Jenny Yerrick Martin is a veteran entertainment hiring executive, a career consultant and strategist, and the creator/writer of YourIndustryInsider.com, the top online source for information on breaking in, moving up, and making it in entertainment. Your Industry Insider’s first information product, The Launching Outside Los Angeles Entertainment Career Kickstart Kit (a downloadable guidebook, workbook, & resource list), was recently released through the site, and many aspiring and budding entertainment industry professionals are now using it as a key resource to make their entertainment dreams come true.

Four Ways Being an Actor Is Like Any Other Job

Whether you think acting is an art, a craft, an art and a craft, or something else altogether, when you are making a living at it – or striving to make a living at it – it is also a job. And though I have never cast a movie or produced a network TV series, I know a lot about hiring (and getting people hired), especially in the entertainment industry.

As a veteran administrative executive, as well as a career consultant and professional resume writer, I know what it takes to get in the door, get hired, move up, and move onto bigger things with grace and with ease. I know the way a career is built, the way a professional in any field or position becomes sought after and buzzed about. I also know how people blow it in crucial ways that prevent them on each of those steps.

Here are a few lessons from the job-getting and career-having world at large which you can apply to your budding or already-established acting career to make sure you’re taking care of business while you pursue your art/craft/magic.

1. No one wants to work with a flake.

You’ve walked into an office before and seen the phone on the reception desk ringing off the hook, right? The receptionist is stuck in traffic with a dead cell phone. Or she is sick and totally forgot to call. Or she didn’t realize she had to work that day even though she was reminded twice. And now, in addition to the ringing phone, you are standing there with no one to say your line to.

The missing receptionist is an actress playing a part. Or she’s supposed to be playing a part, but she’s not there. The equipment is in place. The crew is waiting. And there is a big empty stretch of set where there should be a professional actor, made up, lines memorized, replying to your line and letting the scene move forward..

Now the producer is on the phone yelling at the actress’s agent. The casting director will hear about it, too. That’s a wrap on her ability to work with those people again. She might even lose the agent, too.

Which leads us to the 2nd way acting is like any other job…

2. Your two most valuable assets are your reputation and your connections.

Let’s put the actress in place, made up, lines memorized, doing just exactly what she is supposed to be doing. The director is pleased, the line producer is pleased, the other actors are pleased. The agent hears back from the executive producer that it all went well. The casting director even gets word. The actresses sterling reputation is maintained and several more people know who she is and might hire her or help her get hired in the future. (Note: This is before anyone even sees her work on film. This is not the art or the craft – this is the job.)

3. It is important to always be looking toward your next job, even when you have a job.

When she’s not actually shooting or prepping for the next scene she is in, the actress is thinking about her next job, taking steps for future employment. She might be contacting other producers or casting directors she knows, just to say hi. “No need to email back,” she says (not wanting to make work for them or feel like an obligation). “Was just thinking about you and wanted to say hi. I’m doing a pilot for ABC, but would love to work with you again.”

And she’s also getting to know the people she works with, comparing notes with other actors, introducing herself to studio executives. The pilot she’s working on might be an industry darling and likely fall pick-up, but you never know.

4. Everyone needs to get paid.

Meanwhile, her agent is on the phone trying to line up more work for her. He actually has no idea whether she is a “good” actress. He has no sense for that kind of thing and doesn’t care. He signed her because she had been getting a lot of commercial work (proving herself to be reliable and hirable) and because she had a look that was in demand in the TV world.

It was slow going at first. She got a few callbacks the first pilot season, but no jobs. He was actually getting pressure from the partners at the agency to find someone else to fit that look who might get work when she landed a very low budget indie film part through one of her own connections. It was exactly what she needed in order to keep him on her team for long enough to book a TV job, so she was happy she had that contact and that he came through for her at such a crucial time.

But you’ll note the ‘just-in-the-nick-of-time’ job did not come through the agent, it came through her hard work and the steps she made- always, always, always being reliable and professional, building her name and her network, and keeping her eyes out for new opportunity. So had she been dropped by the agency, she wouldn’t have been back to square one by any stretch. Her good reputation and relationships would’ve provided her with opportunities with or without the rep in place.

So for your purposes, the bottom line is that though there are a lot of things about your acting life (and about your ability to make a living at it) that are out of your hands, doing the “job” part of it well is actually within your control and can go a long way to putting you on a casting director’s speed dial. You can be the actor the buyers come to when they need someone they can count on, which will ultimately build you the lucrative career that will keep you (and any agents lucky enough to have you as a client) getting paid for many years to come.

You can learn more about Jenny’s resource guide The Launching Outside Los Angeles Entertainment Career Kickstart Kit here.