Quote Originally Posted by docdan63
I've been thinking about career choices lately, and this kid at my college a few years back heard me laughing and doing impressions, and said I should be a voice actor or at least give it a shot. My friends have told me that too. I have a pretty big vocal range, and, as odd as it seems, everyone that doesn't know me or have talked to me for the first time on the phone (not knowing I was a male) says mam to me. Everyone, no joke. And I can sing pretty decently. I keep watching family guys, and the simpsons, and I'm wondering, is standing in a studio with a glass of water for up to 6 hours a day for a cartoon or video game really worth it?
Zac Bertschy gets this question just about every week on his Anime News Network column and his answer is always the same: Unless you have actual experience acting, then it's probably not worth your time. There's about 500 people on youtube who can do impressions, so you're probably nothing special. Talent agencies are going to be looking for talent. They won't simply say "Oh hey, this guy can't really act, but he has a nice sounding voice. Let's give him a job!". Most voice actors did not just walk into their success, and were all real actors before they went into voice work. They spend years honing their craft, so you'd have to be prepared to work for it and be pretty devoted to theatre. I'm talking appearing in several plays, creating a voice demo and waiting 3 years for somebody to listen to it and decide to have you VO a 15 second radio spot.

It's also not a full time job by any means, so if you're thinking about a steady career for the future, VO work is not gonna be your thing, unless you have one of those "one in a million" voices, which I sincerely doubt you do. There's always the blind luck angle, but it's probably not a good idea to rely on that.
As I said, it's a bit like acting.
To reiterate, it's not a "a bit like acting" it is acting.

Edit: So I guess my advice would be to start working at it now and get your name out there, because it's definitely not something you can just walk into.