Is there a nationwide shortage of therapists?

[nailpod]

I agree with all above comments.
Cutting prices is also unfair to ourselves and you might find a lot of home based salons do not even pay taxes or insurance. In my country I am almost 100% sure that majority openly admit they don't.
So right from the start I am already cost wise down from them by a large portion.
Clients don't seem to care at the end of the day! Which is sad, I think the actual suppliers should step up their game and insist on seeing your tax number or the insurance before supplier stock .
That won't ever happen ...

 

[EllenHyuga]

I finished college in June. It was a year course for what we were told was level 2 diploma, but turned out to be level 2 certificate! Apparently our course was a 2 year course, but they cut it down to a year because by the 2nd year, half the students had dropped out! However, in cutting it down, they had to get rid of one of the units. VTCT wanted to get rid of the waxing unit, our tutors said no that's ridiculous! So they all sat down and agreed to get rid of pedicures. Luckily we had the opportunity to do the OPI Mani & Pedi course as extra - still not the point though.
Unfortunately due to childcare, money and other circumstances, I can't do the level 3. I do know that as a part time course it's 1 day (9am-6pm) a week. The full time I believe is 2 days (not sure on the hours but it's not as long). Again, the course is for a year. Even the full time level 2 diploma is 2 and a bit days a week. It's not enough, I agree.
We did some a&p, I do remember most of it (biology is my strong suit) but I know a couple of the girls in my group only just scraped past the 70% pass rate required on each unit. It wasn't for not listening etc, they're just not good at the theory side of treatments. Their practical however, they passed first time.
Just wanted to say my experience in college - pretty piss poor tbh!

 

[laurakate]

Wow! I'd be so mad if something vital was removed from level 2. Waxing or pedicures, I feel it's just as bad.

 

[EllenHyuga]

Wow! I'd be so mad if something vital was removed from level 2. Waxing or pedicures, I feel it's just as bad.

In the diploma course, it wasn't taken out...just the certificate -_- x

 

[nina.h]

Couldn't agree more with a lot of what's been said here. I've just completed a 'Level 3 Technical Diploma' and couldn't be more disappointed in the course. I studied for a year at college for an NVQ level 2 and found the course to be shocking: 'makeup' was a measly contour and highlight lesson once a week for an hour, nothing I couldn't learn from watching a beauty vlogger on YouTube. Manicure and pedicure was very basic, no A&P knowledge was applied to the treatment, just 'remove the cuticle'.

Throughout the year over half of the class had dropped out and those who remained only attended through shoving from their parents who didn't want them sat at home all day doing nothing.

I continued at the college (regretfully) for my second year and found the 'knowledge' taught again to be very basic. I couldn't be any more disappointed. I wanted to attend somewhere where high uniform and presentations standards were essential, it was promised upon starting the college course however within a week I realised I may as well not bother with uniform as half of the girls didn't even wear it.

I'm now in a situation where I know I'm not of a high enough standard to work within a salon and despite offering myself as a zero pay employee I'm still not getting any acceptance as employers 'don't have the time' to train me.

I'm currently working in a supermarket as a baker (which I couldn't hate any more if I tried). All of my disposable income is going towards training and courses in hope that I will reach a high enough standard of work.

With regards to working mobile after leaving college it is something I've had to do and unfortunately I am one of the lower priced workers. I offer gel manicure or pedicure for £13, not to beat competition in terms of price but to get clients . Before every treatment I inform my client that I am still in training and that this price will not remain the same forever, just whilst in building up my confidence and my level of work. Fortunately everyone as of now has been completely understanding and is very appreciative of me being a beginner.

Hope I don't come across as sorry for myself as that is not the case. Would love to hear any ideas or feedback x

 

[RED STAR]

Having a 'teaching' qualification rates over being an experienced Therapist or Hairdresser.
Personally, I think this one of the big issue's.

Having been in the industry for over 30 years, I thought I'd have something to offer in teaching.
I did the PTLLS course, spread over 6 months, and for the most part enjoyed it.
On completion, I managed to find a job within a secondary school offering hairdressing to their year 12 students.

