How to Become a Hollywood Assistant

Breaking into Hollywood as an assistant takes time and patience. Don't expect to drive out to LA and land a job within the first week; it can take weeks or even months to acquire one. This is because the type of job you get will depend on your experience and/or connections in entertainment. For example, it can be difficult to get a job off the "UTA job list" straight out of college because most of those jobs require previous experience.

However, here are a few ways to get your foot in the door, and get your Hollywood career started!

1. Use any and all connections you have. Family, friends, associates, anything! If you have any connections (even remote ones) that you can use to land a job use them first. If your mom's, good friends', nephew's wife is an exec at Fox, she may be able to give you a job with no experience at all. This is ideal as you can jump right into a good job, skipping all of the other options listed below.

2. Work at an agency. Agencies (such as WME, UTA, CAA, etc.) have assistant training programs and will take college graduates with little to no experience in entertainment. You will interview with the HR department and (if you are accepted) you will be trained for 2 weeks or so and end up in the mail-room or as a floater (which is a temporary assistant who works at any desk that is open). Once you've been there a little while you will be assigned to a desk as a full-time assistant to an agent. Typically people work at agencies for 1-2 years before moving on to a studio, production company or whatever the next step is for them.

3. Become a temp. A "temp" is a temporary assistant who works at different companies who just need someone to fill a temporary gap in employment (e.g. they just fired an assistant and need someone to cover the desk for 2 weeks until the new assistant starts). Sometimes a temp job can turn into a full-time job. Some of the more popular temp agencies are: Friedman Agency, Ad Personnel & Staffmark. Even if you don't love your temp job, it will pay the bills until you find the job you really want.

4. Intern at a growing company. If you work for free somewhere that is expanding, the internship may turn into a full-time job. Sometimes executives at a fledgling management or production company will have interns answer phones and schedule meetings, which is the bread and butter of being an assistant. Working for free obviously isn't ideal, but in a tough economy it may be the quickest way for someone new to break in.

5. Take what you can get. If all else fails, find a company in the field you are interested in and just get your foot in the door. Work in business affairs, legal affairs or as a receptionist. It is possible to start this way and move laterally into another area of the company. The key to this strategy is to be honest about your goals in the interview. You should find out right away if the company will grow or if your future boss would give you the opportunity to move up.