What to do after drama school?

What can you expect to do after graduating from a drama school? Here is a guide on how to find employment opportunities and kick-start your career as an actor. 

1. Stay active and keep acting regularly

Generally speaking, you should keep acting on a daily basis:

• keep practicing your monologues, master them to perfection. This way you will always be ready for auditions. 
• take part in acting workshops and follow courses on specific subjects. 
• watch plays

Getting into drama school allowed to build your acting skills effectively. If you stop for a while, going back to it would be difficult, you might even feel rusty. As a matter of fact, staying on top of your game is can only be beneficial. It is paramount for when you’ll be called for an audition. 

2. Get exposure

Once you completed your training as an actor, either at a drama school or at a university, you should cast your net wide to find job opportunities:

• voice-overs for documentaries
• motion-capture for video games
• take roles at festivals

One other key point: make it easy for potential employers to find you and get an idea of what you can do. To achieve this goal, you can create your own website to display all of your personal information in one place: resume, headshots, recommendation letters, etc. Online, there are some free and easy-to-use solutions to build your own website. 

Aside from business cards and headshots, making a show reel can be a great idea. When you think about it, it is far more compelling to see you acting, and gives casting directors a glimpse of your skills and the type of roles you are comfortable with. Moreover, since not every actor as one, it definitely puts you ahead of some of your competition. 

3. Use your acting school network

Tap into the network of alumni and teachers your built during your training. These people are able to introduce you to people potentially interested in your profile. On top of that, since they know you what you are capable of, they can also vouch for you, providing you with credibility.

4. Stay organized

Being organized and keeping your contacts in order is essential. Doing so properly will save you a lot of time and will prevent you from making mistakes. This why getting a CRM solution could be a smart thing to do. This system is a sort of database that stores your contacts such as agents or casting directors. But what makes it truly useful, is the fact that you can write down precise information about each person. For instance, when to call them, are they looking for a particular profile in the near future? With this information you are equipped to work efficiently. Then you a set a list of actions to take, which mainly consists of who to call when.