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• Hey Guys,
  
  I know this was posted a while ago but I thought I'd give a little update. Well, this was my problem a couple months ago now and I was pretty down but after reading all this great advice I made my decision. I quit my retail job and went on the work experience. I got a job at my local pub and told my boss upfront that I was looking for arts sector work - he was really cool about it.
  
  So I did my work experience, got a good reference from the theatre and within a couple of weeks I got offered my new job: marketing and sales intern for a theatre in education company.
  
  Again, thanks for all the great advice. Without it I may have stayed in retail rather than pursuing my dream job. :)

  

  lucyelizabethbishop , Marketer , 20/03/14 , 831 AP

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• Congratulations on being offered an internship with the company - you can, at the very least, take pride in knowing that you earned a position which is very competitive.
  
  Please take my critique with a grain of salt - while familiar with the performance arts industry, I don't know the ins and outs of theatre. Perhaps you have already tried this, but is there no way to negotiate with the company about a flexible schedule? I know that theatres run on a very hectic basis, so correct me if I'm wrong thinking this - but surely there must be a way to accommodate people, especially when they will be doing free work.
  
  I completely understand that we need to do unpaid work (not that it is right) in the arts industries - I aggressively pursued an internship with a paper and that was a wonderful experience; it also added some clout to my employability. I also understand sacrificing everything for our art. But people can't starve. Arts companies know that things are a struggle at the best of times and despite how fulfilling this experience may be, I would question the ethics of a company that didn't offer any flexibility whatsoever - there must be a way to work around this and find a solution, so that you can keep a source of income (which in turn enables you to do more arts-related things) as well as gain from this experience. I truly wish you the best and hope you find work which you love and which you are appreciated for! Hang in there :)

  

  Lucy A. Armstrong , Writer , 20/02/14 , 1,575 AP

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• I don't think it's a good idea to give up a stable job for work experience. There's always transferable work experience that your job can give you. It's so hard to get a job these days so it's better to keep hold of what you got. As for specific skills, there's always freelance.

  

  Sharm_Sch , Writer , 20/02/14 , 548 AP

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• I feel your pain. I know I couldn't give up my job for just two weeks work experience. Think about trying to rearrange the experience for a time when you can get the time off. But also, don't feel disheartened it might feel like it, but we don't only all get one opportunity.

  

  MollyCrawford , Writer , 19/02/14 , 347 AP

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• Really good advice with the sense of humour -- so many people I know managed to land with really good jobs over others with more experience on the fact that they clicked with the interviewer.

  

  Bella Cockrell , Illustrator , 19/02/14 , 992 AP

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