Hi All,
Really looking for some advice, I am 22 years old, from Bristol. I gave up my full time job 2 years ago to go into hairdressing as realised I didn't want to do my past job for the rest of my life. I wish I had gone into hairdressing when I left school, but never did, so decided it was now or never! I completed my NVQ 2 last July and I am in the middle of completing my NVQ 3 (Finishes in June)
My problem is, no one seems willing to give me the break I am looking for, I want to work in a salon full time, I understand I may have to do a retraining programme, I am happy to start on a lower wage, no one seems interested in even meeting me? People ignore my applications, I have been for two job interviews (the only ones I have managed to get) They have never even bothered to get back to me, I'm just very upset about it all, I think due to my age (the miniumum wage issue) may be a problem, Hairdressers seem to only want juniors they can put through college themselves or people with 5+ years experience? So is there no hope for the mature, college trained students? I have considered going mobile but feel this will not help me with learing more, career prospects etc, I don't just want to be a hairdresser, I want to be a FANTASTIC hairdresser one day!
Just looking for someone to see I have passion and want to learn
Any advice would be appreciated. I know being in a recession doesn't help but just really down about it all x
Hi Heather,
I was the same as you but I started my hairdressing career at the ripe old age of 33!!!!
I too had the same problem, salons wanting people with at least 3 years shop floor experience....how do you get the experience unless someones willing to give you that chance?.............Its a vicious circle. I was lucky enough to work in a friends salon for a little while, but unfortunatly that went a bit *** up, he lost the salon due to no fault of his own.He later on went on to successfully manage a lovely salon and I would do holiday cover for his staff.
I have been doing mobile for the last few years but I do agree with you, you won't learn any new techniques and I personally think you get lazy!!!!! I know I did!!!
I am pleased to say I now work part time in a salon....I work for Supercuts, they are one of the biggest chains going and my lack of experience never came into question. If helps if you are confident in your hairdressing.....which is hard to be after you've had so many knock backs....
I suggest you try them, if there is a branch near you.....I absolutely love working there. And the most important thing is never to give up....maybe try tweaking your CV, show your confidence, enthusiasm and willingness to learn...you will get a job!!!!!!!
Keep trying and let me know how you go....you can always PM if you wanna chat.
Lisa
(P.S...yes, hallo everyone, I'm BACK!!!!)
Thanks Lisa, glad to hear someone else knows where I am coming from, I do have one near by, so will give that a thought. I'm just going to have to start begging I think! LOL, thanks for your help, Ill let you know how I get on x
hi heather, it is one of those things i'm afraid that customers want confident and competent stylists, and owners want staff that can cover their wage costs especially in the current climate.
Yes I am a salon owner, but I re-trained at 24 I qualified in 9 months doing an apprenticeship, then fought tooth and nail to build my own column from, "new to the salon clients" in order to prove I was worth keeping on after qualifying.
There seems to be a couple of issues I can see, you need to prove you have clients to bring to a prospective salon, so do the mobile as a temporary measure if you're confident you are competent. This client base will be an enticement to a salon, you may not learn any thing new but you will perfect your tecniques.
The other is that your cv/intro letter is letting you down, if you want you can email it to me and i'll have a read from an employers point of view. www.moncrieffehair.co.uk (I am just a salon owner not a consultancy ..I don't charge!)
A lot of salons don't want college trained students as they don't have floor experience but one of the bigger groups may well be your best chance even if you start part time just to get your foot through the door.
Hi Updo
Thank you for the reply, i wish I had gone around it another way, ie: doing an apprentiship and not full time college, if I knew it would be this hard! I will send you my CV thank you, but to tell you the truth I don't really know what to put on there as nothing is relevant to hairdressing other than I have lots of customer service experience, I really want to do this and will not give up at the first hurdle and will keep trying! I will do mobile if I can't get a job anywhere as I don't want to end up not doing it, need to keep going and as you said try and prefect my techniques, Heather
I m close to finishing my nvq lvl 2 and i m 37!! I m lucky to have had training from Windle (bumble & bumble), salon experience with a good unisex stylist plus i m presently gaining barbering experience but it s damn hard and pretty daunting gaining employment in this industry if you re starting a bit later in life. The minimum wage issue for employers is 1 out of many obstacles we have to overcome but my arguement is this..When a salon is looking for someone with passion, dedication and professionalism would they prefer someone who has the TRUE desire to be a professional hairdresser with maturity and life experience or someone who s not quite sure and spends most of the day out the back of the salon texting on their mobile phone and probably won t be there in 6 months time?!? I ve had a few knockbacks trying to get work in a unisex salon, my stylist went bankrupt so i had to find a job immediately, luckily i ve been taken on by a gents salon but i need to work on womens hair to do my lvl 3!! Very frustrating when u see younger, less interested people walk into these jobs like it was nothing. However, i remain determined and sticking to your guns is what real hairdressing is all about!! I know that when i qualify it will be difficult to find work but i know that someone somewhere will give me a chance. The pioneers of this trade had to suffer to get anywhere but they made it happen, why can t we? Live in hope, die in despair! Let me know how u get on and any advice would be welcome...Alastair (Wolverhampton)
ALL I CAN SAY IS GOOD FOR YOU , AN ATTITUDE OF DETERMINATION IS JUST WHATS NEEDED. I ONLY WISH YOU WERE CLOSER TO MY SALONS AS I FIND IT REALLY HARD TO GET CAREER HAIRDRESSERS AT ANY AGE.