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Side jobs
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Neil K. Hess
Contributore Level V


Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 184
Location: Washington State

PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 11:57 am    Post subject: Side jobs Reply with quote

I am curious what side jobs folks have had or would recommend while growing their VO business? (Yes I have searched the archives for this topic)
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heyguido
MMD


Joined: 31 Aug 2011
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Location: RDU, the Geek Capitol of the South

PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One that pays. Laugh
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"Wait.... They wanna PAY me for this?"
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Kristin Lennox
Flight Attendant


Joined: 30 Apr 2011
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PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I was right out of college, I did the Waiting Tables/Temping thing, which is what every unemployed actor did. I was focused on stage acting, and both of these jobs gave me the flexibility to still do theater...

However, the money was never great. On a whim, I took a month-long certification course in tutoring children with learning disabilities, and that started me on a long and VERY rewarding career in tutoring -- at first I was employed by the company that certified me, but soon I had enough referrals that I could be my own boss. I LOVED working with kids, helping them find their individual paths to learning... plus the money was quite good, so I only had to work maybe 10-15 hours per week.

I stopped taking on new students around 2000, and stopped tutoring altogether a few years after that. I still pursue stage-acting (in fact, I just got cast in a play that starts rehearsing in August... woot!) ... But I refer to VO as my "real" job, paying the bills while I search for the ever-elusive stage-roles. cool
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Lee Gordon
A Zillion


Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 6843
Location: West Hartford, CT

PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 12:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What kind of job would you have or look for if you had no interest in voiceover? That's the one.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
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Jeffrey Kafer
Assistant Zookeeper


Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 4931
Location: Location, Location!

PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Worked at Microsoft for 10 years as a video game tester. No, it's not nearly as awesome as it sounds.
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Yonie
CM


Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 906

PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 4:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jeff, to my ears it sounds tedious as hell.
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Scott Pollak
The Gates of Troy


Joined: 01 Jun 2010
Posts: 1903
Location: Looking out at the San Juan mountains

PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 6:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As weird as this sounds, as I transitioned toward doing v/o fulltime, I was what is called a "standardized test patient".

A company that runs tests on primarily foreign medical students here in the U.S. hires people of all ages, sizes, shapes, colors, etc - from about age 17 on up to 80 - to portray a particular patient in a highly defined role. I played two radically different patients, one was a homeless alcoholic (who drank 2 bottles of wine and 2 six-packs a day!) and the other was a married businessman with a chronic cough.

Anyway, we worked in a very nice, comfortable environment with about 2 dozen rooms that simulated a medical office exam room and we'd have these medical students come in, examine us and ask questions. After they left the room we'd grade them on a wide criteria of interpersonal skills. The job paid extremely well, with very flexible hours. Problem is, there are only about 6 cities this company does this in, AND they have to have a need for someone of your age and demographics before you can get hired. But I did it for a year and a half before taking the full-time plunge into v/o.
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

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vkuehn
DC


Joined: 24 Apr 2013
Posts: 688
Location: Vernon now calls Wisconsin home

PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2013 9:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a followup to your "Standardized Test Patient" Scott, we have a morbid and sad family story that comes out once in a while as actually be humorous.

My daughter's father-in-law in retirement worked as a "Simulation Patient" as they were called where they live. He was coached on how to feed bread-crums of hints to the medical student in training about "fake" illnesses.

And then very unexpectedly he was taken to the University Hospital and a few days later he died. I gather the autopsy report was lengthy. Here's the "sick" humor: He really didn't need to make up problems. He should have just told the young doctors how he felt without the coaching. He had a long, long, long list of issues... but most of us had no idea. I assumed he was going to out live me!

Cause of death: Oh, let me express it the way only my offspring could phrase it: "His aorta exploded."

O.K. Sorry I asked, my dear. Without any coaching or telling of this story, within six months my own doctor sent me to the hospital for a routine test: Sonogram of the Aorta. Had one of those? Sound effects like some kind of video game.
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imaginator
The Thirteenth Floor


Joined: 10 Nov 2004
Posts: 1348
Location: raleigh, nc

PostPosted: Wed May 15, 2013 3:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

...once past college, my "side jobs" were all related to VO in some way or another: radio station work (which, i realize, hardly exists anymore...not in the way i experienced it), audio production in my home (you need a bit of equipment to make that work), and script writing/on camera acting for corporate video.

don't know if that helps, but it's at least one example where you don't have to stray far from your main interests.
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NeilTheVoice



Joined: 14 May 2013
Posts: 3
Location: London

PostPosted: Wed May 15, 2013 3:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Like others, audio production for radio stations was a sideline for a while, also did video editing - both can be lucrative, but as with building to a full time v/o they take time to build up. For instant cash, I found going back to my student days helpful - being a bartender at TGI's!! Good tips, good fun and evening work, so could concentrate on v/o stuff during the day.
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JackB
Contributor


Joined: 11 Feb 2012
Posts: 28
Location: Chicago, IL

PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 12:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a part time job walking dogs. My employers are really sympathetic to the whole aspiring artist thing. I walk like 3 dogs a day.
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Quicksilver
Been Here Awhile


Joined: 29 Oct 2012
Posts: 217

PostPosted: Fri May 17, 2013 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scott Pollak wrote:
As weird as this sounds, as I transitioned toward doing v/o fulltime, I was what is called a "standardized test patient".


Like Kramer in that Seinfeld!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Burning_%28Seinfeld%29

The cough sounds better...

I'm a radio bum that voice tracks 4 shows a day. 18 hours of hosted radio across 4 formats every day. Takes me an hour and a half and the rest of the day is VO. I wouldn't recommend going for the radio gig though, isn't exactly booming.
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Scott Pollak
The Gates of Troy


Joined: 01 Jun 2010
Posts: 1903
Location: Looking out at the San Juan mountains

PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2013 12:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quicksilver wrote:

Like Kramer in that Seinfeld!


Almost exactly!!

Quicksilver wrote:

I'm a radio bum that voice tracks 4 shows a day. 18 hours of hosted radio across 4 formats every day. Takes me an hour and a half and the rest of the day is VO. I wouldn't recommend going for the radio gig though, isn't exactly booming.


And... of course.... they're giving you four paychecks for those four shows, right? Since - after all - you are SAVING them the salaries of four other people, right?

Wink
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

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Bailey
4 Large


Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 4336
Location: Lake San Marcos... north of Connie, northwest of the Best.

PostPosted: Sun May 19, 2013 10:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

side jobs?... I've been doing "very" part time security work for 6 years. Stay away from banks and strip malls... totally boring.
Charger and SDSU football games, county fair, home shows, antique shows, gun shows, if people pay admission I've probably worked there. And if the hours are right... Comic Con! I've only been in one fight at a football game... since then I've only worked coat & tie at games.(I don't carry.)

Botton line... I don't need the money, but I've met several people that work 2 & 3 jobs just to make ends meet.
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ZNCramer



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 20

PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2013 7:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I program music for a Classical Radio station, and host a weekday show from 2p-6p.
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