Has it really been a year? No. Yes. Whoa. I turned my life upside down when I decided to move to Los Angeles. I am Midwest born and raised. Before I packed up my Uhaul and headed west, I had probably spent a cumulative two weeks in California since I was five, but the lure of sandy beaches and a big city overtook me. I wanted to move here more than anything, and I was going to no matter what. Did I have a plan? Not really. (I don’t suggest this) Did I have a job? Nope. Was I even sure what I wanted to do? Nope. Yes, I thought of all these things before I moved, but I didn’t care. I just kept telling myself that it would all work out.
Well at the six-month mark, I was working at BCBG (kill me) and interning two days a week at a film production office. I loved my internship, but my retail job was making me go brain dead. I knew I had to find a real job asap. I began my long search for really any type of entry-level job in the entertainment industry. The one thing that continually kept getting in my way was my lack of experience. Seriously? All the jobs wanted the same thing. At least one year working on a desk at a talent agency. OK, well then I will go be an assistant at a talent agency. Nope, it is not that easy. There are thousands of people who want to be assistants at talent agencies, which is why the agencies have their “agent-in-training” program. This is a joke. Your first job in the program is delivering the mail. I am not kidding, and everyone in the mailroom has at least a college degree if not a J.D. After a couple months of learning your way around the office and everyone’s names, you are pulled out of the mailroom into the “floater” pool. As a floater you fill in on agents’ desks when their assistants are either out of town or sick. You could be a floater from anywhere to a day to a year. When a desk (finally) opens up, the agent usually interviews candidates out of the floater pool. Usually. Sometimes they bring in outside people, so it’s back to the floater pool until another desk opens. Your day finally comes, and you have been hired as an agent’s assistant! Yeah! You are so happy that you giddily sign a year contract without thinking about the fact the last two assistants needed therapy after being on this desk. There you have it, the gateway to any job in Hollywood. Crazy. For me, I wanted it. I heard horror story after horror story, but I didn’t care. I wanted into the elite club of a male-dominate field. Unfortunately it is next to impossible to get into this club unless you are a male or went to an Ivy, which I’m not and didn’t. Also, if you don’t have a referral good luck even getting HR to email you back! There is always the option at working for a boutique agency, but unless it’s a big boutique there isn’t much room for advancement. You want to work for the big four! After numerous attempts and a couple of interviews, the reality of me working at an agency was looking bleak. Great. If I can’t get the gateway, how am I going to get any of the other jobs I really want?
I pondered this for another couple months as I applied to an endless amount of jobs. I lost count on the number of jobs I applied for around 100. I applied for 100 jobs! Maybe you are thinking that I am a slacker or that I didn’t do well in college. Both false. I graduated with distinction with two degrees from the University of Kansas. I ran the student-run PR firm and was an executive member of the PR club. I was in countless honor societies and was even an executive member of my sorority. I’m a catch! Somehow all this stuff adds up to nothing, zilch in Hollywood. It is now month 11, and I am completely unemployed. I have enough money for six more months in LA if I continue to be unemployed, and I am about to sign a year lease. I hope you are starting to feel my panic just a mere two weeks ago. Maybe it was time to pack up my bags and admit defeat. Things were looking grim, but I still had my faith that I was going to find a job! I could feel it in my bones that change was right around the corner. Boom! Out of nowhere, my internship offered me a job! I have already gone on and on about how much I love this company, but I could not have asked for a better opportunity. I had to keep myself from crying when they offered me the position. The best part, I get to skip the elusive agency desk. No mailroom for me with my two degrees! I am on the path to my dream job as a producer and literally couldn’t be happier. I smile a lot. I mean a lot. I am pretty sure people think I am crazy because I am so happy. Whatever. I live in gorgeous Los Angeles and have an amazing job.
The lesson of the story is this. Finding a job is LA is hard. Finding a job in the entertainment industry next to impossible, but if you bide your time something amazing will eventually happen!
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