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Model

What To Learn

High School

What high school courses should you take if you're interested in this career? Get your answers from the Marketing cluster Professional Sales pathway.

Beyond High School

Here's a list of programs that you should consider if you're interested in this career:

Education Level

Education training and experience are required at different levels for success in different occupations.

No standard requirement

No formal education credential is required to become a model. Specific requirements depend on the client, with different jobs requiring different physical characteristics. However, most models must be within certain ranges for height, weight, and clothing size.

Insider Info

Additional Information

Models may either attend modeling school as a first step or simply try to get into the career through an agency. A modeling school teaches techniques that can be used in modeling, while a modeling agency represents models and helps connect them to job opportunities.

Do not dish out big dollars for schools, agency fees, photo sessions or convention entry fees until you've done a whole bunch of investigation into who's getting your hard-earned money.

Talk to people in the business, read books and magazines, and ask yourself, realistically, if you have a salable product. Most international models are five feet 10 inches or taller and slender. They break into the biz before they're 20. But there are exceptions -- you could be chosen to model your hair, your hands or your feet.

A good recommendation is to short-list nearby modeling agencies, based on recommendations. Phone for an appointment, then march into the office (with or without photographs) and ask for an honest opinion.

If you've got a look they can use, they'll ask for more. They might ask for a portfolio, arrange for training or even ask you to sign a contract.