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Talent Agencies · Stage 1

Talent Agency Assistant

The other end of the phone: get into a talent agency and learn how careers are made, one deal at a time.

Talent agencies are one of the biggest sources of jobs on MFJF's UK board. What an agent's assistant does hour by hour, how the big agencies and boutiques are built, the systems and words of the trade, where first experience comes from, what your Stage 1 CV should say, and a written plan to Stage 2.

2 hours · 6 modules · 18 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Explain what a talent agency does, how it earns, which departments it has and who is in the office, and describe an assistant's desk day and evening hour by hour.
  • Know the systems (Spotlight, agency software such as Tagmin, the diary, the client account) and the paperwork from availability check to commission statement, and have scored yourself against the twelve skills an agent hires for.
  • Have found three real routes to experience this month and know the rules on pay, unpaid work, hours, client data and confidentiality that apply to them.
  • Have a Stage 1 CV outline titled Talent Agency Assistant, a four-paragraph approach email to a named agency, and know what a reference means in this industry.
  • Have a saved plan from Stage 1 to Stage 2 and be able to say MFJF's five Stage 1 statements honestly.

Where this leads

By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.

Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.

Module 1

The role and the agency

20 min

What a talent agency actually does, how it earns, who is in the office and what your day contains.

  1. readWhat a talent agency actually does8 min
  2. readWho is in the office and what your day contains8 min
  3. checkCheck: the role and the agency4 min
Module 2

Before day one: skills, systems and the words

20 min

The twelve skills an agent hires for and how to get each one now, the systems and paperwork to be fluent in, the phrases you will hear from 9.30 on the first morning, and a scored audit of where you stand.

  1. readThe skills an agent hires for, and how to get each one now7 min
  2. readThe systems, the paperwork and the phrases7 min
  3. taskTask: your skills audit, with a score6 min
Module 3

Getting experience at Stage 1

20 min

The eight doors into agency experience, the rules on pay, unpaid work, hours, client data and confidentiality, and a task that turns three of the doors into dated actions.

  1. readWhere experience really comes from for this role8 min
  2. readThe rules: pay, unpaid work, hours, client data and confidentiality6 min
  3. taskTask: find three routes this month6 min
Module 4

Your CV, cover letter and first approaches

20 min

What a Stage 1 agency CV contains, built against the site's examples, the four-paragraph email, how to approach an agency without annoying it, what an interview asks, and what a reference really is.

  1. readThe Stage 1 CV, the email and the approach8 min
  2. taskTask: draft your Stage 1 CV outline8 min
  3. checkCheck: CVs, letters and approaches4 min
Module 5

The industry around the role

20 min

The circle of people an agency talks to, the three-year plan, where the skills lead, what people on the site actually did, and the library for this course.

  1. readThe map: who the agency talks to, the path, and where the skills go7 min
  2. resourcesThe agency assistant's library8 min
  3. checkCheck: the industry map5 min
Module 6

Your plan: Stage 1 to Stage 2

20 min

Your plan in your own words, the five statements as a self-certification, and the next steps on MFJF.

  1. plannerYour Stage 1 plan10 min
  2. readHow you know you are ready for Stage 26 min
  3. checkCheck: are you ready for Stage 2?4 min
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Sources and references

Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.

What this course was written from

Every link checked 19 September 2026.

You are not doing this alone

You have your own personal career mentor

That is us, the MFJF team. Book an MFJF Mentor Session with us every month: we guide you through this journey and answer all your questions, from which job is yours to your CV and your next application.

Book my MFJF Mentor Session

Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Talent Agencies. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: Talent AgenciesTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. Find your role in the career plannersEvery entry-level job by department, with a three-stage planner for each.
  7. Read the career guidesWhat each job is, the day, the way in and the pay: one guide for every role.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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Live from the mentor programme, the Industry Essentials, the film course directory, Industry News and the competitions open now.

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