<p>I expected to be able to get work after graduating, but a month before I graduated, my car died and a few months after I went broke. I am stuck, I'm living at home working temp jobs barely making enough to survive and I already have student loans I cant afford to pay back. I've gotten to do a few gigs but around here everyone expects art to be free. If I could get a masters, I found several interim teaching jobs that would at least get me out of the state. I REALLY need to do something to get moving again and I don't want to add on to my debt. I can't even get a new car because of my student loans. I found one post on how to go to grad school for free but once I signed up I couldnt find it again.</p>
<p>I do believe that many MFA programs are funded; these are the 3-year terminal degree in many creative and performing arts fields. They’d allow you to teach both at the K-12 level and at the college level. However, I think at many of the funded programs you will be expected to do research/scholarship on theater, so you have to find a program that’s tailored towards your needs and interests.</p>
<p>But are you having a hard time finding jobs because you are only looking for theater jobs? I don’t advocate going to graduate school out of desperation; that, in my opinion, leads to bad choices made out of desperation. Instead, I think you should diversify your efforts - look for jobs in other fields where you can use some of the skills you love from theater (public speaking? communication? There are a lot of jobs that need great presenters). Then you can do theater as a very intense side job until you make it to the point where you are ready to make a reasoned entry into a master’s program designed to get you where you really want to go, or until you can do theater full time as an actor whatever it is you want.</p>
<p>I totally agree with juillet. It’s a rare actor who gets to act full time straight from college and not do any ‘other’ jobs, if that is the kind of employment you’re unable to find. Opportunities also depend on where you live. And grad school as a loan delayer is a bad idea as it doesn’t solve your fundamental problems- lack of money, lack of paid acting gigs. And these days doesn’t guarantee you a job. You might be find you’re only able to pick up some pt hourly teaching. It sucks. </p>
<p>The positive steps you can take:
- If you’re not already doing so, you might want to think about working 2 jobs at once. If you can get them. No, it doesn’t help the acting side but for a year or two, it might help you towards your loans and sort out your car, maybe relocate to somewhere with better theatre opportunities. Think the immigrant mentality. You’re in a hole so dig yourself out if you’re physically and mentally able.</p>
<p>2) Have you considered going into teaching? Even at the k-6 level, it can be massively dramatic using body and speech to control and entertain a captive audience. A school teaching certification would be the only grad school I’d recommend to you right now.</p>
<p>3)What are your other interests? Could you combine those with the public speaking, communication, sales jobs suggested above?</p>
<p>4) And this is the scary option- how about creating your own show/production to showcase your talents and maybe those of others? There’s a comedy troupe here in the UK- The League of Gentlemen. Look up their history. They started out as a group of friends of friends writing comedy sketches that they performed in. They were eecking out regular jobs/writing gigs/unemployment. They worked really hard writing and perfecting their material over years doing small regular gigs but forming a fan base. They took it to the Edinburgh Festival using loans from family and friends. They got a radio show which became 3 tv series, a movie. One is now an author and script editor, one has done several west end musicals along with multiple parts in tv, theatre and film, the third has done theatre and film with 4 series of a high rating comedy and the last is jointly responsible for the Sherlock reboot on the BBC and writes some of the episodes as well as having written several episodes of Doctor Who. They made their own opportunities, made friends and networked and are now all very successful in their individual rights (fan drabble over). They invested their own time and talents and it paid off well beyond what they’d have ever thought could come of it. I think it’s a cool tale and really inspiring if you’re in the arts and being shut out.</p>
<p>I haven’t actually applied for ANY theatre jobs in a little over a year. The few I’ve had came by word of mouth. I am living in a high poverty area and jobs are hard to come by hence my working temp. It’s also kind of rural so working two jobs without my own personal transportation is rather prohibitive but I havent dismissed the idea outright. If I lived in a larger city and could rely on buses or walking I would feel less isolated. I’m not trying to delay getting out of debt rather I was hoping to find a way to improve my skills which I fear are getting rusty. I have been trying to work with a songwriter friend who sings country. It’s not what I listen to, but I was hoping that by helping her, I would help myself. However she has hit a bit of a wall as well. I’m also trying to write a book. I am trying many different things to keep from getting bogged down and discouraged. I felt that when I graduated, I had many skills that would allow me to be qualified for numerous positions not just in the arts but everyone seems to think I went to college and goofed off and/or they dont take my degree seriously or seem to believe I have the right experience. I feel like I’m loosing momentum and I knew I did very well in school so I felt going back would strengthen the skills I already have and that I could do things that are only possible in an academic learning situation. The job market is saturated with extremely high qualified candidates and the positions that were the closest to being what I wanted such as Arts Council Director went to out of town people with much longer resumes or they were already pre-filled. I have been working temp for the local county government for years(It started as my college summer job) and applied for several permanent positions. Most recently they turned me for a position because they said I had no experience. I had just done the job they were trying to fill, for an entire week and taught myself how to use the computer program with only a brief explanation. So yes I understood and was perfectly willing to “work the crappy jobs until my career took off” but this situation is getting too depressing for words.</p>
<p>I do like the idea of creating something new. Most of the people I went to school with are in similar situations and perhaps we could colaborate and get something going. I have an idea that I have been toying with, I guess I should try to do something about it.</p>