Realistically, if I retrained at age 46, would a hair/beauty salon employ me?

[Vella]

Hi, I'm fairly new to this site. I wanted to ask those who are employed or who are employers what chance do I realistically have of gaining employment if I retrained now (aged 46) as either a hairdresser or beauty therapist? I've had a few jobs (RAF, teaching, ex-student nurse) so I'm experienced in life & I am good with people. I've been thinking about hair/beauty for a couple of years now but I'm scared to take the plunge as I'm overweight (desperately trying to lose it!), middle aged and don't want to fork out time and a fair bit of money to retrain if there is a very slim hope I will ever get a job. I've been there before with teaching (long story but years in education=no teaching jobs! Just low paid support jobs) and I was a student nurse until a couple of weeks ago (another long story, just wasn't for me) so I don't want to go into another form of retraining without a good chance of employment.

Another thing that's worrying me is I've just had an interview for a job at my local supermarket just to bring in some money. I met a lot of very young girls who all seemed to have done hair & beauty at college and some in jobs but left. I'm worried that there maybe a glut of youngsters out there who are qualified and probably more desirable than me.

Sorry, but long winded but any thoughts/comments would be really appreciated.

Thanks,

Vella x

 

[Lin4744]

I spoke to my hairdresser. Becky is a mobile hairdresser, the only one in this area. She is in her early 40s I have no idea when she qualified or whether or not she has ever worked in a salon, it has never worried me because she is good and was recommended by word of mouth. She is very honest and in one word she said you would find it very hard to find a job, even as a lowly apprentice. I also spoke to my favorite hairdresser in Richmond, Surrey, and he confirmed what Becky said. Funnily enough both of them suggested doing mobile but starting off doing kids and slowly move to doing their mums and dads. Fruit for thought maybe? Sit down and list all your friends who have children. Then talk to them frankly and be up front with what you are thinking of doing and get their feedback. Sit down and work out how much you need to earn to cover the cost of the course, how much all your equipment will cost, how much mobile hairdressers charge for cutting kids and see how long it will take you to recoup your outlay. If you are lucky and have a supportive husband to bank roll you, then if you feel happy with the sums, go for it.
I think it is never too old to learn, and I am 71! Good luck.

 

[KHS]

Vella, there is no age restrictions on gaining qualifications. Nor a size criteria luvie,

I live by the attitude....if you think you can do it, or.if you think you can't - either way.you're right!

At the end of the day, if you.go for ir, as long as your hands work, have some tools , you can.always earn a living

Go for it

 

[Martin Duffy]

There are lots of people trained in beauty, but there are very few who have the passion, drive and maturity to deal with clients. I have worked in salons where everyone was over the age of 40 and I was the only person in their 30s, so it's certainly possible if you have the drive!

 

[surf girl]

Would it only be employment you'd want? That's a tough area for us "mature" lady's tbh, some salons welcome you with open arms whilst others wouldn't consider you, is that your vision for the future to be employed? Personally I was older starting my carrear and was dead set on getting my own salon so employment was nice but not quite what I wanted, I'd much rather fill my own pockets with money than someone else's lol, you really shouldn't label yourself as overweight and middle aged, it's not good for your own self esteem & that's what shines out when your sat in an interview! It will be what you make of it, so if your fabulous at what you do (or will do) then work it! I'd take someone with a fabulous personality, good work ethics & skills regardless of age or size

 

[RED STAR]

O.K....I read this, went to answer, decided against it, then thought, oh well, you have asked, so I will give you my opinion, (for what it's worth)
I would love to say, Hey, go for it, however, THIS INDUSTRY IS SATURATED.
Meaning, there are lot's of us about!
Check out your area, ask neighbours, friends, whoever..... where they get their hair done.
Most will probably have a 'mobile'.....meaning 'competition'.
A Newbie will be up against others with possibly years of experience.
If you are looking to go down the employed route, again, EXPERIENCE is what we mostly look for.
A side from these point's, after a lifetime in the industry, at 52, let me tell you, standing all day, 5 day's a week is HARD WORK!
To be successful, either salon based or mobile, you have to put in ALOT of effort and hours.
On a more positive note, I employ a 'Mature student', and she's FAB.
Only you know if you have enough drive, stamina and determination.

 

[squidgernetball]

We've just advertised for a therapist. Newly qualified, mature, rusty we don't care. We can help with skills but I'm far more interested in how you fit in our group and how fantastic you are with clients.

You may get a job, you may not but if you have a real desire to do it, don't die wondering!

