I didn't research enough, like some of the other geeks I booked up for the course as is was convenient(travel wise), and the way it was described I felt at the time it was offering me more than it actually did, and it was expensive to boot!
I then of course found this site and am doing more training
As they say, you live and learn!

Great thread sandi

Yes i researched before taking that final step, i had to take in to account ...

Distance

Cost

Time span

At the time product wasnt a major issue but im now so glad i did it with NSI, i love their product range, find it easy to work with and also find its reasonable priced so it wont break the bank!

It took me months to decide what course was best, I was limited as I have a full time job and needed something that would work around it so Pronails was perfect for that. Although it was probably the most expensive one out of the choices I had. I think I learnt alot in the time I was there but do need to learn more and feel that I need to now do an NVQ but dont know where to do it and how much more it is going to cost! I have only ever used the professionails gels and want to learn acrylics and other systems.
Are the home NVQ's any good?

Originaly no, but when it mattered I did.
I did my first ever nail course when I was at beauty college(17 yrs ago), I can honestly say I didn't learn much, it was a one day thing, so nothing about infills etc.
About 8yrs ago I got a job as a rep-merchandiser for a nail company who sell through wholesalers. I did alot of training through them, but still felt I had more to learn.
When setting up my business, I wanted to expand my skills, this is when I did my major research.
After visiting all the main nail companies stands at a show, I decided on Creative, did my conversion, then 4 more skill building courses. Best thing I ever did.

truthfully i never researched it at all , i knew a girl who had trained with creative and she does fab nails and i knew they had a good rep so i went with them ,

great thread

I dont think I looked in to it at all I didn't know any thing about nails my friend did an essential nails course and you could pay monthly I thought it was perfect for me so I did the gel course.

before I found this site I thought I was quite good at them

after sitting in the back ground and reading as much as I can and looking though all the pics I thought ooh my god I need proper training some one to sit over me and show me properly what to do !!!

So I'm waiting till February to do a foundation gel course with nsi as I got there try me kit and the difference between the En gel and these was unreal IMO

THANK GOD I FOUND THIS SITE

When I first started back in 2001, I did absolutely nothing regarding research and just jumped in to the first Manicure coarse I could find near me!

Boy was that a mistake!!!

In fact instead of learning anything I just came out of the course completely deflated with a certificate that I couldn't even get insurance on!!
Booooo! Hisssss!
The tutor was vile and if you questioned anything she did.......like contradicting herself which she did quite alot........she got really nasty about it!
In the end I did manage to get a full refund after sending a letter of my opinions of the course (which incidentally, had been brought up by many other students).

So I very quickly learned that it was essential to do some research in to who I was going to train with next.

Luckily I got it right second time round and never looked back.

A valuable lesson learned!

Thank you for your replies... it's quite interesting that a lot of us didn't do enough research.
Should have added a poll... hmm perhaps I'll add one now lol

With my first training i had no choice it was where i worked and was paid for. I would say it was good training but i personally didnt like the product. I dont like buff off gels.I know you dont have to get them off if you are really good at what you are doing but that for me takes a while and i just couldn't cope with the dust.I get allergies and have had sinus operations anyway so guess im more sensetive.
I was used to gel and wanted a soak off gel looked into it via this site and calgel appeared to be what i was looking for and i am very pleased so far.

I thought I'd done enough research, but soon after starting my course I realised I should of talked more to techs already in the industry and less time looking at companies and trainers on the net (although this is important to).
I really had no idea how much it was all going to cost and how difficult it would be to get started.

I didn't know what questions to really ask when I called around the various schools here. I had infos sent to me and compared what they were offering and I settled on a smaller school. Boy am I glad I did she turned out to be wonderful, full of knowledge and willing to share information. She's a certified educator and teaches one on one using the Milady's text book. I was very lucky as she teaches all systems, methods and techniques. From reading here, she knows what she's doing.

I read up aload for about 12months before i enrolled on my coarse,still was shocxked how indepth it is.Its not as easy as peeps think!

I wish I had found this site before I took the course I did. I just did a google search and found near to me and at a reasonable price, but now I realise I wasted £400 on 2 days. 2 days just isn't enough to know how to do nails. So now I am going to creative to do conversion followed by skillbuilding courses. They say you learn by your mistakes, so if there is anybody out there thinking of doing one of these quick courses I'd think again and go with a reputable company such as Creative. x

i chose to do my qualification course at a college that was close to home so i could attend the evening class

i think i researched well. I've been doing evening courses at college for 2 years and asked loads of questions about the nail units.

My mani/pedi tutor was a nightmare, she was telling us the correct way to do things and then saying "but in a salon you wouldn't do it that way" Which I no at college they do go in to everything alot more but she shouldn't of said that.

Then I moved on to the extend and maintain... we were under the impression this would be l&p or gel...how wrong were we it was fibreglass. The tutor was fantastic, she really knew her stuff but the only thing I really learnt at the time was how to blend tips.

Apparently they couldn't do l&p and gel in the evenings (for some stupid reason) but I have been lucky enough to infill into the level 3 full time course and go on a monday afternoon. It's still the same fantastic tutor and I'm learning loads, I just don't like the star nails products we use....

Which is why I have researched products and I am also now fully qualified in OPI mani/pedi and absolute.

I definatly recommend the research option first, I can agree with other people who say it is the trainer they chose rather than the product because after speaking to Alison at OPI I was hooked, she has such passion for the products and that has rubbed off on me.

Sorry for the life story...