Got a Day Job or an In-the-Way Job?

The amount of actors who don’t need a day job are few and far between. Maybe 1-2%, at a guess. By the time we’re booking high profile work we have more things to pay for: such as mortgages and families. So, most of us need a side hustle of some kind. It can be tempting just to grab whatever job comes around that might allow time off for auditions. But, I think it is really important to give your day job some thought. Its role is to not only to pay your bills, but also fund and enhance your career. So how do you ensure it is a day job and not an ‘in the way’ job?

What is an ‘In the Way’ job?

Day jobs that don’t allow you time off to act are in the way. Day jobs where you don’t get paid enough to live and fund your acting are in the way. Day jobs that emotionally exhaust and deplete you – are in the way: in the way of your acting career.

An asset not a beggar

Part of choosing inappropriate day jobs is this belief that beggars can’t be choosers. Wow if there were a phrase I could delete from the universe, this would be it. The danger with it, in our case, is that it casts us in the role of the beggar. You are only a beggar if you decide to act like one. In reality, you have a lot of fantastic skills that an employer would be very grateful for. Actors are great team players. We are creative. We have fantastic communication skills. We speak and present well. We are an asset. And, I encourage you to start thinking of yourself that way, so that you can rightly, demand more from your day job.

Parallel career

If you are in acting for the long haul, I suggest you see your day job as a parallel career. One that fulfils you and pays you well, whilst also offering flexibility. Yes, it is possible. Perhaps you train in something which will be flexible by the very nature of it being your own business: accounting, PR, yoga teaching. Or you use your acting skills to become a dialect coach, or dance coach; perhaps you teach voice or singing to a specific group, or offer companies presentations skills and public speaking coaching. Perhaps you have an event company on the side, or find some other niche that you can run as an entrepreneur from home.

Yes, the effort and work, and investment, might feel like a distraction from your acting. In the short term it will be. But taking the temp jobs that pay badly, have inflexible hours or that deplete you are a distraction that continues for the long term. So, why not address the situation now and solve it. Do some research, explore some options, ask people for help, but get started.

A side hustle, which supports you financially, makes you even more confident in that audition room, because you don’t need acting to rescue you. A day job that is fulfilling and perhaps, still in the creative industries, could also be another ‘in’; a way to network, find collaborators and it’s a talking point. The day job issue isn’t going away. So hack the problem and solve it. Make it work for you. You don’t have to hate you day job, instead of an in the way job, you could be creating a –wahey job.

For further tips on building your acting success read my book, Talent isn’t Enough.