If you have to work 9 - 5 every day, your chances of getting ahead as an actor will be greatly diminished. You need to be working at something that allows you the flexibility to take off for auditions, and to be absent if you get a part. Most permanent 9 -5 jobs don't allow for that. They want you there, and are not interested in your success at some other career.

If you are living or planning to live in Los Angeles, New York or Chicago, this obstacle is more easily overcome. Those cities offer the actor hundreds of opportunities to support themselves. Employment agencies that supply temporary help are good sources for actors living in those cities. It is understood upfront that you may not be able to work on a permanent basis. These agencies will interview you to see what you are able to do, and then will try to place you. In many cases, the employer pays the agency a fee for the service, so everything you earn is yours.

Other actors, nationwide as well, get jobs in the service industries as waiters, bartenders, janitors and so forth. The money isn't always the best, but you learn to live judiciously until you have succeeded as an actor.

Still others have somehow managed to work full time with companies that tolerate their side interests. These jobs are rare, and if you are skilled enough to have one, consider yourself lucky.

The bottom line is that you will need to know almost exactly how much money you need to live from month-to-month, and make sure you can earn at least that amount. If you don't, you might spend years just trying to survive while the opportunities you encounter pass you by.