Are You Planning to Pursue a Career in Modeling? Think Again

If you are currently thinking of pursuing a career in modeling and don’t know how or where to get started or even how to contact an agency for photo shooting opportunities, you have come to the right place.

Before you pursue your dreams, you should think again and ask yourself these 8 very important questions because they will eventually help you on the rest of your journey to stardom:

1. What do you want to achieve by becoming a model?

2. What are you willing to do and sacrifice in order to become one?

3. What category do you want to choose (i.e. teen modeling, commercial, swimwear, fashion, products, plus size, parts, etc.)

4. Do you have enough time, energy and patience to travel for various photo shoots?

5. When you find an agency, what are they are willing to do for you?

7. What do other modeling agencies do for their clients?

8. How will you get your head shot?

Once you have thought about this career choice you wish to pursue, you have a few recommended options.

• One option is to contact a modeling agency.
• The other requires you to create your own agency name and a portfolio. The portfolio can be created online by creating a blog/website of your previous projects.
• After the first step, you must find ways to inform others of your talents and information to essentially get recognized in the competitive modeling market.

If you choose the modeling agency route, we can’t guarantee it will be all be a ‘smooth ride.’ It definitely can have its frustrating moments because there’s the inconvenience of finding a reliable one. Before you start the actual process of finding such an agency, it is advised that you contact a model of some sort in your area to get an idea of the kinds of experiences that you should expect. The fact that you can easily find agencies in phone books and online makes finding one that fits your needs a lot easier. Once you find favorable information, contact some of the agencies and make an appointment interview with them. This can be the most difficult part of the process. But as long as you’re rigid yet confident, the agency shouldn't have a problem helping you with your desires of becoming a model.

After you decide to go the agency route, you should schedule an appointment for a couple of head shots with an experienced and professional photographer—or you may already have head shots of your own. But, it should be stated that the head shots should be of quality and more glamorous than many typical photos you would take with an everyday camera. You will also be entitled to create your own portfolio. Needless to say, an agency can take your head shots and help you create a portfolio if you wish.

A model does not necessarily have to be beautiful in order to gain success. The opposite rule can also be applied: beautiful models can also fail to gain long term success. The difference had more to do with what that has been going on inside their mind and determination. So what does all of this mean for you? It means that the key to success in the modeling business is only partially based on natural physical features.

One specifically crucial part of your process is to do a self analysis. Be sure that your honesty and patience remain a critical part of this analysis. For instance if you have stage fright, perhaps commercial modeling is not the right choice. Look through different popular fashion magazines and get a feel for the work and various pose ideas. I recommend getting a good feel for the different opportunities that exist in the industry in accordance with your looks, height, age and size.

In the beginning it may take some time to find a good break however regardless a model should have patience and determination. The industry itself is no amusement park joy ride, but then what industry is? The industry itself shouldn't make much of a difference anyway because your journey to fulfill your dreams is only in your hands and no one else’s. Good Luck!

Author: Urmila Shukla