too old for hairdresser?

u751904

I have been considering a career in hairdressing. I was made redundant in feb trying to get back into work. Looking at all sorts including hairdressing. Would need to get a job with training or do a college course and try and get some extra work part time in a salon. I've walked round all the hair salons in my area asking for a work placement, handing out cvs etc. One salon owner told me that a) the college course on its own is no good without salon experience ( understandable) then suggested that I would struggle to get a role because of the minimun wage would be too high. I am guessing because I am older (late 30s) this wouldn't be the same as for the min wage of a school leaver. Bit of a depressing answer. He sais I'd probably need to work for free. I'd be willing to do this for the odd day of the week but in effect can't afford to do so If I am spending already one day a week at college. Anyone from the hairdressing community got any comments on this and whether it is a career someone in my position can realistically go into 'in this economic' climate. I'd say my home town has faired well in the recession so far but some salons were laying off staff...

thank you

Mrs_Money

I don't know much about hairdressing, but I do work in a further ed college and they do full-time courses and, indeed quite a few students are "mature" - I knew one who was probably into her early 40s.
There are payments for students - not much, I don't think, around £35 a week? sorry not sure about that, but often the courses are free if you have no qualifications.
On another matter - hardressing is traditionally very poorly paid anyway - are you sure there's nothing else you would rather retrain to do?
If you need inspiration - just phone, visit your local FE college and get a prospectus, just to see what's available. if you have some qualifications, you may like to go to uni for some training - just depends what you're interested in. There's plenty out there and most of it (providing you can get a job at the end of training/study) is better paid than hairdressing!
Good luck with it.

brooke3

u751904 wrote: »

I have been considering a career in hairdressing. I was made redundant in feb trying to get back into work. Looking at all sorts including hairdressing. Would need to get a job with training or do a college course and try and get some extra work part time in a salon. I've walked round all the hair salons in my area asking for a work placement, handing out cvs etc. One salon owner told me that a) the college course on its own is no good without salon experience ( understandable) then suggested that I would struggle to get a role because of the minimun wage would be too high. I am guessing because I am older (late 30s) this wouldn't be the same as for the min wage of a school leaver. Bit of a depressing answer. He sais I'd probably need to work for free. I'd be willing to do this for the odd day of the week but in effect can't afford to do so If I am spending already one day a week at college. Anyone from the hairdressing community got any comments on this and whether it is a career someone in my position can realistically go into 'in this economic' climate. I'd say my home town has faired well in the recession so far but some salons were laying off staff...

thank you

Unfortunately this does tend to be the case. A lot of salons don't make much money out of their apprentices and certainly not enough to pay them the higher minimum wage.
Don't give up on it, I always think that if you really want something that there will be a way. It may be that you have to get an evening job to subsidise yourself or something like that but you may be lucky and find a salon willing to give you a paid apprenticeship.
I think what you do need to consider is that in the current economic climate hairdressers aren't making as much money. When you qualify you will of course have the opportunity to work for yourself either freelance or renting a chair in a salon or you can get a job in a salon. If things are the same in other places as they are here salons are unlikely to be taking on new staff (and as you said they're laying off current staff) and it takes time to build up enough clients to be able to make a living if you decide to work for yourself.
I don't want to put you off, if this is what you really want to do I think you should go for it but I think you need to be realistic.

deelouise

hello

i'm a long time lurker but think i might be able to offer you some (hopefully helpful) insight - this is my first post so apologies if anything is wrong!!

My mum was in a similar situation to you but was quite a bit older (sorry mum!) she must have been mid to late forties and she retrained to do beauty therapy. Some years later she now works in the college she trained in and is teaching students.

Certainly if you're full time (I can't say if it's the same for part time but I assume it is) they bring in clients for you to practice on and to do your assessments on so it's not like you get no experience if you're not working in a salon. I'm pretty sure she got a part-time job part way through her level 2 because I know she didn't do an apprenticeship. I could be wrong but I don't think hair is that different to beauty (in terms of course structure!) but the best thing to do like others have suggested is to give the programme team a call and see what your options would be. Maybe part time study would be a better option?

