Hair Beauty School Training & Careers

1) What Is a Hair Beauty School?

Do you want a career where you get to spend all day making other people look and feel beautiful? As a hair stylist or cosmetologist, you get to cut, color, and style hair. You may also offer manicures, pedicures, scalp and facial treatments, work with wigs and hairpieces, and provide makeup analysis. If you want to own your own salon, you also need to take on managerial duties such as hiring employees, keeping business and inventory records, ordering supplies, and arranging advertising.

To learn the skills necessary to succeed in this career, you need to attend a hair beauty school (also called a cosmetology school or beauty salon school). Here, you can take classes taught by licensed hair stylists and other beauty professionals, get hands-on practical experience, and prepare to take your state licensing exams. In some states, you need a high school diploma or GED before you can attend a state-licensed beauty salon school.

2) Degrees and Certifications Available at a Hair Beauty School

Most full-time cosmetology programs last 9 months. If the program includes general education classes as well, then it may culminate in an associate's degree. Other programs grant you a certificate upon completion of the course. Your classes may include:

• Basic hair design
• Communication skills
• Hair color and cutting
• Retail sales and marketing
• Salon management

Since you must be able to retain clients to succeed in this business, your beauty salon school may offer courses in people skills or customer relations. This has become more common as the need for hair stylists to be effective salespeople grows.

Some schools do offer online education programs, which can be an excellent idea for those who wish to maintain a full-time job while studying. However, if you choose to enroll in online education, be sure to find a way to get the hands-on practical experience offered by traditional on-campus programs.

3) Hairstylist Career Trends and Salaries

There's a growing demand for hair coloring and other treatments, and this is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. In fact, from 2008-2018, employment of hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists should increase by 20 percent, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics projections. You can find jobs at beauty salons, day and resort spas, or even at nursing and residential care homes.

Additionally, nearly half of all personal appearance workers are self-employed. While many of these self-employed workers own their own salons, a large number lease booth space or a chair at a salon owned by someone else. If you choose to go this route, you have to provide your own supplies, pay your own taxes, and pay a monthly or weekly fee to the salon owner--but it also means you can choose your own hours and be your own boss.

In spite of the large employment growth, you can expect tough competition for jobs at the higher paying salons and spas. Learning a range of skills at hair beauty school can give you a leg up on the competition, as licensed professionals who provide a wide range of services tend to have the best job opportunities.

The average hairstylist or hairdresser earns $26,660 annually, or $12.82 per hour. The top 10 percent earn over $42,000 annually, while the bottom 10 percent may earn less than $15,530. Salaries vary based on location and the type of establishment in which you work. For instance, hairstylists in Hawaii average $41,600 annually and those in Washington average $32,950. Hairstylists who work at department stores average $20,240, but those working in the motion picture and video industries average $61,370.

4) Hairstylist Licensure and Certification

If you want to work as a hairstylist or cosmetologist, then you must have a state license. There are no exceptions, although each state has its own requirements for licensure. In most states, you must be at least 16 years old, and you need to graduate from a state approved beauty salon school. After graduation, you need to take a written exam and, quite often, a practical exam too. If you want to get licensed as a manicurist, pedicurist, or skin care specialist in addition, then you need to complete that training and take those tests as well because each field requires its own license.

Some states do have reciprocity agreements--meaning that if you earn your license in one state, you can transfer it to another state without additional formal training. However, many states insist on their own unique license and requirements so you should consider attending hair beauty school in the state where you wish to work.