by Sam Madsen

Created on: August 26, 2010

What you need to know about a career in acting is that it is hard work and takes a lot of preparation, to stay in the know. Your first step will be to be currently enrolled in a good acting school, which holds regular auditions on their premises, or has access to arranging them

Once you are enrolled, you will be able to take a wide range of classes to help prepare you for the different acting environments and styles of acting. The classes will range from the actual first stages in the “ABC’s “of acting to reading a monologue with other students in the class. Every class you take will be adding to your resume. Unlike your normal resume for a clerical or professional resume, an acting resume will only have acting school classes graduated from, any commercials, videos, or movies and the Directors name on it, along with the required contact information of the school that represents you, until you have an agent, then you will insert their contact information, replacing the school's information. Best to have both resumes on hand, for the different auditions.

You will also need a head shot and a “zed” card. A zed card is an 8x11 cardboard strength photo of your head shot on one side, and the other side generally consists of three to four different outfits and looks. Get with the director of the school and they generally set these appointments up for you, according to the photographer's schedule, for a photo shoot session.

Sometimes the photographer will perform the shoot at the schools location, or a pre-disclosed location. This could be an outdoor setting, such as in a park or just outside the school.

After you have gone through classes for awhile and have attended a few auditions, hopefully you will get noticed and land an agent, through one of the auditions held at and sponsored by the school you attend.

Once you have an agent you are signed with, they will set up auditions for you. From this point on you are now being represented by your own agent, looking for work for you. They make a commission on all the work you do, that they helped you obtain.

The more you stay in touch with your agent the more you will stay in the front of their mind and when they get the calls from the producers or directors looking for that certain someone. With that said, if you are at the top of the list of people who called in and meet the needed requirements, chances are you will get a call to go on the next audition. You have to be proactive in building your career, to make it happen for yourself. So, here's to hoping your next audition will be the big role you have been waiting for and the one you land, to make all your training and work pay off.

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