Employment alternatives within a successful modelling career

Model careers

In Bangalore, India’s IT capital, most models decline to make modelling the full-time profession it is for their contemporaries in Mumbai and Delhi. Many models in Bangalore prefer instead to focus upon education and conventional employment as IT specialists, health care professionals, or real estate agents. Others develop interests in design or the theatre, career paths which blend in well with the promotion of their modelling careers. PR has become another popular option. Bangalore’s models have become model multi-taskers by necessity, as modelling work is less plentiful in India’s IT capital than it is in Mumbai or Delhi. As the numbers of aspiring models in Europe and the USA continue to swell, many models are leaving the profession in frustration, or are turning to table dancing or escorting to bridge the gap in their expected income. However the models of Bangalore might provide Western models with the inspiration to try alternative approaches to a modelling career. One successful Bangalore model doubles as a fashion designer, another is an actress within the theatre, and one even practices as a real estate agent whilst pursuing a career in dentistry, an especially popular career choice for Bangalore models.

As tuition fees spiral ever upwards in the UK and USA, many models are combining a formal education with modelling as a means to pay their fees while maintaining an acceptable standard of living. Many university students are able to fit their lectures and reading in around model shoots and appearances. Academia and modelling make for an especially happy marriage, as the long seasonal vacations and the flexibility of study time are ideally suited to irregular employment as a model.

However, even for the most dedicated of graduate students, education must eventually come to an end, and for many this means that there will be more bills as well as debts to pay. As modelling employment is often sporadic, irregular and seasonal (and often unpaid), it may be time to introduce some flexibility into your career plan. The most desirable alternatives, such as the film industry, theatre and fashion design, are heavily oversubscribed, as most debutantes in these industries find themselves working as interns or volunteers in the hope of gaining a career foothold.

Employment alternatives for models

For those models who lack the academic interest for a career in IT, medicine, dentistry, or law, there remain other very real possibilities for achieving a high standard of living whilst maintaining a competitive position as a model. As most models are perceived to be skilled communicators, confident and alluring, they frequently make ideal candidates for positions requiring social presence and charm. The list of employment opportunities at the gold seam of the public image industry are many and varied, roles in which the cutting edge of beauty often means a healthy income.

One career direction which seems ideally matched to a modelling career is marketing. Many models go on to have successful careers in marketing, as their keen awareness of image and attention to detail makes for a harmonious balance. In an industry where image is everything, models naturally have a head start. By combining their inner confidence, finely honed social skills, their powers of persuasion and an inherent ability to attract and maintain attention they are in pole position to achieve positive results. Whether you are a model sporting the latest fashion designs, a scientist presenting a discovery to obtain funding, or a politician presenting party policy on a stage to win votes, we are all selling something, and nothing sells as well as beauty.

Another career sector in which models enjoy a competitive advantage is as personal assistants. Models often make exceptional PA’s, as they are skilled in time management, well presented, multi-tasking, strong communicators and visually appealing to both their clients and employers. The workload of a PA is often very varied, an especially attractive feature of the profession. Aside from taking messages, replying to Emails, keeping a diary and popping across the street to fetch lunch or coffee for meetings, PA’s are often expected to travel with their employers, receive excellent networking opportunities, and may be expected to perform cerebral work on proposals or reports. Life is seldom dull as a PA for a CEO or managing director.

Many insurance companies and PR agencies are keen to recruit well spoken models to soften their clients and render them amenable to signing contracts. Recently even pharmaceutical companies have been hiring models to help them to promote new brands, product lines and research conferences. A career in the pharmaceutical industry usually means extensive travel opportunities and mixing with the medical elite. Another career path in which models often excel is as estate agents, or realtors, where selling yourself is as important as selling a property. With frequent trips out of the office, regular meetings and good commissions, real estate sits well within a model ‘portfolio career’. There seems no limit to the competitive advantages of being beautiful within a eugenic society.

The beauty edge

The PR business, like the modelling industry, is all about image. A sleek, attractive corporate image sells the company and its product, whilst a staid, dull image usually does not. As one academic recently put it, ‘There are jobs, including in PR, sales, media and fashion, where ... your appearance is selling the image of the company you work for.’ This beauty bias inevitably leads to cries of discrimination and to claims that it is often the best looking candidate, and not the best qualified or experienced, who lands the better paid job. This is undoubtedly true in many walks of life, as people who work in image conscious industries are obviously as concerned about image as they are with substance. After all, unattractive magazine covers don’t sell their content very well.

There is however something innately beguiling about beauty. Psychologists have shown that beauty affects our behaviour and colours our judgements whether we are dating, assessing others, or simply buying & selling. At school attractive students have been shown to be awarded better grades and appraisals for identical work than their plain classmates, and are invariably more popular. Beautiful people have been shown to be found guilty less often in court and, when sentenced, usually receive less severe sentences. Attractive people are usually higher earners, and on average most office workers spend as much as 20% of their income on their appearance to enhance their prospects. This has spawned a rapidly growing market in image consultancy. Such firms assist employees, from receptionists to managing directors, to look better by focusing upon their posture, smile, clothes, and personal hygiene. Those who receive such image consultancy consider it money well spent.

Psychologists agree that it is inherent within our natures to subconsciously make judgements as to whether individuals fall into our preferred social value system. To look at it another way, beauty is a skeleton key which opens many doors to many opportunities, even if it does take drive and determination to make the most of them. Lawyers however disagree, as lawyers generally do. Employment lawyers state that job descriptions which have an image requirement, whether explicitly advertised or not, may contravene the new Age Discrimination Act. This Act in effect allows an applicant to pursue litigation if they believe they have been turned down for a job because of their appearance, even if it is for a media agency or a fashion brand. Such employment legislation is as practically unenforceable as it is biologically naïve. In a society where people aspire to wealth and beauty, role models will always prevail.