Hairdresser

So, what do you do now? Well, the first thing is to make sure that you really do want to become a hairdresser. Talk with your hairdresser about it. She/he will tell you all about it. Visit a few schools. There area tons of different ones. Just click on one of the sites advertising on this lens!
Stop by and visit one. Get your hair done by one of the senior students and ask questions. Maybe assist at your salon. Help out with folding towels, sweeping up hair, and answering the phones. See what you think before you jump in. Cosmetology School can be expensive.
But make sure it is the environment that you are looking for. Make sure you will enjoy going there. You will be spending at least 8 hours a day there for the next year.
Each state has different regulations and training varies. Find this out before you attend. Once you complete schooling you will need to take your examinations. Again, this varies from state to state. Once you pass the exams, you receive a license and you can start working as a full fledged hairdresser!
Check out this site to see the requirements of your state:
Your State

During your last few months at school now is a good time to start to figure out where you might want to work.

Some good things to try are to talk with your hairdresser you went to before you went to school. If you had a good relationship with your hairdresser maybe you might want to offer to take him/her to coffee and get some suggestions. Also a lot of schools have career days and salons will come in and meet the students. Talk with the people who come in. They might be the people you interview with later. Ask them questions. Get their cards. Ask them if you can stop by and get a tour of the salon.

Then give the salon a call. Don't just show up. Set up a time to stop by and visit. When you are there talk about what their requirements are to work there. They may have an assistant or training program. If it is a smaller salon they might and maybe you could just volunteer to come work on Saturdays while school is going on and afterwards to be there to help clean, answer phones, tear foils etc. If you work hard they may decide they cannot live without you.

When they get to know you and see your work they will be more apt to hire you at that point.

Look in Craigslist for ads under the salon area. Look in your paper. There are a lot of websites that list job openings. Try behindthechair.com or your local Stylist magazine.

Many salons will expect to see a demonstration of your work. Make sure you bring a model or friend with you. Cut there hair before so you are already familiar with them and so you will have a better idea of what you are going to do on the model. If you are only showing a haircut make sure your model's hair is freshly colored. This will show your future employers that you are thinking of their entire look and that you are prepared.

You might want to prepare a head sheet diagram with your cutting angles, haircolor design and color formulas to hand them during the interview process. Also make sure you have one resume for each person at the interview and maybe one extra for any suprise guests. Also, bring any examples of your work, letters of recommendation, client testimonials (gather them from your school clients), etc in a nice portolio.

Working at a salon is not the only thing that is now open to you. Once you have gained some in salon experience there are so many paths your career can take. Some hairdressers really enjoy working on photoshoots and fashion shows. Start out locally working with student photographers and fashion designers. Offer to work for free to start to build your book. Go to a local dance studio or modeling agency and start building your book by doing their hair for their headshots. Before you know it you may be working on a shoot for a big company.
Some stylists start working in the entertainment industry. Think of all the television shows you see. They all have a hairdresser making sure that each star is looking their best.
Another popular area that experienced hairdressers go into is in education. There are two main directions for this. One is educating in Beauty Schools and the other is educating for the product companies. Many educators end up traveling the country or the world and seeing places they never would have dreamed of. My work has taken me throughout Europe, South American and North America.