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6 Distinctions of Job Interviewing After Beauty School (Part 1)

Published: August 05, 2009
by Rosanne Ullman

When you graduate from beauty school and get your cosmetology license, you’ll probably interview at several salons. Because so many people are out of work, there’s a ton of advice right now about how to ace the job interview, so read all you can on this topic as you approach your cosmetology school graduation date. But keep a few things in mind that distinguish your interviewing experience from that of your friends looking for some other types of work.

1. The salon job market is never tight. Good salons are always looking for talent, even now. The owner will give you a shot if you seem to fit into the culture and have something to contribute. You may not be able to start at the most upscale or popular salon in town, but you’ll find a salon to take you aboard if you present yourself to your best advantage.
2. Your resume? Not that important. Just out of school, you won’t have much to put on your resume, and you’ll probably be asked to fill out an employment application even if you do have a resume. Just be able to name a reference or two who can talk about you as a worker—such as a previous supervisor even if it was just for an after-school job at a local store or restaurant.

I’ll continue this list next time, but my point is that after cosmetology school you’ll journey out onto a professional terrain unlike any other on the planet.

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Polish Shades Will Have Nail Technology School Students Laughing

Published: July 31, 2009
by Rosanne Ullman

Manicure Shades Will Have Nail Technology School Students Laughing

I have to devote at least one blog post to nail color. For those of you hoping to attend nail technology school or specialize in nails after completing a general cosmetology school program, be prepared to giggle a lot. Whenever I need a laugh, I know I can always read the list of the latest nail colors.

OPI alone will keep you in stitches with the company’s flair for puns. For example, last fall’s France Collection included the shades “You Don’t Know Jacques,” “A Oui Bit of Red” and “Bastille My Heart.” OPI’s Soft Shades feature “Kiss on the Chic” and “I Pink I Love You,” while the current spring/summer South Beach Collection offers “Miami Beet” and “Paint My Mojitoes Red.”

Mary Foley, author of the book Bodacious Woman, discovered that her “Wild Berry” nail color described how she wanted to approach her life. Now she urges women everywhere to “live like your nail color” and has founded an online club of the same name. Go to her site to see a list of club members’ life-defining nail shades. You’ll find everything from “It’s So Hard to Be Humble” and “Free to Be Me” to “My Life Makes Me Blush” and “Pistol Packin’ Pink.” For me, I’m considering China Glaze’s “Restless” or, if I think I can pull it off, CG’s “Her Fabulousness”! At nail technology school, each new season will bring you a fresh choice of so many colors for yourself and your clients. Have fun!

Photo courtesy of China Glaze.

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Cosmetology Careers Are Usually More About Money Than Fame

Published: July 28, 2009
by Rosanne Ullman

Are you hoping that beauty school will be your ticket to fame and fortune? Would you settle for the second half of that? A lot of cosmetologists make tons of money, but very few of them are widely well-known. Within the industry, someone like Trevor Sorbie is a household name, a true icon, but have you ever heard of him? Outside the industry there’s only one Vidal Sassoon, and then it drops to the Jose Eber level. Maybe after cosmetology school you’ll have your own reality show, which is how Tabitha Coffey acquired her 15 minutes of fame, but otherwise you might have to settle for the fortune.

I consider it the best of both worlds. You don’t have fans stalking you or cameras flashing as you run out without makeup to pick up a few groceries, but you have everything you need both in material goods and rewarding experiences. Or, one compromise is to be a stylist to the stars. You’re not exactly famous, but you hang out with people who are, and your work shows up on TV and runways, in movies and magazines.

A while ago I was talking with Marcia Hamilton (photo at left), who has exactly that life, styling hair for Jada Pinkett Smith, Minnie Driver, Pink and other celebs. If you’re interested, click “video” on Marcia’s website to see where your talent can take you. Also, see our section here on beautyschooladvisor.com that talks about pursuing a film and runway career after beauty school.

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Need a Back-to-Beauty-School Haircut?

Published: July 24, 2009
by Rosanne Ullman

After you graduate from beauty school, you may find yourself employed at Hair Cuttery and delivering special late-summer haircuts as part of the chain’s annual “Share A Haircut” program. Until then, if you’re 18 or younger, you can be a participant in the program, which helps disadvantaged children feel good on their first day back at school. If you do get a haircut, you’ll look great for your first day of cosmetology school!

“Share A Haircut” means that from August 1-15, every time a child or teen aged 18 or younger receives a haircut at any of the nearly 800 Hair Cuttery salons across the eastern and midwestern United States, a free haircut will be provided to a disadvantaged child in the community. Through partnerships with more than 100 hundred local social service agencies and non-profit organizations, Hair Cuttery has donated more than 450,000 haircuts since the program began in 1999.

Perhaps you qualify to receive the free haircut but, if not, you can be on the other end and go pay for one so that a less fortunate kid can benefit from this generous program. Then in a year or two, when you’ve completed beauty school and have your cosmetology license, even if you’re not working at Hair Cuttery and part of this program you’ll probably be contributing to a cut-a-thon or some other charitable effort that your salon arranges. The salon industry is an extremely giving, caring community, so get used feeling gratified!