Vic x

Sent from my GT-I9505 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[Paige@TheClinik]

Being overweight and middle aged does not lower your chances at all, not all clients are the perfect weight and we all have hang ups and without sounding harsh I do find that although judge mental it is, clients tend to feel more comfortable with an older or A less stereotypical therapist? That's coming from an overweight therapist, who works with 2 older therapists one mid 40's one 50's. i know I'm going to get abit of crap for saying it and it's probably more to do with the confidence and social experience an older therapists have but that is how I view it. The industry is saturated with young girls who are doing beauty because it's a "nice job" that don't really have the passion or patience for it, when we look for therapists we are inundated with young girls, for me older therapists are gold dust
I'm 22 by the way. And although I am of a more senior status in salon I'm not always taken seriously because of my age.
Xx

 

[Vella]

Thanks so much for taking the time out to reply to my post, you have all given me a lot to think about. Bless you all & good luck in what you do, I will keep you posted on what I will be doing,

Vellaxxx

 

[SiennaKate]

I'm in my mid 30s...not qualified in anything hair or beauty, instead I spent years in another 'glamourous' job of being a travel agent. I really have a passion for nails and have decided to jump in and get qualified in near future.

But let me tell you about me...I was the kid at school who was a geek, I had little friends and was at a time bullied. I had lost all confidence in myself.
It took a while to be who I wanted to be.
A travel agent for 15 years - yet Im extremely fair skinned and don't tan. I don't look the 'stereotypical' travel agent but neither do most the people i work with. I would think hair/beauty salons are the same.

But as I'm waffling... A more mature hairdresser or beautician would put me more at ease.

 

[Vella]

I'm in my mid 30s...not qualified in anything hair or beauty, instead I spent years in another 'glamourous' job of being a travel agent. I really have a passion for nails and have decided to jump in and get qualified in near future.

But let me tell you about me...I was the kid at school who was a geek, I had little friends and was at a time bullied. I had lost all confidence in myself.
It took a while to be who I wanted to be.
A travel agent for 15 years - yet Im extremely fair skinned and don't tan. I don't look the 'stereotypical' travel agent but neither do most the people i work with. I would think hair/beauty salons are the same.

But as I'm waffling... A more mature hairdresser or beautician would put me more at ease.

Hi SiennaKate,

Thank you for posting a reply. I'm so sorry to hear you were bullied at school, kids can be so cruel! I worked in schools and would go mad at any bullying I witnessed, like you, I was always the quiet one that was picked on, I had very few friends but I realise now that kids usually bully as a sign of insecurity, they sense weakness and feel superior if they pick on someone else. Sorry, off on a tangent there! Good for you that you are doing nails! Are you doing it with a view to being self employed? Please stay in touch and let me know how you get on, I am really interested & wish you loads of luck in your new venture, you deserve it x

 

[DiamondDivasBea]

Hi, I have trained myself as a hair and makeup artist and was hoping to go to college to back my skills up with a certificate but honestly, I am too busy at the moment! I do mainly wedding styling and children's pamper parties and I thoroughly enjoy it (most of the time)
However, I am 31 a size 10, and have always had office and sales jobs before this and I find this very, very tough physically. I can come home from a 2/3 hour party and spend the rest of the evening lying around watching TV because I'm exhausted! I worry that by the time I'm in my 40's-50's I might not be able to do it anymore. But if you really want to do it then it's something you really need to think about. I know it's not necessarily the same work that will be doing, but there's bound to be travelling and lugging heavy kit around involved.

Sorry if I've put you off but just being honest. Good luck with whatever you decide to do x

 

[Cindy2021]

I'm 44, overweight and a single parent of 3. I've just finished my nail technician course and set up a home salon. I started off mobile but it was too time consuming. I can work whichever hours I need/want to and I'm getting new clients regularly and the vast majority are now regulars.
Good luck xx

 

[KHS]

Vella, if you think you can do it, or if you think you can't, either way you're right! A positive attitude goes a long way, I was brought to think, if you want something bad enough you'll do it.

