{"id":13886,"date":"2010-06-02T14:25:58","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T11:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/model.world\/directory\/?p=13886"},"modified":"2025-03-15T16:52:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T13:52:50","slug":"applying-to-a-modeling-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/applying-to-a-modeling-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"Applying to a Modeling Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

Go see them:<\/em><\/span>
\nIf the agency has open calls, or allows models to personally\u00a0drop off pictures, or you can get an appointment, do that if
\npossible. Pictures are good, but seeing you in person is better.\u00a0There are lots of examples of people who would have been turned\u00a0down from their pictures, but who were accepted when somebody\u00a0actually laid eyes on them in person. When you go to see them,\u00a0wear form-fitting clothes that let the agency get a sense of your\u00a0body proportions. Dress \u201cupscale casual\u201d if possible. This is a\u00a0job interview, and you don\u2019t want to make a bad impression.\u00a0Wear normal daytime makeup or, for fashion agencies, less\u00a0makeup than that.
\nSend them an application:<\/span><\/em>
\nIf the agency does not accept walk-ins, don\u2019t do it. It\u2019s\u00a0annoying, and nobody wants to start off that way. If you must,
\nsend in an application.\u00a0Most agencies have a \u201cChristmas File\u201d. That\u2019s a private file\u00a0that they put the truly awful pictures into. Pictures that are sent\u00a0by people who want to be accepted as models. Some are so bad\u00a0that they are good for a chuckle, or even a hearty belly laugh, and\u00a0what better time to break them out than the holidays.\u00a0Then there is the \u201cround file\u201d: the trash can. The great\u00a0majority of all submissions end up there. A lot of people would\u00a0be consigned to the trash no matter what they did, but some of\u00a0them don\u2019t have to be. It\u2019s possible to give yourself a fighting\u00a0chance. If you don\u2019t want to end up in one of those files, pay\u00a0attention. Here\u2019s what people do wrong, and what you should do\u00a0right.<\/p>\n

What Should Be in the Application:<\/strong>
\n1. Keep it simple. The agency wants to know what you\u00a0look like, what your height and stats (for women,\u00a0bust\/waist\/hips, for men, suit jacket, inseam and waist size)\u00a0and location and age are. You should include eye color, hair\u00a0color, dress and shoe size as well, since they may help. If you\u00a0are currently represented by a real, booking agency\u00a0somewhere, say so.
\n2. If you have extensive professional modeling or acting\u00a0experience, say so. Very briefly. If the basics interest them,\u00a0they may want to know a lot more about you. But they will\u00a0ask. Don\u2019t force it on them at the beginning. It simply wastes\u00a0their time and yours, and you may include things that will hurt\u00a0you, not help. They do NOT want to know that you have\u00a0dreamed of being a model your whole life, that you were third\u00a0runner up in a local beauty pageant, or which high school\u00a0plays you were in. They aren\u2019t interested in how many\u00a0callbacks you received at some model convention. Do not tell\u00a0them you are a graduate of modeling school. They also don\u2019t\u00a0want to know about all the websites you appear on, and don\u2019t\u00a0care that some \u201cmodel exposure\u201d site showcased a picture of\u00a0you.
\n3. Include contact information. At a minimum, your\u00a0telephone number. If you want to also include your address\u00a0and email address you can.
\n4. Don\u2019t ask them to contact someone else about you.\u00a0They want to talk to you (or, if you are a minor, your parents).
\nThe worst thing you can do is say \u201cfor further information\u00a0please call my other agent at . . . .\u201d
\n5. If you are not a citizen of the country you are applying\u00a0to, explain what your visa status is. You must have the legal
\nright to work, and the agency needs to know if you do, or if\u00a0it\u2019s a problem that needs to be taken care of.
\n6. If you don\u2019t live near the agency, explain what your\u00a0plan is, briefly. Sooner or later you are going to have to go\u00a0see them. Tell them about that. If you don\u2019t plan to move,\u00a0don\u2019t bother sending an application.
\n<\/em>7. Include the right kind of pictures.<\/em><\/span> Nobody wants to see\u00a0pictures you happened to have lying around of your vacation,
\nyour prom, or snapshots of you and your friends at a bar.\u00a0Make it look like you at least tried to send something\u00a0specifically tailored for this purpose. If that means getting a\u00a0disposable camera and taking a trip to the drug store, do it.<\/p>\n

