A Career As A Nail Technician

Choosing a career as a UK nail technician may be a major lifestyle design decision for you. There are several possible reasons why you may choose to have a UK nail technician (NT) career. However, you can be certain a NT career will offer numerous benefits and challenges.

Income and benefits

Numerous people merely use nail technician jobs as stepping stones to their beauty therapist careers. They use NT employment to gain the essential experience, skills, and knowledge needed for being successful in the beauty industry. Although many people merely use NT jobs as stepping stones, an NT career in itself can be very rewarding. Some of the benefits are:

Flexible hours

Most NTs average working 37 hours per week. The hours usually include weekends and evenings. Some NTs have the option of working by appointment only, which frees up the rest of their time.

Flexible locations

NTs can work from home, in their clients’ homes, in salons, hotels, spas, health clubs, nail bars, or on cruise liners. Some NTs obtain contracts for working at photography shoot locations with fashion models and film stars.

Flexible income

An average NT income is between £12,000 to around £16,000 a year. More experienced NTs can usually earn up to £25,000 annually. It’s also possible to increase your income by extending product offerings within your service portfolio. NTs also earn tips, so the quality of the NT’s work performance can influence the income earned.

Multiple levels of employment qualifications

NTs can easily obtain employment with any level of skills, experience and knowledge. However, the requirements vary from place to place and from employer to employer. Most employers and clients expect the NT to have at least a Level 2 NVQ in Nail Technician Services.

Easy access to continual professional development

There are numerous courses available to help provide NTs with new skills, hands-on experience, and up-to-date knowledge regarding the nail and beauty industry.

Support from the professional community

As a recognised element of the beauty industry, NTs can easily obtain support from the professional community through trade associations and regulating beauty industry boards. They also have access to numerous trade forums and discussion groups.

Development of transferrable skills, work experience and knowledge

NTs can transfer the skills, work experience, and knowledge to other careers, as well as apply them in various other areas of life.

Creates various opportunities

An NT career can provide you with 1) a chance to express artistic and creativity abilities; 2) job satisfaction due to your providing valuable services to others; 3) a chance to meet a diverse group of people; and 4) self-employment and business ownership opportunities.

The challenges

Although it’s fairly easy to become a UK nail technician, remaining one can be very difficult at times. You may have to tolerate obnoxious clients and annoying co-workers. You will have to be artistic, creative, and detail-oriented on a daily basis, as well as fairly knowledgeable about fashion and the beauty industry. You’ll also have to love learning, as you will constantly need to update your knowledge, skills, and techniques. The work is frequently performed on weekends and evenings, which may limit the NT’s social and family life. A nail technician must also constantly be aware of the risks involved and use appropriate risk management techniques. An NT should be aware of and follow all health and safety regulations. NTs must also be aware of their public obligations and legal responsibilities.

A major part of performing risk management is to purchase appropriate levels of insurance. For their own sake and the client’s sake, no nail technician should provide services without first obtaining an appropriate nail technician insurance cover. NTs can now easily find affordable insurance both on-line and off-line, so risk management shouldn’t be too difficult to do while developing your UK nail technician career.