# How did you?



## Amiers (Mar 20, 2019)

how did you transition from freelance to a real steady job?

What did you like the most about it as well as hate?

What steps did you take to retrain your body to 9-5?

And the most important thing. 

Why did you do it besides money and stability?


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## seanandkate (Mar 20, 2019)

Teaching was my transitional route away from freelance. Oddly, I was finding more work in lighting than I was having success getting into a teachers college in Ontario. I've now been teaching theatre arts for 27 years, so I think the transition stuck. I love working with students and instilling in them a love for theatre and the craft behind it. With a technical background, I have a skill-set that VERY few theatre arts teachers up here do. Most seem to come directly from university or from acting backgrounds. The politics of education make me crazy. I usually say that I love teaching; it's the JOB that makes me nuts. But the stability of teaching is very appealing. Retraining my body was moderately easy as the structure of a year at teachers college tenderized my circadian rhythm again, so it was a pretty easy segue. I still have to remind myself occasionally that my student technicians are still teenagers and can't put in the stupid hours that were common in my earlier life. 

The big why? Most importantly for me, it allowed me to _combine _my love of teaching and my love of creating pretty pictures with light like I used to. The venues aren't as large as my pre-teaching stuff, but the challenge remains the same. And it worked out doubly for me--my wife, a former stage manager at the Stratford Festival (Kate Greenway, in case you ever crossed paths @RonHebbard ) and I met at teachers college. Celebrating our 25th anniversary in May!


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## ruinexplorer (Mar 25, 2019)

Amiers said:


> how did you transition from freelance to a real steady job?



I'm not sure if anything in entertainment is truly "real steady" outside of academia.


> What did you like the most about it as well as hate?



Predictability of what the next paycheck would be like. Not feeling like I have to take absolutely everything since you never know when work will dry up. But, it also means that I never know if there will be that complete show stopper that will make me be competing with a lot of other technicians who are also hard up for work at the same time.


> What steps did you take to retrain your body to 9-5?



Never did. When I did the whole AV thing, mornings always killed me. I did better when I could work the night shift (hotel AV).


> And the most important thing.
> 
> Why did you do it besides money and stability?



Besides money/stability (very important as the primary bread winner of the family), it was about the people and experience. Some of the people who work call-to-call can be reckless and unsavoury. There are some whom I still call friends and keep in touch on a regular basis, but there were the others that made me want to keep my distance. In my steady position, it is more office politics (you know who you will deal with before you get to work). On the other hand, going from one "steady" job to the next has been a better way for me to hone my craft (even though I didn't know where I was headed). I also have the freedom to still freelance when I want to.


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## John Scrip (Apr 11, 2019)

I can't even imagine 9-5... Not in this industry.


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## TheaterEd (Apr 11, 2019)

I have been working as a high school PAC manager for nine years now and as a father of two I wish I would have trained my body to work 9-5 by now. Mornings still suck, and my days are often 7a - 10p. But... summers off? As far as adjusting goes, I'm still generally up until midnight four nights of the week, but usually will end up passing out at 8 on one of the nights to 'catch up' on sleep.

I chose to go this route because I love teaching and working with high school students. They are going through some tough years and I like that I can help them work through it. My paycheck is exactly the same every 1st and 15th of the month, and I can still take the occasional freelance job when it's something that I really Want to do. It feels really good being able to say "no" to projects that don't interest me though. 

As was stated before, I love the theater work, and working with the kids. The rest of the job can really suck the fun out of it, so I try to focus on taking care of that in the morning when I'm a grump anyways.


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## SteveB (Apr 11, 2019)

"Real Steady" doesn't necessarily mean "9-5". 

Many like myself, work a steady gig as in-house FT employees at a facility - road house, production company, etc... but work wacky hours. In some cases it's a steady check as we (me) might be salaried. Others might be hourly but guaranteed a minimum salary. Still, those wacky hours. 

I've only recently (past 2 years) transitioned to a more regular 9-5 type schedule as our roadhouse undergoes renovation. On one hand I like it as I see my wife both days on a weekend, as well as can schedule activities with friends who also have weekends off. OTOH, I used to do 12-18 hr. days on weekends, with much better car commuting times, and then had 3 days off starting Monday. I liked some of that aspect. Now I spend at least 11-12 hrs. commuting per week, that's much more time sitting in a car and sucks. 