I started by 'shadowing' the teacher.....who as it turned out, had very little hairdressing experience herself.

It became apparent very quickly, that the students would pass each module WHATEVER they turned out!

These new recruits were even foil highlighting.....and passing ON A BLOCK!!!!

After attending a meeting of all the vocational subject teachers, I realised they were under presure to tick those boxes regardless of how competent the student really was, as so much funding had gone into it!

I could not continue to work that way, so sadly, that was the end of that!

I myself, trained many years ago in a local college for both hair and beauty.....Ladies & gent's Hairdressing in the '80's, and Beauty therapy as a 'mature student' in the 90's.....
Both experiences were brilliant.
The teaching staff were Hairdressers and Therapists themselves, with their own successful salons.

You had to arrive IMMACULATE, or you would not be allowed into the 'Salon'.
We were not allowed to wear our uniform TO college, you had to change once you were there due to hygiene reasons.

Our teachers were tough!

We were all a little afraid of them.......but we respected them.

The hairdressing course was full time - 5 days a week for 2 years.
It included ALL ASPECTS.....cutting, colouring, perming.... Barbering, to include hot shaves, wigmaking and makeup & manicure and science.
I did the Beauty course part time, as by that time I was working as a full time hairdresser in a salon, so I had to be spread this one over 3 years - one day a week, 9.00 - 7.00.

This included makeup,nails,facials,waxing,massage,epilation,electrical body treatments A&P, etc......
In other words, EVERYTHING.

These little bite sized quickies on offer today are O.K. to 'top up' ones knowledge, but they are no where near in depth enough to educate to a professional standard.

 

[Sian9292]

Over the last 30 years I have watched education in the beauty industry decline appallingly. 30 years ago a full time course meant Monday to Friday 9.30 am - 5.00 pm with one evening per week in the college salon. You attended for 3 years and were educated to a standard where you were able to step in to any spa across the world. Anatomy and physiology was thorough and detailed and your treatment timings were up to industry standard before you could even be passed for assessment. You left qualified in manicures, pedicures, facials, lash treatments, electrical facials, body electricals, body treatments, aromatherapy, reflexology, electrolysis, Swedish and remedial massage, Indian head massage, dietetics and nutrition, postural diagnosis, hairdressing, make-up (which included media, commercial and morticians!) with sauna, Jacuzzi and infra-red endorsements. After this you were informed you would start at the bottom of the industry and work your way up. Education standards were exceptionally high, as they were throughout. Uniform inspections every morning, nails had to be short, hair up and off your collar, make-up perfectly applied, no runs in stockings, salon shoes clean and polished, and white uniforms spotlessly clean.

Whilst I understand that list may be a little much for some to palate the ethos was that you should be a well rounded therapist able to step in to any environment.

I have tried to be more accommodating when recruiting, for example when interviewing level 2 students for a trainee role while they complete their level 3, I ask them to name all the superficial muscles of the face, in the last five years not one candidate has been able to do this, most have not been able to name even one. I always have optimism and ask for the bones of the skull, lower arm and hand, and lower leg and foot...... nothing. When asked if their anatomy exam was done on a computer with multiple choice questions? the answer is always yes. All this does is is teach you to guess well, this form of examination is letting our students down horrifically and it's bloody lazy. When it comes to trade testing not one candidate has been able to successfully remove dead cuticle from the nail plate, they have never been shown how to handle a cuticle knife correctly, they are amazed when I teach them how to do this! Level two therapists are told at college that they can expect £10 per hour basic salary, which would put them on £15 per hour with bonuses and when I inform them that I can only pay minimum wage until they are able to perform their treatments on time and to the same standard as everyone else in the salon they are quite shocked as they have been told in college that they can earn £9.50 per hour straight away.

