FAQ: How Can I Become A Beautician?

Question:
I would like to have a job as a hairstylist. What do I have to do?

Answer:
You cannot be a beautician (a stylist or a colorist) without a licence. To obtain a licence you have to go to a beauty school in your area. I had to do a very simple placement test (I had to show them I can draw lines) in order to get into a cosmetology school. And I had to know enough English to understand the material in school.
Each state requires certain number of classroom hours (click HERE to see a list of all fifty US states with the number of required beauty school hours; and while you're there, check out the scholarship page), some require apprenticeship before you will be allowed to take a state test, which you have to pass before you get your licence. After you get your licence, you can check with your school for job opportunities, you can try to find a beautician position through local newspapers, Craigs List etc. You can walk into hair salons and fill out an application.

When I was in this country for about 4 years, I decided to become a beautician. I asked people which beauty school is a quality school, because I wanted to learn from the best. I had no money and the school set me up with a loan. This was great, because I could start school nearly right away.
I had to start to pay the loan payments 6 months later - after I finished my school.
There is plenty of jobs for an apprentice in many salons. You learn from established hairdressers and then you move up into a stylist or colorist (or both) position.

Note: After you get finished with all your classroom hours (or after you graduate), make sure you get your transcript. Since I didn't grow up in the US, I didn't know about this arrangement. No one explained it to me. I thought that licence is all I needed. I have been renewing my New York State licence, but I live in a different state now and I cannot practice this profession where I live, because my transcript has been lost - the school has been closed since then, and my transcript was supposed to be transferred to the "Department of State, Division of Licensing Services". However no one can find it. In order for me to get licensed in a different state, which grants reciprocity, I need my school transcript or go to school all over again.

Instead of working, all I can do now is write my blog. I do not want to do hair illegally (that is without a different state licence). So, make sure that you ask many questions, before you become a cosmetologist. And get that transcript in the case you move to a different state.

Good luck.

Credit: the above image is from THIS website