Please tell me how one can get a job as a set dresser?

Question:

Please tell me how one can get a job as a set dresser?

I am on the west coast and I am wanting a SERIOUS and complete answer. I can't find any information. I have experience in interior design and attended college with my major in interior design. I would like to know if I should create my own firm or continue looking for set decorator/set dresser positions. I am interested in a set position in film industry. Please I prefer concrete serious answers. Thanks all for your assistance!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Be prepared to do rather a lot of menial work in the beginning.

It is not that your formal education is worthless, but each set design, designer, production company, and person in charge is going to be different. It is this "personal/ professional/ institutional /corporate" culture that you need exposure to. It is also where you meet the coolest people, the biggest jerks and the best contacts of your career!

Don't turn down any opportunity to learn your craft. Film, television, even marketing and store window design can offer a brilliant set of arrows for your quiver as you move into the business.

Find companies that are doing the sort of work that you would like to be a part of, and, even if you have to volunteer to strike, sweep, make coffee, and whatever... do it. Give them cause to rely on you. That done, you will be offered or steered to real employment. It will require patience, but once your foot is in the door, and people see your commitment, your education, your willingness to work, and the value of taking time to teach you something.

You'll be on your way to richness and fame. (Well, kinda! But you will have the pleasure of working at something you love!)

I guarantee.

Best wishes!