What are the steps to becoming an entertainment/talent agent?

From the following site: WikiAnswers - How do you become a talent agent (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_become_a_talent_agent)


Becoming a Talent Agent

I assume that when you ask that you mean talent agents at big firms in New York or L.A that represent the famous of the famous and the best of the best.

This is one of the most difficult careers to get into, in fact it is nearly impossible unless you have amazing social skills and a gift of gab like no other. You also have to be able to work your off.

So how do you do it?

1. Get a 4 year degree. In anything. Business, Film, English, political sciences... anything.

2. Make sure you know someone, or someone who knows someone in the entertainment industry in LA or New York. This will get you an interview at one of the agencies to work in the mailroom. One interesting thing about the agency business is that you never get hired right off the bat to be an agent. You start at the bottom, in the mailroom. The work is grueling, and if you so much as sneeze or call someone "higher" than you by he wrong name, you are OUT OF THERE.

3. If you shine in the mailroom, and I mean SHINE, for about 1-2 years, then you get upgraded to the oh-so-glamorous position of assistant to an agent, or even a junior agent. This means 18 hour workdays and many odd tasks from finding a certain type of candy that is only sold in some strange, dark part of LA just because some junior agent's kid wanted it to balancing 9 phone calls on and off sometimes for 6 hours at a time. But if you make it, and you get promoted to junior agent, then it's a happy ride from there on out.

4. After junior agent the next step is agent, and then if your amazing at what you do, partner. It's a good life if you can make it to step one, but before you even start make sure you got the biggest balls of anyone you know, and you also happen to be the best talker.

You also might want to check out the following sites:

Talent Agent Job Profile (http://www.jobprofiles.org/arttalentagent.htm)

How to Become a Talent Agent, Starting a Talent Agency, Scouting Talents, Representing Talents -Models, Artists, Musicians (http://www.stylecareer.com/talent_agent.shtml)