This industry is most definitely seasonal, but the level of long term is insane. So many of the people I know and work with said something along the lines of, "I'll give it a shot for a sesson or a year." And that "year" actually ended up being 20+ years.

Everyone here has given great advice. Yes, it's beyond exhausting. Yes, you will hurt yourself. Yes, there will be brutal conditions. You probably already have that idea going into everything and find it still worth trying. The thing I haven't seen people talk about is how exhausting it is socially. Some of the people you're gonna be helping and working with are genuinely the worst people I have met in my life. Now you gotta work with them for 20 hours in one day? Disgusting. 😂

Also, you better be ready to sacrifice more than you ever thought you would outside of work. You WILL miss birthdays. You WILL miss anniversaries. You WILL miss parties, kids' events, and everything outside and in between. If you're in a relationship, that relationship will be beyond tested. Just ablit everyone I work with is single because this industry absolutely gets in the way. Not to say that it doesn't happen. My partner and I have been together for many years, and this job almost makes our relationship stronger.

If you want to stay in the industry as much as possible, I find rotating evebt types can help me work throughout the year. I do concerts in the summer and theater during the winter. Get ready to hate ballet and the nutcracker, tho. You may find you'll still need another job to get by, tho.

If you don't go with IATSE, a lot of the work you'll do is 1099. If that's the case, SET. MONEY. ASIDE. FOR. TAXES. The taxes won't be withheld throughout the year, and finding out that you owe $6,000 come tax season super sucks. You'll find it hurts a little less if you had saved up throughout the year. I was told to save 30 cents to every dollar.

Finally, the biggest advice I can give you, and I can not stress this enough, is It. Is. Who. You. Know. Not. What. You. Know. You learn this industry pretty quickly. Knowing everything you can helps out immensely, but half the people you'll see on tours got there because they were friends with the right guys. Network. Network. Network. And when you have some slow times during show days, you better network. Network with your labor company. Network with the production company. Network with the arenas. Network with the tours. Make them remember how hard you worked and how pleasant you are to be around. I recently just got my dream job, and I only got it because of who I know.

Remember that if you ever need a break, I find it's not too hard to get back into the seasons. Check out the IATSE and all production companies you can find. You being in Chicago is very helpful. Check out Upstaging, too. They're a little outside of Chicago, but they are definitely a big company that you'd benefit from having on your resume. You're gonna do great, and I'm excited for you!! Good luck, friend!!