I want to pursue professional acting, but it's a financial risk! Any advice?

BillJones

Voyager2002 wrote: »

This is a world away from the OP's problem... the requirements for a technical role in the NHS, or even to be a Radiographer, are very different from those that research scientists must fulfill.

This is true, but he was talking about designing scientific medical instrumentation just a few posts ago.

One of my friends from college went off to do that when I headed to CERN. The job's requirements were similar to mine.

theoretica

The arts need quite a lot of roles filling beyond actor - which might offer a more stable job. Any interesting and stable job has a lot of competition nowadays, but there are stage managers, prop and set makers (would your furniture making help here?), lighting designers and technicians, theatre and box office managers, physiotherapists specialising in dancers or musicians, orchestral librarians, voice coaches... Have you thought about being in the field but not on the stage?

unlikelyheroine

I think the OP might actually be putting too much pressure on themselves. Hardly anyone is going to walk into a job aged 25 that both a) they enjoy and b) which comfortably pays all the bills. Many careers take a bit of work to be able to get a rewarding day out of them. A lot of people have to make daily compromises either on enjoyment levels or money, depending on their perspective. Whilst no-one should spend their days doing something that makes them miserable, few people are able to spend every day earning money at something that is their number 1 interest in life. Stormy Petrel made a good point above and I agree - you should just concentrate on getting a doable job to give you some experience and something on the CV. Whilst doing that you can research what you might really like to do in the long-term, and in the meantime the bills get paid and you're getting a work history. If you have an interest in the arts, that is definitely something you can pursue on the side.

szam_

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Sometimes people don't do well at school due to family circumstances such as divorce or bereavement, but if failing GCSEs is indicative of academic aptitude then it would be really poor advice to suggest the OP goes into something scientific.

Failing GCSEs (which are much easier than O levels were) after 12 years of education puts an individual in the bottom 20% of the ability range academically unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

Absolutely disagree. I developed really well until I was about 14, dropped off and just seemed to have a mental block (that and one teacher actually gave up on myself and one other person in our maths class and told us to learn from books), around 18 or 19 I really started to develop again.

I have an interest in Astrophysics, could I, if I had the time and money, study it and perhaps make a career out of it? If I put the time in, I absolutely think I could. And in general I have what my OH calls, a "weird" obsession with learning how everything that interests me works, from biology to technology. I often tend to accidentally go off on one and bore her to death.

I've heard a some of stories of people who were the whizz-kids of the high school I attended, A* students at GCSE level, who just seemed to "stop" midway or near the end of college/sixth form/university and are now stuck in dead-end jobs in a supermarkets, some of whom say and do what I would call very questionable, "stupid" things. On the other hand, some of the less adept in high school are doing really well. Obviously it's not a case that all who do well, then fail and vice versa, but it's the same as you can't stereotype everyone who did badly at high school saying "they won't achieve this, this or this", when they may develop a bit later down the line.

High school grades, and probably even A-level grades can be very deceptive sometimes and not give a true reflection of someones true ability if they didn't really develop mentally until 20 or early twenties.

Voyager2002

szam_ wrote: »

Absolutely disagree. I developed really well until I was about 14, dropped off and just seemed to have a mental block (that and one teacher actually gave up on myself and one other person in our maths class and told us to learn from books), around 18 or 19 I really started to develop again.

I have an interest in Astrophysics, could I, if I had the time and money, study it and perhaps make a career out of it? If I put the time in, I absolutely think I could. And in general I have what my OH calls, a "weird" obsession with learning how everything that interests me works, from biology to technology. I often tend to accidentally go off on one and bore her to death.

I've heard a some of stories of people who were the whizz-kids of the high school I attended, A* students at GCSE level, who just seemed to "stop" midway or near the end of college/sixth form/university and are now stuck in dead-end jobs in a supermarkets, some of whom say and do what I would call very questionable, "stupid" things. On the other hand, some of the less adept in high school are doing really well. Obviously it's not a case that all who do well, then fail and vice versa, but it's the same as you can't stereotype everyone who did badly at high school saying "they won't achieve this, this or this", when they may develop a bit later down the line.

