A Practical Guide to Starting a Career in Technical Theatre: Section 4
Determine a Base of Operations and Move
At this point, you have constructed, compiled, and refined your Marketing Toolkit for the upcoming job search. That search may involve multiple professional identities – technician, designer, stage manager, or some combination thereof.
Be certain that résumés and business cards for each identity are duplicated and readily accessible. You never know how quickly – or how often – you may need them as you start the next step: targeting your new city and relocating.
The first task is determining your destination. That decision will generally be driven by one (or more) of five criteria:
- A specific job opening you are prepared to fill in a specific city.
- The overall number of potential jobs available in a particular city.
- The quality of life offered by a specific region or city.
- The cost of living apparent in a specific region or city.
- The strength of an existing support system – family, community, or shared interests.
You'll also briefly consider an alternate to working in static venues – working on the road.
Once you've determined your course of action, though, a new set of job-search tasks will follow, both before and after moving your gear from Point A to Point B.
At this stage, however, all the tactics and methodologies outlined in this toolkit converge on a single objective: Equipping you to make an informed decision – determine your new base of operations, and move there.
