Moving to New York...?

I would suggest you check out au pair placement services. Many people use these services because they heavily screen their clients, on both sides. This protects you from walking into a bad situation.

Jobs? Apartments? Salary? Sorry, can't help you there. And this is an international forum, you might have better luck on a local venue.

To be a fashion photog, you need an extensive portfolio, education and/or credentials. You might try being someone's assistant to get started. This is a tough industry and it can be hard to break in to, having an assisting job from a noted photog will be helpful.

Re: Question 1: It all depends on your determination, persistency and how much you're looking to make. One of the most popular sites out here for job searching is Monster.com. I've found several prospectives through that site & they have found me as well and some have resulted in a hire. So that's one way to go about looking for work. You can also search through the www.NYTimes.com/ref/classifieds/ or www.careerbuilder.com, all good sites. Now something that I have done and has been to my benefit most times is to apply directly to company's of my choice. What I mean is, I'll think of any and all the different kinds of company's that I would like to work for and I'll apply directly trhough their site and/or in person. I've done the same for hospitals.

When I got my very first job with out knowing anything about anything, it was with a hospital in the Bronx. I remember sending out my resume to as many hospitals as I could think of and about a month later I got a call from one of them for an interview and got hired. it was the first official/good job I ever had and it set me up for bigger and better things.

So there are many ways to go about looking for a job -even in a market like this- but you simply have to be determined. Do not be easily swayed by possible NO's and such. If you get a No than it wasn't for you and you keep on moving until you get a Yes.

Now you said you never worked before, however, you seem to be a very smart girl so any entry level position with a company would work great for you. Positions like Administrative Assistant, Secretary, Accounting or Accts Payable/Receivable Clerk...

Re: Question 2: Now my only concern with all this would be this: It is so easy to get sucked into this whole working business. You get sucked into money, money, money... You get trapped with the need to know where you money's going to come from next and you adapt to security and next thing you know you can barely remember what you came here for in the first place.. you forget how to dream and/or what your dreams are/were. NY can be great for somethings but really sucky for others. It has great energy but can so easily take yours away... I've lived here my whole life and I am honestly looking to leave, perhaps to France (it's funny because I am considering au pair too lol).

SO... attempting to get to my point. If you do decide to move to NY in an attempt to live out your dream of photography, make sure you don't let anything suck you in, sway you, your goal or your desires...

I'd say go ahead and do the au pair if you can or get any job that can help you build some stability and learn how to work, pay bills, have an apartment and such. BUT as soon as you can, start looking for an internship (at the very least) with a magazine company or something within the field of photography that will allow you to get involved; that will give you a start and keep you with in the realm you desire. I mean even if you tried getting a job in the mailroom of a magazine company, that is a foot in the door! Do what you can just to stay within sight of what you came here for. Take any job you can or are willing to in order to get a foot in the door. Once you're in, you can begin to meet people, find out who you need to know, where you need to be and work your way around...

ALSO: as for finding work, make sure that you are extra cautious with Head Hunters and/or Staffing Agencies... They tend to have their own best interest in mind alllll the time and they'll feed you to the 'lions' (so to speak) if it means they'll get a commision off of you. Assuming that you don't know anything about staffing agencies, I'll say this (and keep in mind I am strictly speaking from experience): the way it works for them is that they, have a client/employer who is looking to fill a position. They find someone to fill that position and boom they get a commission. Their commission usually works like so: the position they're trying to put you in might pay 15 dollars an hour, however, the agency will pay you 10 dollars an hour until the employer decides to make you permanent (the time frame may vary) and to me that is just pure BS. These people are real snakes and I don't like dealing with them one bit. The only one that I ever had a GREAT experience with, which actually got me the job I have today (I made 2 years April 4th :) is RobertHalf. They are very popular, very professional and their commision works completely different. They get a direct pay from the company if the company chooses you, no funny business. I know this because I was hired to do the accounting for my company so naturally I came across the paperwork and seen how it all went down... (no snooping lol). So I highly recommend RobertHalf.

> BOY DO I BLABBER < I really did want to make this short but who am I kidding, I don't know how to make anything short LOL

Re: Question 3: I can't really say much as far as getting an apartment in M