Considering attending beauty, wellness, or barbering school? This section is dedicated to providing you with valuable insights and information that will help you pursue an education that leads to a thriving career in this amazing industry as well as providing you with personal fulfillment. Join us on this exciting journey towards a career of possibilities.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the national average salary for barbers, hairstylists and cosmetologists is $29,680 per year and the highest 10% of cosmetologists earned $25.60 per hour or approximately $51,200 per year.
Primary duties: A cosmetologist performs a range of procedures with the goal of beautifying a client's external features or helping them achieve a certain aesthetic. These procedures may include hair styling, conducting pedicures, treating facial hair and cleaning or styling wigs. While some cosmetologists provide services for hair, nails and skin, others may specialize in altering or styling one particular feature.
Most cosmetologists work at salons or spas, but some may find jobs at resorts, hotels, cruise ships or department stores. The additional job responsibilities of cosmetologists may include disinfecting their workstations between customers and offering clients personalized recommendations for skin or hair care products. They might also evaluate a client's scalp or nails and maintain client records.
Hair Stylist National average salary: $56,789 average per year.
Primary duties: Hair stylists provide their clients with a range of hairstyling services. Their duties typically involve cutting, blow-drying, trimming, coloring, curling and straightening a variety of hair types. Their primary goal is to help their clients achieve their desired hair style and keep their hair healthy. They offer their clients advice on how to style their hair based on the client's preferences, face shape or hair texture.
Hair stylists know how to use a range of tools to help their clients achieve their desired hair appearance, such as scissors, dye chemicals, curling irons and paddle brushes. Most hair stylists work at salons, but some might pursue self-employment. Their additional responsibilities might include recommending or selling hair care products to their clients, cleaning up their workstations, educating themselves on the latest hair care or style trends and braiding or weaving hair.
Cosmetology school is a time and financial commitment. Even if you’re able to utilize financial aid and scholarship services, you’re still committing yourself to many months of study and investment. It’s important that you do your research and evaluate whether cosmetology school is the best fit for you before you start. Below are some important questions to ask yourself…
1. Are You Able to Work Well With Clients?
This is a very important question…can you communicate well with the people you’ll be working on? This will require knowing how to ask questions to learn more about the client, their hair type and if what they are wanting is suitable and practical. This is a genuine skill, and it’s not one everyone has or is comfortable with, but can be learned.
2. Can You Work Well With a Team?
Next, ask yourself whether you’ll be able to work well with a team of other stylist. It’s relatively common to have to work with other students or stylists. Whether this is an official team, like for a competition, or it’s an unofficial team, like one made up of you and all the other stylists working in the salon, it’s important to know you’re able to work well with the other people around you.
3. How Dexterous Are You?
This is one of the most important questions to determine because any facet of cosmetology, whether you’re doing coloring, haircutting, nail art, manicures, makeup or anything else requires a significant amount of dexterity. You need to know that your hands and fingers will do what you tell them to do, even if you’ve been using them effectively nonstop for hours. A good referrence would be using all fingers to type fast on a keyboard, sewing, needlepoint.
4. Can You Stand for Long Periods of Time?
Being a successful full time hairdresser will require standing for long periods of time. This can be very difficult for some people, especially if you are not use to it.
5. Do You Know What You Want to Do Afterward?
Many people go into college without really thinking about what they’re going to do after they complete the program. It’s important to think very hard about whatever you’re going to do once you’re done with college because college should ideally set you up for success. Think about the specialty you’re interested in after cosmetology school before you go and formulate a plan in your mind.
6. Is Cosmetology something you are passionate about?
Not enough people consider their actual love of cosmetology when considering cosmetology school. Remember, you’re going to be dedicating many hours of every day to learning about cosmetology in cosmetology school. Most private cosmetology schools do not offer part time programs, so you will be required to attend 5 days a week 7-8 hours a day for 10 months. If you love it and are passionate about it, you will be able to dedicate the time, if you aren’t passionate, it will be harder to make it through to the end.
7. Studying and homework.
Our state boards require a lot of theory during your program to teach you everything from anatomy of hair, skin and nails to sanitation and the rules and regualtions of your state. You will be required to sit for an exam before you get your license. The theory portion of cosmetology school requires a fair amount of reading, homework and tests so be sure you are ready for that.
Career of Possibilities Click here to read the full BLOG, BY MLADY
