* This post is an excerpt from the new book Voice Acting For Dummies written by Stephanie and David Ciccarelli. Whether you’re brand new or a veteran, I promise you’ll learn a lot! *
No matter whether you’ve been in the voice acting business for a while or are just starting out, if you don’t know where to find the work, then you’re going to be unemployed for quite a while. Even if you know where to find the work, but don’t know what kind of work you want to do, then you’ll also be in trouble. Voice acting has so many different criteria that factor into it, including the vocal requirements, creative direction, and more that if you aren’t sure, you may have a difficult time growing your business as a voice actor. Becoming knowledgeable and being selective can serve you well as you navigate through the thousands of opportunities that may come your way.
One of the best ways to uncover voice-over work is to have an online presence and have a website or create a profile on an online marketplace. That way, opportunities that match your profile are sent to you for consideration. Chapter 9 discusses creating a website or joining an online marketplace. This chapter can help you find auditions, how to read job postings, and how to determine which jobs are a good fit for your abilities and interests.
Finding and Reviewing Job Postings
The good news: With the Internet, voice-over job postings are just a click away. You can find voice-over jobs in quite a few places online, including the following:
- www.craigslist.com
- www.elance.com
- www.guru.com
- www.odesk.com
- www.voices.com
When reviewing a job posting for voice acting, some bits of information are more important than others. As you gain more and more experience in the voice acting field and look at more and more jobs, you’ll become more experienced at spotting great opportunities that you have a really good shot at landing.
Knowing What To Look For In A Job Posting
When you first see a job posting that interests you, you want to double-check a few key specifications about the job, including the following:
The language or accent required: Verify you can speak the language that the job is calling for. Sometimes a job wants you to speak a language such as Spanish or French. Other times, the client wants a particular accent, such as a British or Australian accent. Pay attention because even though the language states English, you want to double-check the accent requirement.- The gender: On a similar level of importance, clients state in their job postings the gender of voice they want. On the one hand, if the job calls for a deep male announcer and you sound like a teenage girl, you can save yourself the embarrassment and skip the audition. However, if it’s an animation job, you may be able to perform a voice for the opposite gender.
- The work type: Identify the type of work the job listing is for. Different types of work include radio and television commercials, animation for film and cartoons, audiobooks, and so on.
- The deadline to receive auditions: Consider when the client has set the deadline to receive auditions. If you aren’t able to audition in time or are booked solid when the client needs the voice-over recorded, you need to pass on the opportunity. You don’t want to give the impression that you’re available when you aren’t and then potentially disappoint and come across as being unreliable.
- How the client needs the work delivered: Most of the time the client wants it uploaded to a website, but the possibility remains that some clients may require that you have access to ISDN, phone patch, or Source-Connect.
- Pay rate: This may be the deal maker or deal breaker for some people. Does the pay line up with the amount of work required? Look for a budget range, for instance between $100 and $250 for shorter recordings and a range of $500 to $1,000 for longer projects. (Refer to the later section, “Paying attention to the pay,” to help you know whether to audition or not based on the pay.)
After you review a few job postings, you can get better at scanning them for these details.
Spotting Vital Project Information Before An Audition
Job postings provide important information about the client and project. By thoroughly reviewing this information, you can fully grasp what is required before submitting your audition. Figuring out whether or not you can meet these needs is a very important decision to make.
Understanding how to find jobs is important. Are you ready to learn more about voice acting? To discover more about this exciting field and about the book, visit VoiceActingForDummies.com.
About The Authors
Stephanie Ciccarelli and David Ciccarelli are the founders of Voices.com, the largest global web hub for voice actors. Over the past 9 years Stephanie, David, and their team have grown Voices.com from the ground up to become the leader in the industry. This article was originally published in Voice Acting For Dummies and has been republished with permission from John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
* Click here to pick up your copy of Voice Acting For Dummies *
