Does age really matter?

[Violet Star]

Hi guys,
Sorry in need of some more advise. After attending 5 interviews and calling over 50 salons i finally managed to get a trial in a salon to start my apprenticeship but the man is also trialing 7 other people! Which are all school leavers.

Now i am 18 years old and i have been turned down countless times on the phone and in person because im too old apparently and they want school leavers.

Now im scared incase the salon owner chooses the school leavers over for me that reason. Surely thats unfair to discriminate someone through age?

One salon owner on the interview said if you had a real passion for hair you would have done the apprenticeship from school leaving age.

So what can i do about this? :irked:
xx

 

[kylieb]

They want school leavers as they can pay them peanuts. I worked in a hairdressers for £15 a day when I was 15.
xxx

 

[Violet Star]

Yeah i know its terrible. But im sure thats against the law to discriminate somone against age? Its not like there is a set age limit. These salon owners are just making it hard for people.

 

[gregsaunders]

well i worked for a year as an apprentice aged 22/23 at my age they were only allowed to pay me apprentice wage for a year, if you are willing to accept the wages (i only got paid £85 per week for 40 hours work) and can make the salon understand how much more competent an 18 year old junior is than a 16 year old junior is then you should have no problems, remember the apprenticeship is just a foot in the door prepare yourself for the hard work to come afterwards because if they get rid of you after your apprentice year (which they can do very easily) you need to have picked up enough salon knowledge as you can ready for your next salon position. good luck x

 

[persianista]

It is not salon owners driving this problem, it is the way the law stands that it is far more difficult (and expensive) to take an apprentice at 18 than 16.
At 16 you get full funding for two years college and the salon pays a training allowance. By the time you are paid min wage, you are starting to pay your way within the salon (salons are not charities)
At 18, you get one year out of a 2 year course paid for. One year at training allowance, then min wage at a time that it unlikely you are bringing anything in to the salon.
Some salon chains have a policy of taking on 18 and 19 year olds, and keeping them for just under a year, so they can benefit from better juniors, then sack them when it gets uneconomic for the salon.
Sorry, I didn't make the rules.

 

[Violet Star]

Thats unfair i think as for me this isnt about the money at all even if they paid me 60.00 a week thats more than im getting now so it would be a bonus. I see the money as bonus rather than income. For me its about the training, putting in the hard work and getting some real hands on experience.
x

 

[-sophisticutz-]

It is okay you saying you would work for £60 a week but the law says you can't. If the salon shows it on their books as only paying you that they are break employment law and if they don't show it on the books they are breaking employment law.

A hairdressing salon makes its profit on the skills it sells. It is not like a supermarket where: they buy a product, mark it up, employ staff to sell it, make a large profit and then pay staff and overheads.

A salons commodities are the skills their stylist sells. Profit is only made once a stylist sells their service. The service is sold, then the amount earned is allocated to overheads and the stylist. If the salon owner is lucky, the stylist sells enough services and then the owner might get a wage.

With an apprentice, no money is made. They have no skills yet to sell, so their wage has to come out of any services the stylists do.

This is why the wage is set at £95 a week and age restrictions are in place. If you decided on a different career path at a later age, then you would have to fund it yourself (like my husband did with his degree) as colleges HAVE to have a cut off point, (it is not an endless pot) and salons cannot cover a non-productive, full-time, minimum wage.

If you want to become a hairdresser after the cut off age, then go to full-time college and get a placement in a salon. *

 

[Violet Star]

Yeah i see what you mean and as a salon owner i would also be very wary of this fact too.

Do you think all salon owners would do this or do you think there are some who would be willing to take me on with my age?
As i have heard of some apprentices who are 21 or 23?
x

 

[persianista]

I don't take on older apprentices in my salons. None of my friends who own salons do either. It is too expensive and too dificult with the way the law currently stands.

 

[rachy86]

Yeah i see what you mean and as a salon owner i would also be very wary of this fact too.

Do you think all salon owners would do this or do you think there are some who would be willing to take me on with my age?
As i have heard of some apprentices who are 21 or 23?
x

Hi Violet Star,
Id definately say hang on in there and persevere! I am 24 in August and ohave been at my salon as an apprentice since last July and am due to complete my NVQ2 in a couple of months. Initially my course was a 2year course but I mentioned to my assesor that I wanted to fast track and do it in a year and was willing to put in extra hours and all the effort.She came in for a few days etc to watch me work and agreed I could do it in a year. I have learnt so much in so little time and my collegues and boss have been fab with my training and are really encouraging. I am on £95 a week and hoping it is going up in the next couple of weeks as I do alot of clients now. My boss was happy to take me on.Older apprentices dont mess around like a lot of 16 year olds and are more focused and determined in getting their qualifications. I got a lot of knock backs from salons though because I was 23 but my perserverance paid off xx

 

[Susie H]

Yeah i see what you mean and as a salon owner i would also be very wary of this fact too.

Do you think all salon owners would do this or do you think there are some who would be willing to take me on with my age?
As i have heard of some apprentices who are 21 or 23?
x

Having read what the salon owners have said, in a nut shell, they won't get funding for having you on their books and you won't be earning them money for quiet some time...
But Hun, you have skills, go in to that interview and sell your self, you are a spray tan trainer. If you are willing to spray tan for the salon, their product, your skill, they get the profit, you learn to be a hairdresser and that way they are not out of pocket for teaching you, an older student. It may mean you putting more hours in so that you have enough time hairdressing rather then spending all your time tanning but like you said, the money is a bonus to you. :hug: