Toni Said:

Work Experience or College?

We Answered:

The market for photography is never great. Now with the great recession I wouldn't recommend it as a career field. But what really matters, more than the school is the breaks you get. Schools don't want to tell you that someone with some experience will get the job your applying for over you and all your wonderful college training because that hurts their business. But that is the real truth. You have a rare opportunity to get your foot in the door now. If you turn it down you may learn more about photography than you could ever use. But eduction today does not get employment tomorrow. Experience gets you employed. Take the internship if you really want to be a photographer.

Jimmie Said:

Advice/experiences of working in PR??

We Answered:

Make sure you know how to write well. You'll have to write a lot of press releases, so know how to do that. Also it helps to be personable and flexible; pr is often odd hours as a crisis can happen at any time.

Have fun with your new job!

Lonnie Said:

oh she's only seventeeeen, and completely stuck with too many dreams and ambition, can you help?!xo?

We Answered:

Hiya Daisy - I'm in the UK and my daughter is an actor.
1) you probably won't get millions. Or a lovely house.
2) you probably will never meet influential people
and 3) - if you don't go to drama school your chance of getting any acting work is virtually zero. I'm not talking stage school, where they do turn out little Keira-clones, but proper adult drama school. They teach you technique, how to develop your talent, project you voice, move on stage, learn lines by the thousand, how to advance your own interests in the acting world, etc. They aren't out to turn you into a brainwashed clone - but there is at least 3 years'-worth of stuff that you actually need to know!
Almost all acting jobs are never advertised publicly - they just get sent straight to agents, so without an agent you're unlikely to get anything. But agents are incredibly hard to get.
What most wannabee actors don’t seem to realise is that theatrical agents are not nice, generous people just wanting to help them get top jobs and be happy. They are running a business and are in it primarily for the money. I’m not saying they’re all horrible, but their main aim is to make a profit for themselves. An agent only takes on a certain number of clients, as having too many means that they can’t devote enough time to each one in order to get them good auditions. When they select clients, they obviously look for the ones most likely to earn the highest pay, because they take a percentage of this instead of a fee. If their clients don’t get good roles which pay very well, they don’t earn much either. They know that the actors most likely to get paid big money are those who went to the top drama schools, who have lots of experience both on stage and to camera, and have extra skills such as dancing, singing, stage combat qualifications, speak other languages, can drive, ride horses, etc.
There is no way that any good agent would risk wasting time on anyone with little or no training, experience or other evidence that they are going to be high-earners. They have hundreds of actors to choose from and are always inundated with requests for representation, so they can afford to be as selective as they want.
Many agents will not even allow you through the door unless you have done three years’ training at one of the major drama schools, and getting in to any of them is really hard – they each get up to 4,000 auditionees applying for 24 places every year. Most agents will at least want to see you acting in a public performance before they agree to represent you, so it's a bit of a Catch-22 situation - you can't find work without an agent, but you can't get one until you have work.

I'd advise you to get your A Levels - you'll need a back-up career anyway, as very few actors ever get enough paid work to support themselves financially. After that, you could try for a drama school. But as I've explained, that's really difficult too.
Maybe get a good degree in PR, and do a one-year post-grad in Acting? Many of the big drama schools offer these. It's worth a shot.
Good luck anyway!

Olga Said:

Do you want an amazing internship experience abroad?

We Answered:

The University of Dreams is a bit of a scam, in my opinion. I looked into it but it's incredibly expensive. Although they provide living accomodations for you, they take a nice profit off the top for arranging it.

Janice Said:

This is such a long shot but here goes....?

We Answered:

First of all, PR and journalism are two quite different things. Start to specialise - what exactly do you want to do? What kind of journalism or PR? Then once you have some ideas of the kind of things that appeal, research the companies and organisations who specialise. Call them or write and ask them for a placement. Some companies have work experience schemes / training schemes which are well structured and longstanding, and a good way to get into the company as a paid employee.

Talk to the University careers officer as well, and ask them if they can find you a placement.

You should already be building a portfolio of your writing. Make sure that you are participating with the student newspaper / organising student events etc. Doing this will give you useful experience and something to talk about in job interviews.

The other thing to consider is doing a post-grad qualification in journalism or PR. Choose a course that has a work experience placement built in.

Most importantly, however, decide exactly what it is that you want. Just being clear and focused will impress potential employers and give you a head start.

Good luck!