Student Blog: Survival Jobs

As an actor, the last thing you want to do after a long day of auditioning and training is clock into your 9 to 5. Yet, in an industry where contracts can be few and far between, it is imperative that you find something to provide financial stability. Performing is incredible, but it is expensive to do it while funding training, auditioning, and surviving, particularly in New York City. I don’t know a single actor in NYC who hasn’t had a survival job. The key is finding a job that you enjoy, pays well, and is flexible enough to work around auditioning and performing contracts. But this is much easier said than done.

Because survival jobs need to have strong flexibility to work around the audition schedule, a few categories of work are beneficial to a performer. For example, service jobs like barista work, serving, and retail will provide a lot of flexibility scheduling-wise. If this isn’t up your alley, an incredibly sustainable option as an actor is any remote job, as it isn’t as exhausting physically. This even allows you to work from a holding room at an audition or on a performing contract. Lastly, another type of job that can work is a personal business, whether that means selling from an Etsy shop, teaching, or even babysitting or pet sitting. All of these are great options, but you need to figure out what works best for you.

I personally have a barista job that allows me a lot of flexibility. A huge green flag for me at this job is that a lot of my coworkers are also actors. This means I not only have a strong community, but the managers are incredibly understanding when things pop up. They’re used to people having to go on leave for performing contracts and are always excited to see you when you come back to work. I also have a couple of side hustles that don’t provide as much of a steady income, but they’re jobs I enjoy. I crochet and knit, so I just started an Etsy shop! This is something that doesn’t provide a ton of revenue right now, but it is fulfilling creatively. I also cat-sit through Meowtel, a site that allows vetted cat sitters to find people who need pet care. I have always loved animals, so it brings me a lot of joy to be entrusted with people’s pets. The combination of these three streams of revenue provides me stability between contracts as an actor.

Once you have a survival job, you must understand balance. It can be so easy to get wrapped up in the job that is providing you stability, especially when work as an actor gets slow. But you can’t forget the reason you’re working so hard in the first place. If you ever find that your survival job is starting to continuously come before acting, it might be time to find a new 9 to 5.

It can be a challenge to find a survival job that fits the requirements necessary to suit a working actor. So don’t be afraid to try out a bunch of options until you find something you enjoy that works. There is no shame in job-hopping if it isn’t suiting you and your goals. I know it can seem impossible to find a survival job that works for you, but through trial and error, you'll eventually find something that suits you. At the end of the day, this is just something to help you reach your goals as an actor, so as long as you are happy and able to do that, it is the perfect job for you.