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Editor's Blog

Salon Websites List Desirable Qualities for Beauty School Graduates Seeking Employment

Published: June 27, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

"At Siamak Hair Design we are constantly growing our team!" That online invitation from a salon in Toronto, Canada, is pretty representative of the mostly open market that you'll discover when you graduate from beauty school. Salons encourage nice people to apply for jobs more often than they seek the highest skill levels, because they understand that new cosmetology school grads will learn skills on the job.

I'll quote a few more. In Seattle: "Sonja Olsen [Salon] is always searching for dedicated, talented, and friendly new staff members." In Denver: "Tuana Hair Design is always seeking passionate, unique, motivated people to join our team." The Red Door in Chicago and Evanston, IL (logo shown here): "If you have the appropriate qualifications, are a kind person, and are interested in a position with a fast-growing company committed to providing its customers with the best in the industry, please fill out our application below." From A Perfect Face Day Spa in Ocean City, MD: "[Need] a career-minded individual with exceptional quality customer services skills. Must be Responsible, Personable, Friendly, Professional and A People Person."

From Contour Day Spa in Plantation, FL: "We have openings for energetic, motivated and experienced people at various times. If you are interested in joining our team of top beauty industry professionals, we would like to speak with you." That word "experienced" is the only one that's a little out of character for salons since, truthfully, many prefer to hire people right out of beauty school.

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Prepare for Job Hunting as a Cosmetology School Grad

Published: June 23, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

In this market, everyone worries about landing that first job. Even though when you graduate from cosmetology school you'll be entering a field that has virtually never in modern times faced a shortage of openings, it's a little less wide open out there

than it is during better economic times. Just by virtue of graduating from a respected beauty school, you'll have the skills to get your foot in the door for an interview. So what are salons looking for when they review your application and meet you face to face?

I checked out a few salon websites to find the answer. Some salons recruit for a specific position, but many simply maintain an ongoing, general solicitation seeking not specific skills but the type of people who they feel can grow with them and become successful. This statement, which appears on the website for Stanley Salon in Frederick, Maryland, is typical: "We seek talented, creative, energetic team players that strive to make a difference."

While businesses in all industries might agree on that description of a desirable employee, some salons reveal more about their particular culture. In my next post, I'll quote the employment web pages of several other salons and spas, and you can take stock of yourself to see whether you'll be an appealing employment candidate when you finish your cosmetology school studies and begin the process of job interviewing.

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Meet Beauty School Graduate Krissy Simmons

Published: June 19, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

I like to bring you real-life stories of beauty school students and graduates, so today I’m introducing Krissy Simmons, who just graduated from CHIC University of Cosmetology an Empire School in Portage, Michigan, and has agreed to be featured here from time to time. Krissy calls this period of her life, “A Beginning to a Successful Career.” I don’t know Krissy very well, but I have a feeling she’s not being overly optimistic. I have no doubt that her career will soar.

I asked Krissy to explain why she decided to become a cosmetologist to begin with. It turns out that this was a snap decision. She saw someone with a really cute hair cut, decided she had to have it herself and made a beeline to her salon to have her shoulder-length-plus hair lopped down to a chin-length, spiky-back style—what she describes as “short, spiky and funky, very much suitable for my personality. I loved it!”

She was already one of those girls who go around highlighting and fixing their friends’ hair. But that one defining moment of receiving a great new look is what really turned her on to cosmetology school. “I told my good friend that I was thinking seriously about going to beauty school. Yes, I had been thinking about it ‘seriously’ for only three hours, but it was something that just clicked. I knew I wanted it more than anything!” Two days later, she was enrolled as a CHIC student. In a later post, Krissy will share more.

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Website Helps You Sort Through Loans and Aid for Beauty School

Published: June 15, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

I’ll always pass along any source of information that I think can help you navigate your way through paying for cosmetology school, so I want to let you know about myrichuncle.com. This website makes loans to students for all types of post-high school education, so much of its focus is promoting its own loan program. But there’s also a lot of general, usef

ul information about other types of loans, getting aid that you don’t have to pay back, calculating how much money you’ll need and other financially related topics, although beauty schools are not specifically addressed.

