Career profile for Talent Agent

What does a Talent Agent do?

Talent Agents represent and promote artists, performers, and athletes in dealings with current or prospective employers.

In addition, Talent Agents may handle contract negotiation and other business matters for clients.

What kind of tasks does a Talent Agent perform regularly?

Talent Agents are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Collect fees, commissions, or other payments, according to contract terms.
Send samples of clients' work and other promotional material to potential employers to obtain auditions, sponsorships, or endorsement deals.
Keep informed of industry trends and deals.
Conduct auditions or interviews to evaluate potential clients.
Negotiate with managers, promoters, union officials, and other persons regarding clients' contractual rights and obligations.
Confer with clients to develop strategies for their careers, and to explain actions taken on their behalf.
Develop contacts with individuals and organizations, and apply effective strategies and techniques to ensure their clients' success.
Schedule promotional or performance engagements for clients.
Arrange meetings concerning issues involving their clients.

The above responsibilities are specific to Talent Agents. More generally, Talent Agents are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships		Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Thinking Creatively		Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
Communicating with People Outside the Organization		Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge		Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships

Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.

Thinking Creatively

Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.

Communicating with People Outside the Organization

Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.

Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge

Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.

What is a Talent Agent salary?

The median salary for a Talent Agent is $75,420, and the average salary is $98,070. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Talent Agent salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Talent Agents earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Talent Agents earn less than $35,840 per year, 25% earn less than $53,130, 75% earn less than $122,010, and 90% earn less than $190,500.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Talent Agents is expected to change by 46.0%, and there should be roughly 3,400 open positions for Talent Agents every year.

Median annual salary: $75,420
Typical salary range: $35,840 - $190,500
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 46.0%

What personality traits are common among Talent Agents?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Talent Agent are usually higher in their Enterprising, Conventional, and Social interests.

Talent Agents typically have very strong Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Also, Talent Agents typically have moderate Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Lastly, Talent Agents typically have moderate Social interests. Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Talent Agent tend to value Achievement, Independence, and Working Conditions.

Most importantly, Talent Agents very strongly value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Second, Talent Agents very strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Lastly, Talent Agents strongly value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Talent Agents must consistently demonstrate qualities such as persistence, initiative, and dependability.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Talent Agents, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Persistence		Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.
Initiative		Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Persistence

Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.

Initiative

Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

What education and training do Talent Agents need?

Many Talent Agents will have a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Talent Agents usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Educational degrees among Talent Agents

2.7% did not complete high school or secondary school
9.3% completed high school or secondary school
19.7% completed some college coursework
5.8% earned a Associate's degree
46.1% earned a Bachelor's degree
11.8% earned a Master's degree
4.7% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Talent Agents

Talent Agents may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as customer and personal service, sales and marketing, or administration and management knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Talent Agents might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Sales and Marketing		Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Fine Arts		Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Communications and Media		Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Sales and Marketing

Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Fine Arts

Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

Communications and Media

Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Important Abilities needed by Talent Agents

Talent Agents must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Talent Agents need abilities such as oral expression, oral comprehension, and written comprehension in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Talent Agents, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension		The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Problem Sensitivity		The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Speech Recognition		The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Speech Recognition

The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Critical Skills needed by Talent Agents

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Talent Agents frequently use skills like reading comprehension, active listening, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Talent Agents, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Reading Comprehension		Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Persuasion		Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Negotiation		Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Persuasion

Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

Negotiation

Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

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