The Diamonddivas post above, I'm 45, a single parent and some weeks I work from 8am to 7pm in busy times, then come home and put dinner on, tidy up...you'll get used to it. Hard graft never killed anyone lol

 

[CeeCeeHair&Nails]

Go for it.... make money that makes you happy. I been in this.industry over 12 years and I love every second of it.... its never to late.to.follow.your.dreams

 

[cocomummy2]

Hi as a salon owner I want to just echo some of the previous comments on here about mature therapists being like gold dust, we are always inundated with young girls c.v's who have no life experience & would struggle to talk to our mostly mature clientele. Skills can mostly be taught & you can be moulded into a good therapist but people skills are something you either have or you don't! The only comment I would like to make & I don't wish to sound negative in any way, hopefully just honest, but being a beauty therapist is an incredibly demanding job physically. Unless you are doing predominantly facials or nails you are on your feet long hours & treatments such as massage&waxing can take there toll on your body. I used to be a size 16/18 & am now a 10, I've also done this job through 2 pregnancies, the second child, I was working upto 3 days prior to having him & let me tell you I struggled! When I was larger, I had terrible backache constantly & I was exhausted all the time so although I don't want to dampen your passion for the industry, please be aware you will find it physically demanding. Good luck in your future career. X

 

[laurakate]

It totally depends what your goals are. I have worked in spas where a number of people have been overweight and or older but what I will say is that spas are keen to take people on if they're mad enough to do it. It's a job with a shelf life because it's tiring but I'd probably do it again to be honest. I can't stand the thought of being self employed...everyman and his dog "does nails" and I can't be bothered to compete with younger and bitchier people in my area so in that regard I do have a downer on the beauty industry and ironically to you OP, I want to get into teaching but then again I always have.

The above paragraph is just my story really and everyone's mileage will be different but what I will say is that if your circumstances allow, I don't think it's a waste of time training in beauty therapy. I still do nails as a hobby and as someone on my nvq3 nail services course said as the course came to an end, "I'm going to train as a lawyer but this hasn't been a waste because I've got free nails for life"...I still think that's legendary!

I'm making no money at all out of beauty at the moment but, with respect to others, it was a nice little job when I was mad enough to do it and the skills I learnt are something I still enjoy using for pleasure. I'm even considering doing a makeup course because I think I'll enjoy it.

I think beauty is a job with a shelf life and I don't think effort required is proportionate to payment received but I don't think there is a specific disadvantage regarding age and body size. I know a LOT of clients preferred me being more mature to talk to and I think being a plus sized woman who makes the best of herself means you're a good ambassador for yourself and clients.

So yeah, if it's about money I think you're taking a risk but if it's about you wanting to do it for you then I would recommend going for it.

laurakate: being honest about the beauty industry since 2011 lol!

 

[m3lani3]

Hi, I'm fairly new to this site. I wanted to ask those who are employed or who are employers what chance do I realistically have of gaining employment if I retrained now (aged 46) as either a hairdresser or beauty therapist? I've had a few jobs (RAF, teaching, ex-student nurse) so I'm experienced in life & I am good with people. I've been thinking about hair/beauty for a couple of years now but I'm scared to take the plunge as I'm overweight (desperately trying to lose it!), middle aged and don't want to fork out time and a fair bit of money to retrain if there is a very slim hope I will ever get a job. I've been there before with teaching (long story but years in education=no teaching jobs! Just low paid support jobs) and I was a student nurse until a cuple of weeks ago (another long story, just wasn't for me) so I don't want to go into another form of retraining without a good chance of employment.

Another thing that's worrying me is I've just had an interview for a job at my local supermarket just to bring in some money. I met a lot of very young girls who all seemed to have done hair & beauty at college and some in jobs but left. I'm worried that there maybe a glut of youngsters out there who are qualified and probably more desirable than me.

Sorry, but long winded but any thoughts/comments would be really appreciated.

Thanks,

Vella x[/QUOTE

 

[m3lani3]

Dear Vella,

I am a Qualified beauty therapist and a qualified Hairdresser, I am 53, I have been out of the beauty industry for 12 years because Hairdressing took over however the other week I decided that I wanted to do beauty therapy again and looked on websites to apply for jobs, I only want a minimum amount of days so I applied got responses straight away, I don't know why I picked just one salon but I did I seem to like the are and the products and treatments it sold, so off to the interview I went and I was myself (big mistake) I was being interviewed quite possible by a younger person my sons age ( 29-30 ) range anyway as soon as the interviewer asked me how many days I wanted her face fell because she was looking for more days but the AD didn't reflect that also she asked me a question that I really did quite honestly answer and I think that put her off so my advice to you is "go for it" but be careful what you say to a much younger interviewer! because quite honestly me personally my interviewer probably didn't want me there because its someone there working for her old enough to be her parent! I failed myself really I should have picked my words a bit differently and really thought about the hours they wanted and I could realistically do. so Go girl!

 

[Orchardmakeup]

I actually think its a plus being older, as you look like you are experienced even if you are not and also the clients feel they can talk to you easier. I am 46 and I tend to attract clients similar to my age, my staff are younger and they attract the younger clients.