QUICK TIPS for models

Quick tips for young models to help them kickstart their professional career.

- If you have any skin or hair problems, get rid of them beforehand, preferably consulting beauty specialists.

- Make sure your body stays fit and well groomed. If you are overweight or experience any other problems, attend a swimming pool or a fitness-center.

- Try to get a closer look at modeling world. Flip through magazines, watch fashion show reports, etc. Try to talk to established models if you can, but remember that their opinions are purely personal and are not necessarily correct.

- Determine how much time you can devote to modeling, if you must attend to other activities (study, job, etc). Determine if you are willing to relocate to another city or country for a period of time.

Relationship with Your Agency

- Modeling agencies are divided into two categories depending on specialization of models that they represent:

- full-service, representing models of various specifications;

- specialized agencies, representing models of a certain specializations (plus-size, body-part, etc).

- Agencies can also be divided into those who hold their own model database and those who are purely mediators.

- When signing up with the agency, make sure you discuss every aspect of your relationship and the types of jobs that you agree to perform.

- Always maintain constant connection with your agency. Keep your agency informed of all the changes in your life (relocations, family status, vacations out of town, etc).

- If you plan a visit to your agency, please call to agree on the best suitable time.

- If you plan to change your looks, consulting your agency is mandatory.

- Always maintain good ethics in your behavior and opinions when communicating with other models and agency representatives.

Casting and Jobs

- Clothes you wear to casting shouldn’t be bright, multicolored or branded

- The same concerns bikini castings. You should wear a two-piece, monochrome bikini.

- Make sure your body is well-groomed, your hair clean, it is advisable to have your nails painted with colorless nail-polish, when attending a casting.

- You should visit cosmetologist 3 or 4 days before the casting. Your skin may not have enough time to adapt.

- If this is your first casting don’t walk in first and try not to show up last, watch other models and see how they act.

- Try to join models whose height matches yours.

- If you get a job offering, clarify all issues concerning payment and your job requirements.

- If a job you’re offered doesn’t suit you for any reason, refuse at once providing well-based explanations.

- If you experience any problems during your job, consult your agency. Don’t make any decisions without careful consideration.

- You should come to work makeup-less, with clean hair and no nail polish.

A Model’s Handbag

- Always take a make-up kit, a shawl, a make-up removal lotion, and hair-clips to a job or a casting. You will be working with a make-up artist, but sometimes you may be allergic to his cosmetics.

- It is advisable to take an extra pair of beige and black-colored lingerie, maybe a robe and a towel.

- Buy a modeling notebook to keep track of your casting schedule, jobs, financial calculations, etc.

- Your deodorant should be scentless and leave no marks.

- Always carry a needle with black and white threads with you.

Relationship with Client

- If you are offered to perform a type or amount of work which hasn’t been previously agreed upon, you should politely explain that it hasn’t been mentioned in your contract and call your agency to clarify the situation. Don’t make any independent decisions. It may harm your career, your reputation and your agency.

-You may receive conflicting instructions from different people during your work. Do not worry or argue – this is a creative process. Try maintaining good humor and reacting to different situations calmly.Never accept direct payment from the client if it hasn’t been agreed beforehand with your agency.

- Refuse if the client offers you to work directly in future. You are signed up with the agency and it should handle all your contracts. Otherwise, you may get into in tacky situations.

- Don’t leave your phone numbers or other contact information to clients or any other third parties.

Contracts and Finances

You may come across the following types of contracts:

- Exclusive modeling contract (the model is obliged to cooperate only with one certain agency)

- Open contract (the model has the right to cooperate with several agencies at the same time)

- One-time contract (the deal which is signed to perform a certain one time job or project)

- In you have any doubts, get a lawyer’s advice concerning contract items.

- A contract should cover all the financial conditions, the type of work, the expiration date and the obligations of parties.

- If you want to end the contract make sure you have no financial obligations before your agency or any additional contracts for any jobs or projects. Otherwise you may have to pay a one-time compensation for disruption of work.

- If you do not hold a contract with the agency or are holding an open contract and are in for a serious project or job, you should sign a one-time agreement covering a job type, an amount and a time of payment. That is a regular procedure and legitimate agencies won’t be evading it.

- A contract allows you to solve emerging problems by legal means.

- If you are in debt with the agency try to cover it with your first royalties so that you won’t have any financial obligations in future.

Portfolio

- Always carry a copy of your portfolio with you.

- Take new shoots every six months.

- If you want to obtain professional photos, refrain from using pictures taken by “friends” or photographers with shady reputation.

- Try to keep track of the way your agency uses your photos. The agency has no right to use your photos without your consent, if your contract doesn’t indicate otherwise.

- Don’t forget to update your portfolio with tests, demonstration photos, ads, interviews, etc.

- Don’t sign any deals with photographers or any third parties without your agency’s permission.