So, you want to be a Teen Model. Many teen girls do, and can succeed as long as they are well prepared and exercise caution. The information included on 1TeenModel will act as a guide to help you learn how to prepare yourself, and what to watch out for in the modeling industry.

First and foremost, you need to gain Confidence with a capital ‘C’, esp. if you don’t have any. The modeling industry is very competitive and you will be criticized at some point. Count on it.

You need confidence to be able to handle Teen Modeling.

If you get easily insulted, are sensitive to criticism, get jealous easily, and feel inferior to others, this is not the best industry for you. You also need to be a people person since you’ll always need to build a great rapport with clients, agents, other models, and photographers.

There are so many different jobs a teen model can do, and when starting out, there may be many that don’t appeal to you. You may have to accept jobs such as a TV or Movie extra that pay minimum wage and require you to stay there for 12 hours per day. Your agent will also take a small percentage of your pay. You may also be hired as a promotional model, where you need to greet people at busy events and hand out flyers. Sometimes being a model, especially as a teen or someone new to the industry, isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Never set your expectations too high, and assume that just because you have an agent, you’ll ever be featured in a fashion magazine, makeup ad, or have fun photo shoots.

You need to be careful of signing up with modeling agents that scam people. These types of agencies know how badly most girls, especially teens, want to be models. If any agency makes you pay a fee upfront, they are scamming you. The only fees a legitimate agency should charge is to build a portfolio for you, which, instead you can always build yourself for less money.

Agencies also shouldn’t take more than 20% of your pay as a model. Have your parents read over any contract before you sign it. Modeling agencies only allow you to stick with one agent for a certain amount of time, where you are not allowed to sign up anywhere else. Because of this, you need to make certain you sign up with the best. Never just sign up with any agent because they’re willing to accept you. Researching, and finding a legitimate agency will ensure that you get the best jobs, save the most money, and don’t run into any future problems.