Pictures<\/strong>
\nThe best possible pictures to send are tearsheets of you in\u00a0prestigious, paid modeling work of the kind the agency does.
\nShots from Vogue or a national ad campaign beat snapshots every\u00a0time. But most of you won\u2019t have those. If you don\u2019t, call and\u00a0ask the agency what they prefer. Some (mostly fashion agencies)\u00a0will want only simple Polaroid-style snapshots. Others (primarily\u00a0commercial agencies) would prefer well-developed composite\u00a0cards or similar professional pictures. Still, paying lots of money\u00a0for those professional pictures may not be a good investment. It\u2019s\u00a0wise to try an inexpensive approach first. Only after that hasn\u2019t\u00a0worked and you are still determined to pursue modeling should\u00a0you invest in professional pictures.
\n<\/strong>Many aspiring models know what an agency\u2019s stated\u00a0preference for pictures is, but decide to go ahead and get a
\nportfolio anyway. That can hurt a model\u2019s chances, not help.\u00a0Here\u2019s why: «Pictures better than snapshots» have to be excellent\u00a0professional images of the sort the agency uses. If they are the\u00a0wrong style for his market, they fail may make you look like the\u00a0wrong kind of model who cannot be what he needs models to be.
\nThe classic dichotomy is «fashion» vs. «commercial». If a model\u00a0walks into an editorial agency with a bunch of excellent
\ncommercial style pictures, she will be immediately categorized as\u00a0«too commercial» and rejected. If she walks into a commercial\u00a0agency with excellent editorial fashion pictures she may well be\u00a0told she is «too editorial» and rejected. The style of picture defines\u00a0what you are, unless it is clearly a snapshot.\u00a0There is another problem. If you submit snapshots it will be\u00a0evident that you are not an experienced model. That\u2019s not good,\u00a0but it\u2019s not a fatal flaw. If you submit \u201cprofessional pictures\u201d and\u00a0try to look experienced, and the pictures are bad, it says to them\u00a0that you aren\u2019t a person who can attract real paying jobs. Most\u00a0\u201cprofessional portfolio pictures\u201d are bad. Snapshots are better.\u00a0No matter whether you use snapshots or professional pictures,\u00a0keep them to a minimum (three is a good number) and be\u00a0selective in what you sent. You are only as good as your worst shot.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

How to Submit Your Application:
\n<\/strong>Send them a mail application:<\/em><\/span>
\nThe best thing to do is send a postal application. It should\u00a0include pictures and the information described above. If you want\u00a0the pictures back, include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.\u00a0Make sure you write your name, contact information and stats on\u00a0the back of every picture.
\nEmail:<\/em><\/span>
\nBefore you send an agency email, check with them by phone,\u00a0or on their website. Very few agencies prefer email, although
\nthese days many will accept it. Some will not. Most would rather\u00a0get pictures and stats in regular postal mail. Here\u2019s why:
\n1. Many models don\u2019t know how to send an effective\u00a0email. They send pictures in formats the agency can\u2019t read, they
\nsend pictures that are so large they clog the system and won\u2019t fit\u00a0on the screen. They send pictures so small nobody could tell what\u00a0the model looks like. They send pictures only, with no contact\u00a0information except a return email address. (Yes, that\u2019s a\u00a0problem. Agencies want to know where you are.) They send\u00a0emails with no pictures and request the agency email for them if\u00a0interested (fat chance!).\u00a0People with AOL send pictures as attachments. AOL won\u2019t\u00a0let you send pictures to non-AOL subscribers as attachments, so\u00a0the email arrives with text only.\u00a0Or they do things like say, \u201cI\u2019ve been hearing wonderful
\nthings about your agency and would love to work with you.\u201d\u00a0Then the message header shows that it was sent to 47 agencies
\naround the world, including four well-known scams.\u00a0Or they have the message enclosed in another message,\u00a0sometimes three or four layers deep. After clicking on all those\u00a0other emails to get to the message, the pictures had better be
\nwonderful.
\nOr they ask the agency to go to some goofy site with six\u00a0popup ads per page, and the agent has to wade through pages of
\npictures of the model\u2019s boyfriend, puppy and prom night, plus\u00a0read all about her favorite foods, her best friends and the poetry\u00a0she likes to write. Somewhere on the site there might actually be\u00a0pictures of the model and her stats, but it takes time to find it.\u00a0Long before that happens the agent is on to the next email.
\n2. Agencies get lots of spam and viruses. Agency email\u00a0addresses are harvested by spammers and show up in lots of
\npeople\u2019s computers, so it\u2019s not unusual for an agency to get\u00a0hundreds of spam messages, and several to hundreds of viruses
\nevery day in their email. They don\u2019t want to pay someone to go\u00a0through all that, so they use automated virus and spam filters to\u00a0get rid of most of their email. Lots of model submissions look\u00a0like spam, and are deleted before they are ever read. Some of\u00a0them with attachments are treated as viruses. Nobody wants to\u00a0open attachments from someone they don\u2019t know.
\n3. Email inboxes get clogged. Agencies get so many\u00a0submissions (and spam, and viruses) that their inbox can get full
\nand they may never see your email.
\n4. It\u2019s harder to file your submission and show it to other\u00a0people. No, it\u2019s not impossible. But pieces of paper are easier to
\ndeal with. They fit in file folders that can be passed around.\u00a0Yellow stickies can be added to them. For all the talk of the
\n\u201cpaperless office\u201d, paper is still easier to deal with. You don\u2019t\u00a0want to make it harder.\u00a0Except when time is critical and somebody at the agency is\u00a0expecting something from you, it is almost never the best idea to\u00a0send email. Use the post office<\/p>\n

