What qualifications are needed to work in a beauty salon

Hi there,

hope you can help me.

What qualification do you need to work in a salon? Is it just NVQ, City & Guilds and VCTC?

There are so many academy that offer diploma in beauty. Would it be accepted?

thank you very much

Nvq, Btec, ect alot of salons prefere for you to have the full training rather than taking seprate courses.

I'm a salon owner and also a college lecturer. If I was looking to recruit a therapist I would prefer the applicant to be qualified to NVQ level 3 or above. I would consider employing someone with NVQ L2 but he/she would have to have completed a body massage course (Level 3 standard).
Colleges now run Diploma courses which are very similar to NVQ courses but for some reason have less theory and practical assessments.
BTEC is theory based and is usually seen as a platform to Uni. Candidates concentrate mainly on the science behind beauty therapy and can leave very knowledgable but lacking confidence in carrying out treatments. As an employer, I would most definitely employ a person with a BTEC qual, and would take time reinforcing training and building confidence (as I would with any successful applicant).

If someone came to me looking for a therapist position having gained qualifications by way of one day/two day courses, I'm afraid I wouldn't take them seriously.

I'm also a salon owner. One of my best therapists has only done short courses. She has a natural flair for beauty and a big client following.

We are required by the LA to have atleast one NVQ (or equivalent) qualified therapist to obtain our licence.

I have tried a few NVQ trained nail techs and none have been any good. I have 2 excellent techs now who both trained in short supplier courses and are absolutely brilliant.

In summary, short courses are not all bad. But neither are all nationally recognised qualification courses as have some great NVQ therapists too. Whatever floats your boat.