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"Ta-Ta for Now" to Beauty School Grad Krissy

Published: July 20, 2009
by Rosanne Ullman

For the final post of “stalking” Krissy Simmons through her memories of beauty school, taking her state boards and moving on to work at a salon, I asked her advice for future cosmetology school students.

“Start practicing on your friends now,” Krissy recommends. “Do their hair for the next dance. Ask your school’s cheerleaders if you can help out with hair and make-up for games and competitions. Do as much as you possibly can with hair. My teachers had to show me how to do a french braid! That isn’t a horrible thing, but it’s better to be a step ahead when you arrive at school. Then prepare mentally, physically and emotionally for a very intense year to 18 months, and do not miss a day of school if you can help it!” Krissy says she’s a better person for having weathered the ups and downs of her year at school.

“The best part of school is the obvious—doing hair!” she raves. “Making people happy! Hearing them say, ‘I love my hair! It’s never looked better!’ This work is about people, the industry and being inspired by Vidal Sassoon saying, ‘You’re not doing your job if you’re not misunderstood,’ or by Robert Lobetta saying, ‘You can’t stand back up if you don’t fall down first.’ It’s about making yourself the best that you can be. I’m inspired by all of this, and that’s what I got out of beauty school.” Thanks for generously telling your story, Krissy, and stay in touch!

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Online Courses Help Cosmetology School Students Prepare for State Boards

Published: July 16, 2009
by Rosanne Ullman

In the previous two blogs we’ve talked about how technology is seeping into beauty school classrooms and why a fully online cosmetology school is not on the horizon. What an online program can do well, though, is to prepare graduates to take their state boards.

The cosmetology textbook company Milady is finding its Online Licensing Prep quite popular, according to Erica Conley, the company’s marketing specialist. Divided into four categories—cosmetology, barbering, nails and esthetics—the program is available in both English and Spanish. Addressing the theory portion of the exam, the online prep spits out 300 questions chosen randomly from a database of 1,000 questions that are very similar to the ones you’ll get on the real board exam. For the practical portion, which requires you to demonstrate techniques in a lab setting, the online prep offers workbooks and study guides.

Beauty schools can make this program available to their students by ordering it at a group rate. Students whose schools do not offer it can order individually for $27.50 and have access to the practice questions for a full year. Since the exams are based on the textbooks used in schools, Milady has a good idea about the content of the questions, no matter which state exam you’re taking. “Our online test prep is pretty much a review of our textbook, giving students a better understanding of the entire industry and not just a prep for their state,” says Academic Development Manager Lisha Barnes. For more information, go to miladyonline.com.

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Textbook vs. Technology: Beauty Schools Find a Balance

Published: July 12, 2009
by Rosanne Ullman

As you explore the different cosmetology schools in your area, perhaps you’re asking older relatives or friends who are in the beauty industry for advice. Their input is valuable for many reasons, but you still should visit the schools yourself because I have to tell you: today’s institution is not your mother’s beauty school. Newer technologies are changing the game every day.

Right now, this is focused on DVDs as a training tool that supplements the instructor’s live demonstration, but other technologies are popping up as well. For example, Empire Schools’ classrooms are equipped with interactive white boards “designed for creative people who learn better by seeing and doing than reading a standard cosmetology textbook.” The best textbook companies—Milady is a prime example—are being proactive by embracing technology that schools can purchase. “There will always be the textbook in the classroom,” Milady’s marketing specialist, Erica Conley, tells me. “But our goal is to incorporate as much technology in the classroom as possible, because we find that’s the way some students learn best.”

Lisha Barnes, Milady’s academic development manager, adds, “Technology in the classroom to deliver training is certainly the trend. It’s more learner-centered, participation training instead of ‘stand up and lecture.’ The shift has been significant. More cosmetology schools are installing wifi and computer labs or keeping laptops available so that students can use technology to help themselves retain the material.” Milady has one more technological entry in this mix, which I’ll talk about next time.

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Is Online Beauty School a Viable Option?

Published: July 08, 2009
by Rosanne Ullman

I won’t make you scroll down to the end to find out the answer. So will “virtual” beauty school become a reality? Not any time soon. But has technology moved into the cosmetology school classroom? You bet.

“I don’t foresee students getting their entire program through online ‘distance learning,’” says Lisha Barnes, academic development manager for the cosmetology textbook company Milady. “The states that allow it right now permit it to cover something like only 20 percent of their theory training, and so much of our industry is hands-on.”

I’m imagining you, a student, at home with all necessary supplies—a mannequin, combs, brushes, clips, heat tools and liquid products. With online video phone technology like Skype, you could follow along with an instructor’s demonstration and, in turn, the instructor could see you and tell you what you’re doing right and wrong. But there’s still something missing. She can’t reach out and grab your hand to twist it so that the iron you’re holding creates the proper wave. She can’t push your shoulders back to position you in a way that won’t overstress your back. She can’t remove the bobby pin on your test curl to see for herself whether the perm solution is taking adequately. And color? It just doesn’t look the same over video as in person. “My opinion is that you can’t teach a beauty school student how to cut hair only with video instruction,” Barnes says. Next time I’ll talk about technology the schools are using.

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