High school grades, and probably even A-level grades can be very deceptive sometimes and not give a true reflection of someones true ability if they didn't really develop mentally until 20 or early twenties.

However, since employers can always find plenty of applicants with decent GCSE and 'A' level grades, someone who lacks these is unlikely to be given a chance to show what they can do.

kingslayer

Stormy_Petrel wrote: »

I'm a few years older than you and I haven't decided what I'm going to do with the rest of my life either.

You said in one of your other posts that you haven't worked in a few years. If I were you, I'd just look at getting an entry level job for the moment. Earn some money so you don't have to use up your savings. Gain some confidence, put something on your C.V., maybe volunteer or do amateur dramatics in your spare time, but mostly just give yourself a chance to decide what you want to do instead of rushing into something--anything--because you feel like you've been left behind.

I went to uni a few years ago. I did something I loved and was good at, something I wanted to spend my life doing, but I rushed into it. I just wanted to be moving forward and doing things! During my final year I realised that with my history of health issues, I just wasn't going to be able to cope with the career I was chasing. I decided to give myself a break, get an office job, and stop freaking out about my life slipping through my fingers for a while. I'm looking at other things I could do to improve my career prospects, but the world isn't going to fly off its axis if I don't do it RIGHT NOW.

I promise you, there is no rush. Take your time.

Thanks for the advice. I understand what you're saying, the issue for me is, i want to be in a stable job with the chance of a decent wage, not a dead end job with no prospects.

I bumped into an old friend yesterday and he is a year younger than me and he left uni last September, hasn't found a job, but he has spoke of jobs that he has been able to apply for that have starting salaries of £24,000.

It kind of makes me feel envious of degree holders because employers find university graduates more appealing, and graduates have the possession of a degree as back up, whereas I, a non-graduate, would be laughed at if i was to try and apply for any job higher than what my perceived ability is (on paper).

You say that you don't feel you're able to use that degree to it's full potential due to your health issues, but at least you have that degree as back up if things go wrong. You could lose your job tomorrow, but because you have a degree, employers will always find you a much more appealing candidate than a non-graduate.

The issue for me right now, is trying to figure out what direction I go in. You're right, though, i think I need to slow things down a little and stop worrying so much. I just would have liked to have had some idea by this year as to what I wanted, but I still don't have that idea.

kingslayer

unlikelyheroine wrote: »

I think the OP might actually be putting too much pressure on themselves. Hardly anyone is going to walk into a job aged 25 that both a) they enjoy and b) which comfortably pays all the bills. Many careers take a bit of work to be able to get a rewarding day out of them. A lot of people have to make daily compromises either on enjoyment levels or money, depending on their perspective. Whilst no-one should spend their days doing something that makes them miserable, few people are able to spend every day earning money at something that is their number 1 interest in life. Stormy Petrel made a good point above and I agree - you should just concentrate on getting a doable job to give you some experience and something on the CV. Whilst doing that you can research what you might really like to do in the long-term, and in the meantime the bills get paid and you're getting a work history. If you have an interest in the arts, that is definitely something you can pursue on the side.

I agree with what you say about not walking into a well paid job. I read that the starting salary for most graduates is something like £21,000, which I look at and think "that's a nice salary" because I know no better lol. How crazy is that? Most people probably look at £21,000 as average salary, yet i look at it and think "great!" haha.

I am looking into volunteering, in fact I have to go see someone next wednesday. I am trying to find out info on here regarding working from home too, or just additional income so if I'm volunteering i have some kind of income as i don't like claiming jobseekers allowances, that's why i'm frugally living off savings at the moment.

Sncjw

you say your envious of people with degrees well if you want to do radiology then you will need a degree. why not get your gcse and alevels to a good level then apply for the radiology course. if you pass it and work hard you will have a degree.

you seem like you dont know what you want to do. jumping from one thing to another.
obviously if you apply for jobs higher than what you have in qualifications they wont give you interview because you dont meet requirements. i doubt many employers will take on someone that has less than what they are asking for