I got this particular job by responding to an advertisement in "Backstage Magazine" a few decades ago. It's an odd-ball tenured technical position as head electrics/Lighting Director at a producing and rental theater. Thus the long hours at times, but it has great benefits and a pension that I will be using in not too many years. Outside of becoming a member of IATSE, you have few choices to make it thru a lifetime career - full time academia either teaching or technical, IATSE, or a shop/production company that needs FT. 

In my experience, being a non-union freelance technician will not A) Give you a retirement pension unless you are very, very astute with what you do with your money, B) Cost you for medical benefits, C) Make it hard to do the "American Dream" things like buy a house, raise a family, etc.... there's just too many variables to make those 2 things possible. Medical insurance that you pay out of pocket for 100%, for a family, is just too expensive to try to cover on non-union pay. Add a mortgage (if you can get one) and it's really, really difficult. 

So in answer to how to transition to 9-5. It's easy. You just do it 'cause it's a steady check. Period. If you want to make it to retirement at age 65, you just do it no BS. And as note, 65 as a goal is a tough goal as this is a business that is hard on the body. I've too many colleagues with many, many health issues. Bad shoulders. Bad hips. Torn tendons etc... in wrists, arms, knees, etc.... bad ankles. Bad knees. Diabetes from too little exercise combined with bad diet resulting from schedule and eating habits that the odd schedule aggravates. 

This thread comes to mind

https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/drill-recommendation-for-aging-tech.45395/#post-397136


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## MNicolai (Apr 11, 2019)

_How did you transition from freelance to a real steady job?_
> Got some entry-level work with an AV design/build shop. I had some CAD experience that moved me up the chain into a design role after a year or so, and I was cheap labor so nobody cared if I spent a few days here and there doing focused research on learning Revit, studying system designs and new products, or coming up with a cool spreadsheet to do projector calcs, cost estimating breakdowns, conduit sizing, etc. This was right out of college and I was never fully dependent on freelance work so it was a little smoother transition than someone who's been freelancing for several years.

What did you like the most about it as well as hate?
> Likes: Reliable paycheck, benefits, a matched 401k, paid time off. I traveled out of town often enough to help on-site with project installations but was never out of town for more than 2ish weeks at a time. Now that I'm strictly doing design work, most of my travel is day-trips with the occasional 3-4 day trip to a tradeshow or another regional office for client meetings.

> Dislikes: I went from a world where the average commitment was anywhere between a single evening and a few months. Now almost all of my projects are a 2-6 month design effort, a 2-3 year construction process, and a project may still require my attention another 1-2 years after completion. It's a marathon, not a race. There's no such thing as striking a show and accomplishing finality before you have to move onto the next thing

_What steps did you take to retrain your body to 9-5?_
> I haven't. I pendulum back and forth every 6-8 weeks between being a night owl or an early bird. Getting into a regular groove of running or going to the gym usually helps though when I need to slap back my rhythm into something more human.

_Why did you do it besides money and stability?_
> I've always been a better technical expert than an artist, and I didn't want to push boxes around or go on tour. Consulting's been a good way to get the most out of myself while offering enough stability and paid time off that if I want to take a freelance gig on the side I can still scratch that itch for the art. Many reasons do come back to money and stability, especially for long-term financial planning. I'm sure I'll still be doing projects into my 60's because that's how I am, but I'd much rather be doing that because I want to -- not because I need the money. For that reason, I have a FIRE spreadsheet (Financial Independence/Retire Early) and have financial goals charted out into my 80's and a hope to ramp down my work schedule somewhere in my mid/late 50's.


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## Amiers (Apr 11, 2019)

Well thank you everyone for all the good answers.

I took a job with a rental shop for a FT lighting tech. The shop is literally right down the street from my house 5 min drive. 

I agree with everyone that a nice steady paycheck and benefits was the main draw to taking this job. 

I’m still trying to get used to the hours. But as with everything it just takes time. 

My only qualm is the shop is concrete so I need to look into some decent footwear cause my shoes just aren’t cutting it.


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## MNicolai (Apr 11, 2019)

Tennis shoes are your friend though you may want something with composite toes if you're doing heavy lifting.

If you find yourself standing in one spot continuously, anti-fatigue floor mats are your friend. Tall swivel chairs or stools are nice too near workbenches.


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