be able to focus a bit more on taking classes (I’m about to start Porter Kelly’s commercial class on Sundays), and I’d also like to have some more fun in my life.

But for now, I’m just going to enjoy my perfect actor day and try to kick some butt at the audition today.

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Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

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Working Girl (or The Secrets of Day Jobs)

Posted on October 9, 2012 | 4 comments

As much as I wish I could survive on the money I make from acting, right now, that isn’t a reality for me. Hopefully it will be in the future, but for now, I work a bunch of random jobs to pay the bills.

I have my main job which is working membership and ticket sales at a performing arts center on the westside. But that job is seasonal.  But right now, we have no idea when the season will be ending.

It’s put me in a weird spot. It seems like all of my co-workers seemed to have lined up other jobs already. But my other co-workers are not actors, so they don’t have the same issues with jobs that I do.

I need a job that pays enough but at the same time has the option of leaving for auditions or booked acting work when I have them. So many jobs in LA don’t want to hire actors for that reason. But I hate having to tell jobs that I’m going to the dentist/doctor/car repair shop in order to leave for auditions. This job lets me go and I’m not willing to lose that.

I’m lucky at my job now. I’ve also got my substitute teaching credential and the option to go back to the district I used to work for. I also do random side jobs like babysitting and personal organizing.

Why am I saying all of this? Because I find that actors are super secretive about their day jobs. I don’t know if they are embarrassed to say what they are doing or they just want you to believe that they are making their entire living on acting, but for a majority of actors that I know, I have no idea how they pay their bills.

There are some exceptions. I have a friend who works for Nielsen checking advertising before films and working at screenings. I have one friend who owns their own business and is very successful at it. I know of a few people who are waiters or temps. And there is the odd friend of mine who does make their entire living by acting, and they share how tough it can be for them.

When I was looking for a job earlier this year to get out of a bad job, I looked for so long. And I told everyone that I knew I was looking for work. But other actors seemed so guarded when it came to day jobs. Most people just told me that it’s hard to find a day job. No guidance into what types of jobs are best or anything. I don’t know why actors aren’t willing to help each other with this part of life. Maybe they don’t want other actors taking the types of work that they want?

But I believe in being fully honest about my life. I’ve discussed my credit card debit and my eating disorder. And I don’t want anyone to think that right now, I’m lucky enough to be able to not have a day job. I’m struggling with whether or not I need to be looking for a new job. I feel so lucky to have found the one I’m in right now, and I want to come back next year for another season. And I know that unemployment is always an option if necessary when the season does end for this job.

But I feel so lucky and grateful to have found such an actor-friendly day job, I wonder if I could get lucky again. The fear of having another bad day job is paralyzing. So for now, I’m sticking with my current job and trying to not let uncertainty get to me.

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Posted in Acting, Tough Stuff, Work

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