Odds of Getting In
The few. The proud. The bitter, broken, and disgruntled. It isn't easy getting in, and the ones who do still have to claw, scrape, and brown-nose their way up the agency ladder and earn the hard-won right to represent clients as an agent at a major firm. Some would call this process soul-crushing. Very few would say it's nurturing.
Getting in as an agent is fierce at every level. Getting your first job out of college as an entry-level nobody? Be ready to ask Mom or Dad for cash. Competing with your entry-level peers for the privilege of answering the phone at a junior agent's desk? Try luck and six-months of sucking up. Finding a way to prove to your superiors that you have what it takes to take on a client of your own? Maybe try voodoo, persistence, and a prayer.
At an agency, you're expected to be capable, talented, and smart, but proving that you want it more than anyone else is the real test of your worth.
At a smaller firm, the process is slightly less competitive, though the commitment will be no less of a life-suck. You can expect to do all the dirty work underlings at major agencies do, but if you've found the right fit, you can expect to be treated a little less like just another rat in the race.