What I liked about the site was that it takes the student’s point of view and helps you find the least expensive option for coming up with tuition. For example, it points out how much you’ll save on a loan if you can afford to start paying it off immediately, while you’re still in school, instead of waiting until the required time to begin making payments, which typically is well after you graduate.

The site lists a toll-free number, 1-888-myrichuncle (1-888-697-4248), so I called them and found out that you can secure a loan from the site only if your school accepts that loan. As a rule, cosmetology schools were not on the list, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t ask a school’s financial office to look into accepting those loans. Often schools just aren’t aware of these more obscure sources. Or, just use the site as a source of information.

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Get Your G.E.D. Before, After or While Attending Beauty School

Published: June 11, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

My last post congratulated new high school graduates, but some of you who are considering cosmetology school are not

really interested in completing high school. That may be okay where you live, since many states require only two years of high school, or not even that, before you can become a licensed cosmetologist after attending beauty school. You can check your state’s requirements right here on BeautySchoolAdvisor’s state listings.

I can understand if you’d rather get started on your career in beauty than sit through an algebra class. Especially if you left high school a while ago, it’s not easy to wrap your head around those courses anymore. Enrolling in a hands-on hair, esthetics or make-up program can reignite your learning spark, because you’ll be studying something that you find kind of fun. So at some point you may feel ready to revisit the high school issue.

Whether you do it now or wait until you have your career underway, I encourage you to get your G.E.D., which you can even do online. There’s a level of self-respect that comes with being a high school graduate, and the knowledge you gain is useful in carrying on conversations with your clients. Also, you don’t know what the future holds after beauty school. Someday you may apply to be a salon manager or educator, and that position may require a high school education. Lots of websites can help you; I found passged.com to be comprehensive and helpful. Think about it.

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To the Graduates, Whether Headed to Beauty School or Not: Congratulations!

Published: June 07, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

The May/June corridor of graduation ceremonies is a special time to me and, for those of you who are new g

raduates, this year it’s probably a special time to you, too. I really hope that for your next adventure you’ll choose cosmetology school, because going to beauty school will launch you onto a wonderfully rewarding career path. Whatever your plans, though, I want to extend formal recognition of the accomplishment you’ve already achieved.

Congratulations if you’ve just completed coursework at a two- or four-year college, but here I’m going to focus on you new high school graduates. To me, this is a big thing. Every one of you could have made the decision to leave high school a year or two ago and not bother picking up a diploma. It isn’t easy to get through all of the math, English, science and social studies requirements, especially if you’re more of an artistic type. Where I live, Illinois, the kids are even required to take gym! In fact, many college students will tell you that high school was harder than college, because in college you have more opportunity to specialize in the subjects you love.

Subjects you love? That brings me to you graduates who enjoy art, fashion and/or working with your hands. Go to cosmetology school! You’ll do great there. And meanwhile, every one of you graduates give yourselves a big pat on the back for me.

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New Video: Beauty School Makes You “Not Just a Hairdresser”

Published: June 03, 2008
by Rosanne Ullman

In an earlier post I was telling you about how cosmetology career professionals have their own rock stars, the most famous of whom, Vidal Sassoon, not only introduced revolutionary hair cutting methods, but also pioneered the concept of salons branding themselves by opening beauty schools and developing product lines. Now I want to share a youtube video posted by a more recently well-known educator, Vivienne Mackinder. Titled, “I’m Not Just a Hairdresser: Legends,” the 5-minute spot promotes a film of the same name and features Sassoon along with fellow superstars Robert Lobetta and Trevor Sorbie, who all came out of the magical scene of 1960s London.

I hope you watch the video, because it celebrates the power of the hairstylist and shows you what a rewarding profession you’re joining. But I have to say, with full respect for Sassoon’s unrivaled status as the game-changer in this industry, that his story about improving one client’s life strikes me as outdated and chauvinistic. Here’s this little housewife who wanted to please her husband, so Vidal tells her to lose weight before he’ll do her hair? Oh, please. Do that today and you’ll have a lawsuit on your hands for causing emotional distress. And I’m not sure as a jury member I wouldn’t convict.

Still, the video prepares you for real life in a cosmetology career, because today the circumstances may be different but the end result is the same. As a hairdresser, you have the power to truly change people’s lives.

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