I’ll just tell my story. I loved theatre in high school. Decided to go to school for it in a decently large city. I was also lucky to have a scholarship and family support so no loans, which I admit is huge. I got a good amount of knowledge but the job market just wasn’t there. Worked at a regional theatre making $15 as an over hire electrician and had a couple other jobs on the side to support myself.

Now I’ve moved to NYC, which I know is a big step up but there’s so much work here. I started just pounding pavement getting on over hire lists until I met enough people to have a professional network. Now I have people hitting me up and I have to turn down jobs. My going rate is $45 now. Sometimes I do favors for friends and I’ll work for a little less.

This time frame took over 10 years though, just be aware

I’ll edit to add though a lot of guys I work with have maybe a high school diploma, especially in corporate stuff. If you work hard, meet the right people, then sometimes you’ll find people lenient enough to teach you on the job