Talent Agent Uses Perseverance, Savvy to Represent Hollywood’s Elite

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to become a talent agent?

Take an unpaid internship. That will give you a true sense of what it is like to work [at the agency]. It could turn into a paid apprenticeship. Think long range, not short term. The amount of time that a person will need to apprentice will depend on the size of the agency. Keep the mindset that you will not make a lot of money initially. Many large talent agencies hire young men who just graduated from Harvard to work in the mailroom at $100 a week. Many of them have graduate and law degrees. They know if they invest their time now that in three to six years, they will have their own client list and make $250,000-plus a year for the next twenty years.

Resources:
Agentassociation.com — a non profit trade association that represents top talent agencies.
Career.Berkley.edu – A graduate from the University of California, Berkeley describes the talent agent industry.
Stylecareer.com/talent_agent.shtml — Talent agency industry overview.
Talent-link.com/Joomla/founder — Information about Vince Paul, founder of Talent Link, a black-owned talent agency and author of “The Talent Guide: Launching Your Career in the Commercial, Film, and Fashion Industriesâ€