When interviewing newly qualified level 3 candidates I find that same standard, my rule is if you can't name it, you can't touch it. I ask candidates to name the superficial muscles of the back and various muscles around the body, again, in the last five years, nothing but startled faces and stuttered replies. The Swedish massage routine that is currently being taught is truly horrific, a series of half arsed effleurage strokes with clearly no underpinning knowledge of musculature and how to effect change in the body. This change in massage happened about 20 years ago, I noticed a sudden and dramatic change when I was a spa director in central London, I always carried out the trade test for applicants and suddenly massage become a pathetic, light stroking of the skin. I have never to this day understood what happened.

Colleges are currently letting students down horrendously, standards are appallingly low. Had I known how sub-standard the beauty syllabus was I would have opened a college before opening my salon. It takes me a year to train new therapists, they are so shocked at how salon life differs so drastically from their college experience, they always report how under prepared and under educated they feel and I really feel for them, spending all that time and money to come out knowing so little. I've had students tell me that teachers have informed them that they don't really like electrical treatments, so the students have had a fundamental lack of knowledge about electricity, the efficacy of electrical treatments and no underpinning knowledge to successfully communicate to the client exactly what it does. When I start teaching my therapists about electricity we start with Scribonius Largus - the Roman Physician and his use of torpedo fish through Faraday, Galvani and Tesla, to the history and development of the current and effects of each machine. We don't start and end with "it plumps the skin and gets rid of toxins," or any other vacuous, easy statement one wishes to insert. It does help that I have a huge passion for electrotherapy and have taught across the UK and Europe.

I am bloody angry, I'm tired and exhausted and I'm fed up of the amount of time and money it costs me to train new therapists. I just want them to come out of college and be ready to work, so I can add in the next level of their training instead of the basics that they should be leaving college with.

Sorry for the huge rant, but I really am at my wits end on this subject and beginning to regret starting my salon, I had planned to have three by this point but I can only just about staff one.

I am one of these therapists that have qualified in the last 5 years and i have to say i agree to with the level of training I received was not to a high enough standard. I would love to eventually have my own salon and maybe even training academy but I do not feel like I have all the knowledge i need to be able to run a salon let alone teach anyone else. I studied a level biology before going into beauty so i am not against learning the systems of the body in depth but now i am qualified other than trying to teach myself i don't know how to go about it as my boss is also useless so don't feel like i can learn from her. I want to be the best therapist i can possibly be but do not feel like i have been given that opportunity. If anyone has any training material or links to websites i would really appreciate if it could be sent to me to improve myself. I am now working with a girl who has just finished college and i feel like she is oblivious to her lack of quality training and thinks she knows everything but keeps having complaints from clients and gets angry about it and does not understand why. Any help would be really appreciated!

 

[laurakate]

Post college, I found product training for particular treatments to be helpful as it was more industry relevant. For example, Jessica manicure and pedicure training gave me a much better idea of what I was supposed to be doing. I would recommend this.

 

[Peachylady]

I would also really welcome anyone who can give advice on learning resources. Books, YouTube videos - anything at all! Looking to get back into the industry & my training wasn't very good. The class had far too many students in it & the poor teachers weren't shown any respect at all! In the first week one of the girls threatened to punch my tutor. Just hideous

 

[JanVenus]

I'm currently doing NC6 Beauty Therapy at college and it's comprehensive in the basics - Anatomy & physiology, facial treatments, Swedish massage, eye enhancements, manicure/pedicure and waxing. I applied for NC5 but, due to my previous training and experience, I was bumped up to NC6. The girls in my class who already completed NC5 are struggling with the theory side of things a little, which surprises me because it's just expanding on what they've learned last year.

For our A&P class we had to know all the bones in the body, skull and feet/ankles, we need to know the facial bones and muscles for our facial paper, we'll need to know the limb and trunk muscles for our massage paper and the bones of the hands for our manicure paper. This is a standard SQA course that would grant you a junior therapist position. Not one of us is coming out of this thinking we'll be able to step into a senior position and we know we'll need to do HNC and HND before that happens - which would be 4 years training for me.

