I did the math.

I've been out of LAMDA for almost exactly one year, and actively seeking acting work in New York since September. I am classically trained, non-union, and without representation.

I've been on 50 auditions since moving back to the city in September.

Exactly half - 25 - came from actorsaccess.com, 10 came from backstage.com, 9 through personal connections, 4 from playbill.com, and 2 through nycastings.com.

Of the auditions I attended, over half were for theatre. (14 classical, 12 other), 9 were for student films, 6 for industrials, 3 for commercials, 3 for films, 1 for student theatre and 1 for webcontent and 1 for print.

7 resulted in callback, and 5 more expressed further interest that did not extend as far as a callback. I booked 13 projects, 4 of which didn't pan out. 3 of these I booked without audition through friends, and 2 without audition through submissions. This creates a total of 9 new credits on my resume. Of projects booked, precisely 3 were paying gigs - all of which I got through audition. Precisely 2 were creatively redemptive (with no overlap between the paying and the creatively redemptive work) - one of which I auditioned for and one I booked without audition. And I should mention that I made a total of $700 from paying gigs, with no individual project for which I was paid paying more than $250.

This is an average of 1.3 auditions per week, and an average of 1.125 projects booked per month, with 12% of auditions leading to work, 6% of auditions leading to paying work, and 2% to work I found creatively satisfying.

So, statistically speaking, that's what it's meant for me to be a trained, un-represented, non-union actor, trying to work in New York City over the course of 8 months.