Notes For Applicants

WANT TO JOIN RAM?

Please read these NOTES FOR APPLICANTS carefully before applying

How do I join?

LONDON applicants who are beginners must pose at one of the RAM approved life drawing workshops by way of an audition.  By 'London' we mean within circle of the M25.  You are asked to do a combination of short (5 or 10 minute) poses and one or two longer ones, up to 45 minutes.  We are checking basic ability to keep still for long periods as well as initiative (you choose the poses) and a reasonable body awareness in the short poses, enabling you to do more than just sit or stand around.

BEGINNERS can apply in London, but they sometimes like to come back two or three times before they gain enough confidence and ability to be accepted onto the Register. However, this isn't always the case - some people are 'naturals'!

Most applicants are accepted. The decision is made by the workshop leader.

PLEASE NOTE: As with auditions in any field of work, you will not be paid for the session. The affiliated workshops would simply not provide this service for us if they had to pay applicants to audition.

Because the queue for auditions tends to be rather long, we usually accept people as 'Provisional' members until the audition. Provisional members can take advantage of the same services as confirmed members - a web profile and a password to jobs info - but your RAM number will have a red 'P' in front of it, to tell employers that we haven't seen you working yet.

A possible danger of provisional membership is that if you don't turn up for the audition, or you keep cancelling it (or you fail it, which is statistically unlikely) your profile will disappear and your password will no longer work. Provisional membership lasts up to 8 weeks - by which time you must have auditioned (beginners) or provided references.

LONDON applicants who are experienced can either audition (we like to meet you!) or provide 2 references from reputable sources.

OUTSIDE LONDON (outside the M25), you join as an Associate Member initially. You can convert to full membership at any time, for no extra charge, by providing two references from tutors. References should mention competence, conduct and reliability. There are a few affiliated workshops outside London, where you can audition instead of supplying references. You will get more information about converting to full membership after you have joined.

Associate membership gives you all the benefits of full membership, such as having a password to the job contact details on the website, and being able to have an entry on the 'RAM Members Online' page of the website, but it is made clear to employers that you have neither auditioned nor provided references. This is done simply by means of a red 'A' in front of your membership number. The only acceptable reason for not supplying references quite soon after you join would be that you are a beginner, so it followers that experience cannot be mentioned in the website profiles of associate members. This can be put right as soon as you convert to full membership by supplying references.

PLEASE NOTE: Associate membership is NOT available for people wishing to work within the circle of the M25.

What are the rules?

If accepted, you will be joining an organization which has its roots in the struggle to improve the status of the life model. One of the chief ways of doing this is to improve the average quality of service provided by models, so you will be expected to help maintain the high standards of competence, conduct and reliability for which we are collectively known. Models can be struck off the Register, without notice, following reasonable complaints about competence, conduct or reliability from licence-holding tutors or artists, or from Bare Facts model booking service. But if you've read this far and still want to join, you're probably not the sort of person who is likely to be struck off!

What about security?

Our licensing system should help ensure that you are not contacted by the sort of people you may not wish to hear from, but no system is perfect. Members themselves can cooperate by reporting any suspect emails or untoward incidents and by never making information in the password-protected areas of the website available to people who are not licence-holders, or to non-RAM models. In fact you can be struck off the RAM register for doing so.

You should also read the security warnings on the website when you submit info for publication on the Web. The profiles on the 'RAM Members Online' page are not advertisements: they are our comments based on what you tell us (and what we already know about you, if anything), therefore any text you place in the description box may not appear as you have given it to us. To see what sort of rules the webmaster has to follow when editing submissions, please go here.

Profiles usually appear in two places on the website - in the public area WITHOUT contact details, and in the licence-holding employers' password-protected area WITH contact details. Photos, which you can email to us at any time, only appear in the password-protected area. You can opt out of being in the public area, but you should not do so unless absolutely necessary. The reason for putting the profiles in the public area is to show employers who are not RAM licence-holders what they are missing. Your profile could persuade someone to apply for a licence, so you could easily lose work by not being in the public area. Remember, no contact details are revealed there.

How much does RAM membership cost?

Full and Associate membership cost £38.50 a year.

The payment is for setting up membership and all the work that goes with it such as checking applications, liaising with workshop leaders who conduct auditions, composing profiles, altering profiles, investigating complaints, trouble-shooting, maintaining the website - the list goes on. It is also not true that the fee is an 'up-front' payment to some kind of agency. RAM is not an agency, we don't employ you and we don't take any commission from your earnings, as an agency would.

What is the next step?

The next step is to Join Here .