The voice over industry is certainly a fabulous line of work, but the day to day lifestyle isn’t necessarily for everyone. While there are glamorous gigs, famous clients, and flexible work schedules, there are also long hours, irregular work flows periodically, and nearly no structure to the work day. A good or interesting natural speaking voice is great place to start — but there are still other factors to consider!
Realistically, there isn’t a job that is completely perfect all the time. Even someone’s dream job would get old after a while. Like other professions in the entertainment industry, voice acting takes a lot of time for not a lot of recognition.
For those who are considering getting into voiceovers, there are these questions to first consider:
1. Are you willing to work more than a 9am - 5pm job? If not, you might have a hard time as a full time voice actor! Some of the most talented and successful voice actors I know are up before dawn and can often be found recording work for clients well into the night. Sure, there are breaks throughout the day, but you should expect periods of feast and famine.
2. Is your interest in voiceovers likely to be short-lived? While it’s hard to predict this one, maybe you can instead ask yourself how long you’ve wanted to get into voiceovers. Before you found out about voice acting, did you pay attention to commercials and radio talk shows? Did you like audiobooks for the good narrators, or did you ever work on impersonations? If you weren’t going to get paid to do voice-overs, would you still do them for fun because you enjoy the creative process?
3. Can you spend a lot of time alone? Voice actors spend a lot of time in solitude! Many people feed off the face-to-face interactions that come from working in an office, but most voice actors only communicate with clients through email or phone. The joke that voice actors are most comfortable in a padded cell holds truth! You should be comfortable working independently, and it certainly helps to be self-motivated.
4. If you’re not prepared to take a risk. Investing in professional voice acting is like investing in acting. Most people who take acting classes never make it to the big screen. Unlike film acting, the voice over industry is readily expanding, and new niches are evolving all the time. Podcasts, video games, and audio books are just three areas of voice overs that are rapidly developing. While new jobs are being posted every day, there is no guarantee that you will start getting voice over work the day your voice over training finishes. Planning ahead and securing your finances will only increase your chances of success in the long run.
Learn how to get more work in voice overs today! If you want to improve your voice over career skills, get all the details you need here with us today!
