[CDS]

I agree alot with James Meeker,

Besides telling you to GO TO MED SCHOOL AND SECURE A GOOD LIVING,

My perspective,

15 years ago, starting a career as an audio engineer was more clear cut than today. Back then you could easily start as an intern at a studio then (in time) move into taking recording sessions for off peak clients and work the ladder up to the bigger clients. Mixing duties also progressed with time.

I think today's opportunity for an audio career is mostly with mixing. Since the affordable (and powerful) consumer grade DAWs started to hit back in 2000, many people are now just self recording in a personal space and need mixing after. Even though the art of recording will not be found in many of these "self recordings", the work is there for talented mixers capable of working with such material.

I know a major label mixer that also offers services on Craig's List to indie clients and makes very good money from it.

Being a career audio engineer is a very grueling job. You have to be ready to stay up for several days, work fast and as James pointed out, know what you are doing to sustain client trust.

When I started with engineering, I would go to a 10am to 6pm job, go directly to the studio to work from 8pm to 5am and after grabbing 4 hours of sleep and a shower, start all over again. I was in my 20's at the time same as you.

If you really want a career in audio, I would suggest taking it up as a 2nd job until it can provide an adequate living by itself.

While you craft your audio skills, a good start is to find a sales job at your local Sam Ash or Guitar Center in the recording section. Not only will you get a first hand experience with gear but you will meet tons of people that you can start relationships with while you expand on your audio career.

My personal path has led me to inventing new technologies. Without audio engineering, I would have never ended up here, and I should have just went on to MIT back when I was 18 and skipped 15 years of the hard road.