Hi there
Sorry for late response! Thanks again for the advice it’s very much appreciated. So this week I finally got 3 interviews, one which I basically talked my way out of by being brutally honest about my lack of confidence, especially in relation to nails, which the owner advised was 70% of her treatments therefore I was immediately unsuccessful. The other asked me to work a day unpaid to see if I was more capable than what I made out. So today after doing so for basically half the day I was politely taken aside.....prior to this when I arrived this morning, I was asked to give the two treatments rooms a good clean out (with baby wipes and a box of tissues!) then I got watch her perform a Hollywood wax, curtesy of a kind agreeing client, thereafter I shadowed the receptionist and assisted with tea/coffee making for the hairdressing clients that were waiting. During this time a random “walk in” appeared looking for a brow wax, she was asked to wait as the owner was busy doing makeup, I noticed she could be waiting for at least another half an hour, so thought I’d be proactive and put myself forward and asked if I could go ahead and do it for her. Once in the treatment room, where I was left to operate an unmarked wax pot, I was ready to go until the client started to tell me how she only ever lets the owner touch her brows as she knows how she likes them, but then said go ahead anyway, this in turn gave me the FEAR, nevertheless I went ahead, slowly and carefully (the wonderful shakes kicked in) until I done the basic tidy up, then when the owner came in I was like “you need to assist me as I don’t want to make a mistake here” I was then told to stay calm and she reiterated this to the client, who highlighted she was “very calm and everything was okay” to which she said it wasn’t and that it was evident my anxiety was making the client have anxiety before taking over to finish. Once the client left she said I need to try keep myself together and basically act like I’m super confident in front of them regardless of how I feel as they don’t know the difference in relation to my experience, then hit me with a few scenarios which I understood, putting myself in their situation etc. I was then told to go have a break and not worry to much as once I do at least another 5 my confidence will naturally increase, she appeared 10 mins later asking if I was okay, then thanked me for coming in and stated how she really hoped I’d have pulled it off, as I had it all other than the confidence, but unfortunately she couldn’t invest the time in me and potentially lose clients, if I were to panic and doubt myself, as she needs someone to be confident and work without guidance, whist closing with if I ever do feel that way she’d be happy to employ me in the future. Now from a business and client point of view I totally understand this, however I’m so deflated as feel my confidence will never increase if I’m never given the chance. I also understand this must be so frustrating for owners when they so desperately need the staff, due to the lack of actual work experience some qualifying students like myself have in the industry. I’m now thinking maybe the best starting root would be to rent a room and advertise lower prices initially for training purposes, therefore I won’t feel as much pressure of having to compare myself to the owner or other staff, whilst the having understanding clients with not so high expectations, in turning helping me develop further before I just forget doing this all together.