Changing lanes.....

[avkid]

Ever think about tour management?

[kjdiehl]

I've toured plenty and am well and truly done with that. Annnnnd.... that's not exactly a transition AWAY from theatre, now is it?

[Jessie_K]

Have you thought about maybe getting a job with a management company/ booking agency?  Like IMG or ICM or CAMI.  It would have regular hours and regular duties, but still expose you somewhat to arts.

[kjdiehl]

Interesting, but having worked gigs FOR those companies in the past, I don't know how I'd feel about actually facilitating what they do.

I guess to clarify further, it's becoming clear to me that I think I don't really want to stay that intimately involved in theatre or events. That's a hard thing for me to say, cause it's rather been my life, and certainly the reason I've done it for so long is because I adore the people involved. But I guess my cynicism about the industry has finally flooded my perception of it, and I don't really dig the work so much anymore. I like seeing these wonderful people every day who I get to work with, (and honestly, I really do believe that theatre people are the best people in the world,) but the work itself has really become far too unrewarding. Maybe I still want to be involved with the arts, yes, but theatre, no.

[avkid]

that's not exactly a transition AWAY from theatre, now is it?

I meant rock and roll, but whatever.
I have a hard time separating what people call "real jobs" from the EI world.

[loebtmc]

I sent this to Erin but someone else in the changing lane may want to research it as well - this seems a good job for someone from our background.....it came in my neighborhood newsletter


FAA Hiring Notice
Pass it on.

If you have or know kids between the ages of 18-31 with a high school diploma. The Federal Aviation Association is taking applications for air traffic controller school. We all have kids and know kids in the right age group (under 31) and with some effort they could reach a salary of over $100,000 with benefits in about 3 years! . You need only a high school diploma to apply and credit is given for college on the exam. They need to go to http://www.faa.gov/jobs/job_opportunities/airtraffic_controllers/ for details and to fill out the application immediately - even if they don't know if they'd want to attend immediately - it's the federal government and it may take them months to call. The key is to apply NOW.
There will be a lot of retirements coming up rather quickly and they need! to line up training to accommodate these openings. It's my understanding that the FAA rarely has an open application such as this and that the jobs are coveted. The person who shared this has a 28 year old daughter who is well into 6 figures and has plenty of time for travel/recreation and has started another career on the side. This is a great opportunity and it should be noted that choosing a site like Anchorage or Indianapolis to train is a likely acceptance into the training program - after-which you can transfer anywhere in the country that has a tower. I hope you pass this information on to family, friends, etc.



 

[DeeCap]

I've also been recommended the book, What Color Is Your Parachute, and which sounds like a useful resource. Does anyone have any experience with it?

I can't praise that book enough. I used it mainly for job hunting purposes, but it is really known as the book to get if you want to do a career change. The thing about the book is that you HAVE to do the exercises. You can't skip anything. Can't hurt can it?
The website is pretty good too. You get free career advice. Even though I had to do some explaining on what I do, someone wrote back with some great advice.

[ljh007]

This is a slightly random but related thought...

One thing that was surprisingly hard when I transitioned out of stage management to office administrative work (but still in theatre - hooray) was the change in the level of physical activity. Sure, you sit at the table during rehearsals, but there is enough standing, walking, moving/hauling/lifting/hustling to keep the body a little active. Now there are days where I literally sit at my desk for 9 hours straight. I have to run and exercise much more in my off hours! So if you like having a physical aspect to your job, you might take a job as restaurant waitstaff, retail, or something where you are actually moving during the day.

This change in physical activity was very significant to me when I stopped working backstage.

[Knavehart]

Has anyone heard from Erin?  Has she found something?


I have Stage Managed for 13 years, at various levels, including touring, and even 4 summers doing rotating rep musical summer stock, on a shoe string budget (and a union contract!). 

I used to be so passionate about theatre, but the last 3 years especially, but even back to 9/11  I found less and less satisfaction with my work.  I found as I continued to work with younger actors, that they tended to have more and more of a sense of entitlement, and little respect for the work of those who came before, and a tendency to not even realize there is world outside of the industry (Seriously on tour this spring I had to explain primary elections to two of my actors - college graduates)

I have extenuating family circumstances which maybe some of you read about in my rant of a post this morning...

I really don't want to leave the performing arts, and I would like to stay close to NYC, as it really is my home but I am also considering things in other media, print, and even online.  I have thought about exploring the idea of producing, but that does seem like something that might not be easy to transition right into