These are the words you will hear most in your first weeks, usually from your booker by phone or message.

• Casting An appointment where you meet the client and show your book. You may also be asked to try on clothes or walk. Read more on how castings work

• Casting brief The client's description of the look, skills or measurements a job needs. Your agency uses it to decide who to put forward

• Go-see A meeting to show a potential client your book and yourself in person, often with no specific job attached. The aim is to be remembered for future work. Our go-see guide covers what to expect

• Call back A second meeting with the client, so they can narrow down their choices

• Self-tape A video audition you record yourself and send to your agent or the client, used when a casting happens online

• Option A client's provisional hold on your dates. A first option has priority, and a second option moves up if the first is released. An option is not a job until it is confirmed

• Confirmation The client has committed to the booking, and your agency sends you the details

• Call sheet The document with the details of the job: times, location and how to arrive. Treat it as instructions, not suggestions, and ask your booker if anything is unclear

• Call time The time you must be on location and ready to work, not the time you walk through the door

• Camera-ready Arrive with hair and make-up done, needing only touch-ups. It usually means there is no hair and make-up artist on set

• Fitting A session before the shoot where the clothes are fitted to you and often altered. It is often included in the day rate

• Charge-back If you miss a booking or damage something on set, the client can charge the agency for its losses, and the agency can pass that cost back to you

Money terms are where misunderstandings cost the most, so be clear on these before you accept a job.

• Day rate Your fee for a full working day, quoted to the client before the agency's commission comes off

• Usage What the client has paid to do with the images: the media, the territory and the period. Models are paid for each medium their pictures appear in, and longer periods, more markets and worldwide use raise the fee

• Buyout A payment for an agreed package of uses. It is often negotiated on top of the day rate and sometimes included in it, and extra buyouts can be bought after the job ends

• Residuals A further payment when a client uses your image again after the original usage has run out

• Model release A legal document giving permission to use the photos from a shoot. It is usually signed by your agent, so speak to your agency before signing any form on set

• Commission The agency's share of what you earn, deducted from your fee. General guides put it between 10 and 20%, depending on the market and your contract. Many agencies also bill the client a separate service charge

• Advance When your agency pays costs on your behalf, such as test shoots, comp cards or travel, and recovers them from your earnings once you start working

Vague wording such as "campaign usage" can be read differently by each side. Ask your booker exactly what the usage covers before you confirm.

• Booker The person at the agency who represents you to clients, suggests models for each job, sets up appointments and passes on the details

• Board The group of models a team of bookers looks after, such as women, men or new faces. The word comes from the walls where agencies once displayed comp cards

• New faces Models whose books are still being built. They go to castings and tests before moving to the main board

• Mother agency The agency that first finds and develops you, then places you with agencies in other markets. It shares the commission with the local agency, so working abroad should not cost you extra commission

• Exclusive A contract that ties you to one agency or one client, or stops you working for a competitor for a set time. Check which kind it is before you sign

• Freelance model A model who works directly with clients, with no agency

What a UK agency can charge you

In the UK, agencies cannot charge fashion and photographic models upfront fees for finding work, and that includes putting you on a website or in a publication. Any fees must be agreed with you before the agency starts looking for work, and photography offered as an extra paid service comes with a 30-day cooling-off period. You can read how we look after the people we represent on our model management page.

• Book Your portfolio: the edit of your best pictures that agencies show clients and you bring to castings

• Comp card A printed card with at least two photos, your name, measurements and agency details, left with clients at castings. It is also called a composite or sedcard

• Digitals Plain, current snapshots, usually taken at the agency, that show a client how you look today with little or no make-up. Polaroids is the older name for the same thing

• Test A shoot where model and photographer work for each other with no fee beyond shared expenses, to build both books. Usage of the pictures is limited

• TFP An informal test where you pose in exchange for pictures for your book, common between newer models and photographers

• Editorial Photographs that tell a story or idea in a magazine, in print or online

• E-commerce Pictures used to sell products directly from a web page

• Campaign A series of adverts for the same brand, across print, outdoor, online or TV

• Beauty shot A close headshot with clean make-up and simple hair, used for make-up, skincare and jewellery work

When you are ready, you can apply to 22 IMPACT with your digitals and measurements.