Have a life plan p1 - Military Career Development Strategies & Tips - Military Times EDGE

Andres Salazar wants to lead a tranquil life on a Southern ranch surrounded by his family — to “live a happy life full of vitality,” to travel and to laugh often. He wants to achieve peace of mind through financial independence.

This, we know, because he’s written it all down in a long-term plan for how the “existential, enigmatic and heartfelt Latino” will achieve his mission of powerful, organic storytelling, truthful and passionate performances.

It’s been less than two years since Salazar left behind a promising career in information security to pursue acting. A former Air Force captain, his last assignment was chief of communications and information inspections for the Analysis and Mission Support Branch of the Office of Inspector General. Before that, he was IT resources program manager for the Communications and Information Directorate.

He could have landed a great job anywhere with those credentials and a master’s degree in computer resources and information management.

Instead, he lives in a modest North Hollywood apartment and little by little adds to the foundation of a successful film career — the art of acting. He attends auditions, makes connections in the entertainment industry, keeps track of people he meets and follows up on leads.

In the year and seven months since he left the military, Salazar has taken acting courses and performed small parts for film and TV. He played a prison bus driver in director Henri Charr’s film “The Border” and a bodyguard in director Ron Krauss’ “Amexica,” both due out this year. He also portrayed a gardener on the Spanish-language TV show “Secretos.”

It took what Salazar describes as days of intense concentration to create the plan that helped him expand his Internet Movie Database credits to three during the year leading up to October 2008 — the month of his own annual self-evaluation.

Here’s what he learned along the way:

Really look within yourself

Salazar’s career plan is more than a to-do list. It’s a highly visual PowerPoint presentation with color graphics, professionally bound. It lays out his “vision concept” in transcendental layered planes and outlines three circles of concentration — health and wellness, improving his craft and networking and business management. He identifies core values of sincerity, spirituality, passion and strength. His animal inspiration is a stealthy big cat — a tiger or a jaguar.

Focus on the fundamentals

The critical turning point during Salazar’s first year in Los Angeles was a course by acting coach Kimberly Jentzen, where Salazar learned acting techniques through scene study, cold reading and improvisation.

He’s made training his priority for this year, attending acting classes at the Beverly Hills Playhouse and business seminars offered through The Actors’ Network.

You can’t neglect the business side

This isn’t just networking. For Salazar, it also means advertising, accounting and financial planning, plus he manages contractual relationships with his agent and production companies.

A good attitude is a great PR tool

Willingness to collaborate and take direction go a long way toward making people want to work with you, Salazar says. Nurturing “genuine, quality, professional relationships” is a big part of his storytelling mission statement.

There’s no limit to your vision

Salazar’s five-year career plan helps him keep track of yearly, quarterly and monthly tasks, but it’s all based on his ultimate vision: “To Live-Act with purpose, expression, courage, truth and passion — daily/always.”

— By Amanda Miller