A lot of employers do still value more mature employees and especially in areas such as this where the nature of the work is so personal they can be highly beneficial to a business. Yes some only care about how low an hourly rate they can pay but lets face it - do you want to work for someone with that attitude anyway!?

Please ignore the attitude towards hairdressing as well, it can be well paid if you go down the right routes with it andc it an give you a greater degree of flexibilty and more options than more academic routes. University isn't always the best option I know plenty of graduates who are stuck in low paid, insecure, dead end jobs and I say that as someone with a degree who works in a uni.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

brooke3

Please ignore the attitude towards hairdressing as well, it can be well paid if you go down the right routes with it andc it an give you a greater degree of flexibilty and more options than more academic routes. University isn't always the best option I know plenty of graduates who are stuck in low paid, insecure, dead end jobs and I say that as someone with a degree who works in a uni.

I was going to say similar. There's a lot of money to be made in hairdressing if you're willing to work hard, build up business and are good at what you do. My family own four hair salons between them, in addition to the four who own salons another is a hairdresser and they all make good money (of course the ones who own their own salons make a lot more).

LouiseSA

I too would like to do a course at college, the Holistic Therapy Course, I have mulled it over for a couple of years but I find it frustrating that the colleges are unable to tell me what days the lessons will be until I start in September, working for myself does allow me to juggle things around but the days are an important part of the decision making process.

Having said I am going off track, I posted to say I do believe you should go for it!

eilliephant

deelouise wrote: »

hello

i'm a long time lurker but think i might be able to offer you some (hopefully helpful) insight - this is my first post so apologies if anything is wrong!!

My mum was in a similar situation to you but was quite a bit older (sorry mum!) she must have been mid to late forties and she retrained to do beauty therapy. Some years later she now works in the college she trained in and is teaching students.

Certainly if you're full time (I can't say if it's the same for part time but I assume it is) they bring in clients for you to practice on and to do your assessments on so it's not like you get no experience if you're not working in a salon. I'm pretty sure she got a part-time job part way through her level 2 because I know she didn't do an apprenticeship. I could be wrong but I don't think hair is that different to beauty (in terms of course structure!) but the best thing to do like others have suggested is to give the programme team a call and see what your options would be. Maybe part time study would be a better option?

A lot of employers do still value more mature employees and especially in areas such as this where the nature of the work is so personal they can be highly beneficial to a business. Yes some only care about how low an hourly rate they can pay but lets face it - do you want to work for someone with that attitude anyway!?

Please ignore the attitude towards hairdressing as well, it can be well paid if you go down the right routes with it andc it an give you a greater degree of flexibilty and more options than more academic routes. University isn't always the best option I know plenty of graduates who are stuck in low paid, insecure, dead end jobs and I say that as someone with a degree who works in a uni.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do!

I'm sorry to hijack the thread, but I too am a long time lurker and in a similar quandary, and this post gave me a bit of hope, so thanks for posting about your Mum:o
I am in my mid forties and have been a stay at home Mum for the past 13 years.
I'm a bit embarrassed about that, but at the same time I feel lucky to have been able to be at home.
However, my youngest is about to start secondary school and I would dearly love to retrain (my old job experience would be utterly irrelevant in todays job market) and to get a part time job, both to bring some extra income in for us (teenagers are far more expensive than toddlers, imo!), and to hopefully build up some human contact again - my world has become a little isolated over the past few years.
I don't know if it's worth me forking out on a course though, if no one is going to employ me as I've been out of the workplace so long and am too old:(
Beauty therapy was one area I was considering as at least I could freelance at that but the trouble is I can be a bit heavy handed, so I'm not sure I'd be much good at it!!
The other alternative would be a course in office skills, but as I say, I don't see that kind of employer taking me on as a secretary or office worker as I've nothing to offer.
Sorry for the long thread about myself in your post, OP, I hope you get someone to give you a break - personally speaking I would rather someone of your age did my hair than a younger person, as I can relate better to someone nearer my own age, so I don't think you are too old at all. Good luck:o