If you absolutely have to use email, do it right:<\/em><\/span>
\n1. Include pictures embedded in the body of the message,\u00a0or by hyperlink. The link should be to the pictures themselves,
\nnot to some website that the pictures are on.
\n2. Make sure the pictures are the right size and format.\u00a0They should be 450-600 pixels high, and in JPEG format only.\u00a0Do not ZIP or STUFF anything. Do not embed it in some other\u00a0document like a word processing document or .pdf file. If you\u00a0don\u2019t know what any of this means, or how to do it, find someone\u00a0who does, or don\u2019t send email!
\n3. Send an email to each agency individually. It\u2019s not that\u00a0hard. Nobody likes to get an email submission that is sent to
\neveryone else he knows and some he doesn\u2019t want to know.
\n4. If you feel you absolutely have to send the agency a\u00a0link to your website, make sure it is the same as what your\u00a0submission should be: simple and to the point. Don\u2019t make\u00a0anyone wade through extraneous information or click on lots of\u00a0pages to find what they need. Put it on the first page. Put nothing\u00a0else on that page.
\nTelephone:<\/em><\/span>
\nFor the most part, the telephone is for asking questions. You\u00a0can use it to find out if the agency has open calls, how to send\u00a0submissions, what they want to see, what their requirements are.\u00a0You might be able to make an appointment to come in to see\u00a0them, but at most agencies you won\u2019t be able to.
\nCall during business hours<\/em>. Every agency gets calls from\u00a0aspiring models who leave messages at odd times of the night,
\nusually asking for a return call. They get ignored. If you can\u2019t\u00a0call the agency when it is open for business, you can\u2019t be a model.
\nCall for yourself!<\/em> (Or, if you are very young, have your\u00a0parents call for you.) If you have your cousin, some \u201cmanager\u201d
\nnobody has ever heard of or, worse, your boyfriend call for you,\u00a0you are already at a serious disadvantage. The agency wants to\u00a0know why you aren\u2019t calling for yourself (are you not able to?\u00a0Are you not interested enough?) and if they have to deal with\u00a0some meddlesome intermediary in working with you. Don\u2019t give\u00a0them that impression.<\/p>\n

What Happens Next?
\nNobody will contact you unless they are interested in you.\u00a0Within minutes after they look at your application they will have
\nforgotten it unless they are interested. Usually if you call and ask\u00a0if they have gotten it, they won\u2019t know. Nobody logs and tracks\u00a0those things. There are too many of them to remember or keep\u00a0track of.
\nIf you don\u2019t get a response within a couple of weeks you\u00a0probably aren\u2019t going to. At that point you can think about trying
\nagain, but by doing something differently: get different pictures\u00a0or go see them instead of just making a mail submission. If after\u00a0all that you still aren\u2019t getting a response, it\u2019s probably time to\u00a0forget that agency…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Go see them: If the agency has open calls, or allows models to personally\u00a0drop off pictures, or you can get an appointment, do that if possible. Pictures are good, but seeing you in person is better.\u00a0There are lots of examples of people who would have been turned\u00a0down from their pictures, but who were accepted when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":13887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2166],"tags":[2299,2297,2301,2298,2303,2302,2300],"class_list":["post-13886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guide","tag-allows-models","tag-applying-to-a-modeling-agency","tag-aspiring-models","tag-body-proportions","tag-do-it-right","tag-if-you-absolutely-have-to-use-email","tag-what-should-be-in-the-application"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13888,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13886\/revisions\/13888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/map.model.world\/directory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}