Let’s face it - landing your first job in the entertainment industry can feel incredibly daunting. Without dozens of connections, specialized training, and work experience, how can you possibly get a foot in the door? Despite what you might be thinking, there are a variety of ways to break into the business.
Here are a several tried and true approaches to getting an entertainment job with little to no experience:
Internships
This method is perhaps the most well-known, and that’s because it works. Interns gain hands-on experience while learning from experts in the field. For anyone just entering the entertainment workforce, internship experience can add marketable skills to your resume. Check out ShowbizJobs's comprehensive list of active internships (link) by category and location. When considering an internship, be wary of long-term unpaid positions without much opportunity for growth. Truly valuable internships are more than just free labor and endless coffee runs.
Student & Low Budget Films
At first, you might be skeptical of this path. After all, student and low-budget films usually provide little to no pay, so why should you bother? However, these positions are long-term investments in your production skills. Instead of just holding assistant jobs on bigger sets, you can have a primary role in a smaller, ultra-low-budget project. You’ll be able to learn the ins and outs of working directly on a film crew, which could give you a leg-up when applying for higher-budget entertainment jobs.
Assistant / Administrative Jobs
These kinds of roles don’t sound very glamorous, but they come with serious benefits. Just about every segment of the entertainment industry needs administrative assistants. These roles allow you to concentrate on a specific department, including production, human resources, marketing, or any other category. By starting with an administrative role in your area of interest and impressing your employers, you can work your way up through promotion. Browse through these listings (link) for the latest assistant/administrative jobs on ShowbizJobs.com.
TV Station Work
If you don’t live in Los Angeles, New York City, or another entertainment hub, landing a job in showbusiness can seem out of reach. However, TV station jobs let you work from just about any city, often with very little experience. To search for an entry-level TV station job in your desired location, check out these postings (link).
Video Game Jobs
When you think about opportunities for broad-based entertainment experience, the video games industry might not come to mind. In reality, video game jobs offer positions relevant to many areas of show business, including animation, production, creative design, marketing, and post production. By gaining initial experience in the video games sector, you can apply these skills to other segments of the entertainment world. For your video game job search, check out our current openings (link) on ShowbizJobs.com.
Now that you have some more guidance for your entertainment job hunt, it’s time to start searching! Good luck and let us know how it's going!