U.S. News and World Report declared hairstyling and cosmetology one of the best careers for 2009. That’s no surprise considering how well being a cosmetologist fits US News’s “Best Career” specifications:
1. Job outlook
2. Average job satisfaction
3. Difficulty of the required training
4. Prestige
5. Pay
Essentially, cosmetology tops the list because it meets the five basic qualifiers: there always seem to be openings available for qualified cosmetologists, they love their jobs, training is rapid and cost-effective, people and clients have a high opinion of professional cosmetologists and they make good money.
But what are some of the other unspoken benefits of being a licensed cosmetologist?
First, this career is a fashionista’s dream. It’s one of the rare fields with good job opportunities in which you’re rewarded for staying current on fashion and design. You gain prestige and client approval because you spent a few hours over the weekend catching up on Project Runway, E! Entertainment TV gossip, and Tabatha’s Salon Takeover.
Second, your job can’t be “outsourced” to people with questionable credentials. It might seem obvious, but a cosmetologist and their clients’ relationships are very personal. You can’t fake this type of customer service over an international phone line.
Third, the beauty industry manages to keep expanding and improving every year with services and customer avenues. Cosmetology is a huge part of the beauty industry, which is literally a multi-billion dollar and growing business sector.
So how do you make this dream cosmetology career even more lucrative?
Specialize. A creative career demands creative solutions. So evolve into a niche specialty that you can put your personal spin on. One example is finding lucrative work building and styling wigs and hairpieces. The country’s population is aging, and with age comes hair thinning and loss for both men and women. You can help people who have lost their hair due to age, disease or accidents, or you can go for a more exciting angle and design hair pieces for stage, screen, and TV productions.
Are you in cosmetology training, or already in the cosmetology field? Do you plan on specializing? How will you create your own signature line of service?
Incoming search terms:
One of our BSD blog posts in recent months names getting your own business cards as one of the top 5 ways to jump-start your beauty career. That’s great advice! Just remember that as a beauty professional, you’re expected to be creative.