It really opened my eyes to how minimal the training is on the courses I've paid for a Beauty Schools, but you can do a course in a couple of days and come out with a certificate that you can get insured with, which is great to get you kicked off in the industry but there's always more to learn and it's important to learn it properly. Then you have the YouTube learners who train themselves and work from home or mobile with no certificates or insurance and the people love it because they can get things done dirt cheap.

There are no regulations on the level of training required to gain insurance, there are no regulations on being certificated and insured before advertising services ... and, yeah, it's created a race to the bottom. I never thought I'd call for more regulations on things but, here I am ....

 

[laurakate]

I would also really welcome anyone who can give advice on learning resources. Books, YouTube videos - anything at all! Looking to get back into the industry & my training wasn't very good. The class had far too many students in it & the poor teachers weren't shown any respect at all! In the first week one of the girls threatened to punch my tutor. Just hideous

That's awful! I'm keen to teach but I wouldn't last long if it was that volatile!

Search youtube for college tutorials. Stuff like "nvq beauty". Some colleges have posted walk throughs of treatments for their learners but anyone can watch them.

 

[rubywoo]

I am one of these therapists that have qualified in the last 5 years and i have to say i agree to with the level of training I received was not to a high enough standard. I would love to eventually have my own salon and maybe even training academy but I do not feel like I have all the knowledge i need to be able to run a salon let alone teach anyone else. I studied a level biology before going into beauty so i am not against learning the systems of the body in depth but now i am qualified other than trying to teach myself i don't know how to go about it as my boss is also useless so don't feel like i can learn from her. I want to be the best therapist i can possibly be but do not feel like i have been given that opportunity. If anyone has any training material or links to websites i would really appreciate if it could be sent to me to improve myself. I am now working with a girl who has just finished college and i feel like she is oblivious to her lack of quality training and thinks she knows everything but keeps having complaints from clients and gets angry about it and does not understand why. Any help would be really appreciated!

Shame you don't live nearer to my salon, I'd snap you up. I have been trying to recruit four new therapists for the last 12 months and not one has made it is far as a trial day. If they even turn up for the interview it's a miracle, I've had people accept a full time job offer then ask if they can do just one day a week, someone had attended a fast track course with a total of 26 days of training and couldn't answer one question, I shall stop here before I bore you to death!

 

[Peachylady]

That's awful! I'm keen to teach but I wouldn't last long if it was that volatile!

Search youtube for college tutorials. Stuff like "nvq beauty". Some colleges have posted walk throughs of treatments for their learners but anyone can watch them.

That is really helpful laurakate, thank you! I absolute love YouTube [emoji3]

 

[Kellymare]

A few years ago I decided to retrain in beauty therapy. It cost me almost the same as my university tuition fees - not cheap! Once qualified I decided to work for someone else to gain experience and I'd never ever felt so excited about a job before! I was so eager and willing to work my socks off!
Reality: the money was shocking, minimum holidays + no benefits (other than sales related) and I was worked to the bone. I'd never experienced anything like it. Undervalued, underpaid and over worked. I couldn't believe that I'd left a well paid job and was highly respected in my line of work, to go and do this in my 30s with a mortgage and bills to pay! My husband thought I was crazy!

Eventually I went self employed and don't get me wrong it's been hard work, but within just a few months I was earning a lot more and was a lot happier. I know many people who have had similar experiences to me, so I can see why the industry is unappealing and why so many therapists choose to go self employed.

From my original training group, there is only 1 person who is employed, all the others either went self employed or left the industry completely.

hi Jemma, I feel like I'm in the exact same situation you were, I'm in my 30's and retrained 4 years ago moving from a well paid & respected job but I was terribly unhappy. now I've been in the salon I work in for almost 3 years - alot happier but the wage is low. I've been happy to learn, work hard and gain experience but I feel that soon I'll be worth more (dare I say that?!) how did you know you had to go self employed? did you move salon or work from home? how have you made it work and do you have any advice?!! thanks