You only have to try to get an appointment at a hair salon at the moment to know exactly how busy the hair and beauty industry has been since lockdown restrictions eased. Left it a little last minute? No chance.
Our appearance is often a crucial factor in how much confidence we have, and being unable to get to a salon has left lots of people feeling a bit worse for wear. As per Phoebe Waller-Bridge in her cult classic @fleabag, “hair is everything”! And that means that the hair and beauty industry is pretty secure – we’re not going anywhere.
Whilst waiting for a long-time-coming manicure or a fringe trim, you might have been thinking about a career change. COVID has caused many of us to rethink our priorities, and if nothing else, has given us a lot of time at home to research career options.
If you’re thinking about delving into something different, perhaps something more creative than your current role, why not consider retraining in the hair and beauty industry? Read on to discover some of the top reasons why we think it’s worth it.
Boosting confidence
One of the best ways to cheer yourself up is to help someone else. And as much as we hate to admit it, appearances can make or break a day!
That’s why we all need a good hair or beauty professional in our lives – who else would fix that dodgy dye job, ensure our eyebrows are perfectly arched, or give us a perfect fade?
As a professional in the hair and beauty industry, you can help people feel better about themselves – whether that’s through relaxation or aesthetics. Maybe you’ll even help them mould an entirely new identity – we’ve all done the post-breakup haircut, right?
There are even career paths that lead to helping those who have experienced traumatic changes in their appearance, including burn victims – it’s known as skin camouflage.
Giving clients a confidence boost can be incredibly rewarding – you’ve just improved their day!
You might just be more content
Did you know that hairdressers topped City & Guilds’ Career Happiness Index? In fact, skills-based jobs in general fared much better than office-based ones – which means a switch to the hair and beauty industry might just make you more excited to jump out of bed in the morning.
Researchers found that a lot of this was down to how appreciated people felt: apparently, clients are much more appreciative when you’re improving their image (or fixing their sink!).
On top of that, those who were self-employed ranked higher than their employed counterparts. Now of course not everybody in the hair and beauty industry is self-employed, but there are certainly several options that allow practitioners to set up on their own.
Flexibility
There are so many career options within the hair and beauty industry! You might start out doing a beauty course and end up as a facialist to the stars. You might opt for a massage course and set up your own business, working hours that suit you. Perhaps you’ve always been a fan of the theatre, and a makeup course could set you up for a role doing stage makeup or special effects.
Whatever your aspirations, there’s almost inevitably a hair and beauty course that will suit your career goals.
That flexibility extends to the training, too. Often, people are concerned that switching to a new career path means full-time training, making the switch more financially difficult. Luckily, we offer flexible courses to fit around your life.
Our part-time courses can be taken during the day, evening and weekends – so you can fit them around your schedule!
You get to use a variety of skills
We mentioned earlier that you might be thinking about trying out a more creative career – but creativity isn’t the only valuable skill in the hair and beauty industry.
If you’re a people person, you’ll likely find delight in chatting to clients, exploring exactly what they want before pulling it off. Plus, you never know who might come in, or what interesting stories they might tell!
Equally, your organisational skills could come in handy if you find yourself manning reception, or setting up a business on your own. You might even learn how to build a website, or set up an entire spa!
The best thing about all this for someone considering switching careers is that you most likely have most of these transferable skills already. Why not come and join us at The Norwich School of Hair & Beauty, and you could start your new career in no time!
