How do I get a Job?????

[giggles_SM]

Im a student at Rose Bruford, studying Stage Management. This was a huge step for me, as I wanted to go into acting (career change did me good tho!!!!) Basically, im finding it sooooo hard to get any crewing work, or basic experience in any theatres in or around london. I've sent my CV out to many places, my CV isnt crap tho, its good...as I have had a CV clinic done on it, which made it much better.

 

 

 

Is it my approach to things, or something im doing wrong???

 

 

 

HELP!!!

 

Giggles :)

[markdornan]

If you're still a student, then surely your tutors and teachers can help - they are bound to know at least some of the people who do the hiring. Although summer is a very quiet time in my neck of the woods (Belfast) theatre-wise, I don't know what London is like for work.

[LeeStoddart]

Welcome Chrissy,

 

Yours is the third thread in this section of this message board which is titled "How do I get a Job". Take a look at the other two threads is one way to start.

[paulears]

Maybe there is something on it that puts people like us off? Having a CV clinic is fine IF, the people doing it speak our language. If you don't mind criticism, quite a few on here would be able to comment - BUT don't if you don't like good honest comment. If you look at the other topics, you'll find that often CVs are accidentally coded with DO NOT EMPLOY written between the lines.

 

Up to you, really

[Guest lightnix]

...theatres in or around london.

Why just theatres?

 

Why cut yourself off from the majority of all known employment opportunites - most of which pay better or will eventually lead to better rates than theatre can muster?

 

The entertainments industry is a huge place, with all sorts of opportunities.

 

Why not check out some local crewing and hire companies?

[Chris Adam]

oh oh - I can see a theatre vs Rock n Roll competition coming on!!! Look what you've started!

 

But I agree with lightnix. Don't limit yourself to just one genre. There's loads of work out there in all sectors of the market and you'll find that when one is quiet, the other is usually busy. (theatre is quiet in summer, but festival season is in overdrive just now).

 

And also, don't turn down anything you think is below you. Sweeping a stage for someone, will no doubt lead you to a better gig with them next time. I know so many people who refuse to do crewing work, but complain when they can't pay the bills. Some of us actually quite like a break from lots of responsability from time to time.

 

Good luck though.

[Guest lightnix]

oh oh - I can see a theatre vs Rock n Roll competition coming on!!! Look what you've started!

What about a How Broad-Minded You Are vs. The Amount Of Work You Get competition :)

 

For years I was a total tart, professionally speaking - if it was a (paid) gig with lights on, then I was up for it. Theatre, TV / Film, rock 'n' roll, festivals, conferences, trade shows, award shows, fashion shows, exhibitions, parties, bar-mitzvahs, weddings, horse of the year, flavour of the month or soup of the day - I didn't care - a gig was a gig and that's how I managed to make a decent living out of it in the end ;)

 

 

e2a - I've humped a lot of boxes as local crew, too; especially in the depths of the last recession, back in the early 90's.

[oli]

Fairfield halls in Croydon are normally a good source of casual work, and usually employ Bruford Students. The tech manager is Iain Locke (unless he has moved on). Also try speaking to some of the older (years above you) students as they maybe able to help or even help you get your foot in the door.

[JDP]

On a freelance basis, you will need to register your details with the authorities etc, but the likes of Event Lighting and other museum type companies have a very high turn over in crew. When the touring went quiet a while back, I did some freelancing for Metro, and these companies do museum gigs, up to 30 a day, most of those requiring around 4 freelancers at least per job! You can expect to earn £120 with your experience, where as the more experienced tend to get £175 - £250 per day dependent on who you are.

 

For easy, well paid work, corporate companies rule, and are usually the people screaming out for crew. Getting work in the rock 'n' roll industry is very hard, you really need to have a good 4 or 5 years experience in working on other types of events on all scales before you start doing touring. You also need a specific personality to do, I know of many bubbly people who are useless lampies, and they get far more work then the extremely good lampies lacking personality.

[tokm]

Got to second/agree with JDP's comments, the corporate sectors always after crew, specially lampies. The museum jobs are especially crew heavy as they only have 2 hours or so to get everything in, so just load it right up with crew just to make sure.. they've got the money to do it so why not.

 

Good companies to approach would be Fisher Productions, Wise Productions Spirit Design. They all do jobs of the style I talked about above, pay the sort of rates JDP mentioned, and I've met a fair few students whilst on jobs for them, so hopefully you'll have some luck there!

 

There's loads of crewing companies around (specially in london!). Can be mixed bag of good can be bad (in terms of the pay & experiences you'll get from it). All depends on the sort of work the crewing company does..

 

The most useful stuff I'd say I got from doing it when I was starting off in the world was the experience of being around the gear/seeing how every thing's made tourable, tricks of the trade, etc. And of course there's the contacts.. All about making a good impression.

 

Started off mainly casualing in my local 'big' regional theatre, met a few touring techs few times.. eventually exchanged numbers, made sure I said hello every once in a while and that's how I got my 1st few big gigs.

 

Hope this is of some help..

Tom

[Guest lightnix]

AFAIK most local crew companies don't insist on full self-employed status and can accomodate PAYE (please correct me if I'm wrong).

 

It's not all just box-humping across muddy festival fields and those who have the right stuff can soon find themselves being given more responsibilities (and money). It's not something you'd neccessarily want to make a long-term career of, but it's a great way to get to learn, from the bottom up, the simple mechanics of how gigs of all shapes and sizes get put together; in any and every location - from a brand new state-of-the-art exhibition centre, to the middle of a field.

 

You'll get to work with a whole range of equipment (some of it the very latest) and learn loads quickly, just by carefully watching and listening, from experienced people who do it for a living. You'll not only get to learn about the job, but about The Life that goes with it, too (arguably the best bit :** laughs out loud **: )

 

Why content yourself with doing the same old, same old, night after night after night in the West End when there's all that out there waiting for you? You'll be clawing the walls after six months.

 

Gallowglass and Affinity seem to be the main players in the local crew world these days - why not give them a call and start there? You could well be "somewhere, out there" on shows within the month, if you make a good first impression :o

 

Best of luck ;)