Thinking about becoming a hairdresser?

Perhaps you are considering becoming a hairdresser in the United Kingdom. Your family and friends frequently tell you that you should become a professional hairdresser when you style their hair for them. They have even boasted to their friends about your hairdressing talents most of your life. You seem to have a natural knack for styling hair, and you know you can do a better job than some of the hairdressers you’ve been to. Besides, you might as well be earning an income from something you are already doing as a hobby, right? So becoming a professional hairdresser seems like a logical thing to do.

Most people think a person just has to be good at styling hair in order to be a professional hairdresser. However, there is much more to being a hairdresser than just being a good stylist. For instance, you will need to become aware of safety and legal issues, and how to avoid or cope with accidents and lawsuits.

Even if you only do hairdressing for family and friends, there are some safety and legal issues you should consider before starting the hair treatments. For instance, what will happen if you accidentally injure the person or the person’s property? Let’s say you got distracted and badly burned the person with a curling iron, or your hands got slippery and you spilled dye on the person’s valuable carpet. How will you pay for the person’s medical treatment or replace the damaged property? What happens if you use a defective product or faulty equipment that causes the person harm? Or say you make a mistake, and you dye the person’s hair the wrong colour or severely damage the person’s hair?

Relatives and friends may or may not expect you to pay for medical treatments and damaged property, but if you don’t pay it will definitely place a strain on your relationship. Paying customers certainly will expect you to pay for any medical treatment or damaged property, including damaged hair and ruined image. They could even file a lawsuit against you.

There are also other things to consider before becoming a hairdresser. In actuality, there is a process you should go through when making this important decision. First, you should assess your own skills, personal interests, and personal traits to determine if a hairdressing career is suitable for you. As with any occupation, there are some specific qualities and skills that are needed in order to be a successful hairdresser. For instance, you must have manual dexterity and lots of stamina.

Next, you will need to determine which type of hairdressing employment you desire to obtain. Do you want to work for someone else during your entire career, or eventually become your own boss? You will want to match the type of hairdressing employment to the qualities, personal interests, and skills you prefer to use most frequently. For instance, if you don’t like being around sick people, you probably won’t want to work in a hospital setting. If you like travelling, you may want to choose working on a cruise liner. If you don’t like handling a lot of responsibility, then you won’t want to be a freelancer or own your own salon. However, you should also be aware that the pay rate and other benefits increase as the level of responsibility increases.

Now it’s time to start thinking about attaining the proper training in order to qualify for the specific types of employment you will be seeking. There are several ways to attain the training you will require. For instance, you can attain an apprenticeship or study at a college. Although not all hairdressing jobs will require NVQ/SVQ certification, all the better paying jobs will require them.

Moreover, you will need to become aware of common problems and ethical issues you may be facing as a hairdresser. Although hairdressing seems like a glamorous and exciting job, it can also be very stressful and full of woes. For instance, you’ll be encountering rude or obnoxious clients and having to cope with malfunctioning equipment sometimes. If you work under someone else’s supervision, you may be required to perform a task you know is unethical, such as overcharging a customer. So if you are considering becoming a hairdresser in the United Kingdom, you will definitely want to learn as much as you can about the profession before making a final decision.