Hi inmybeauty
I’m sorry you’re struggling. It is busy this time of year and the mix of appointments in salons is quite tiring. It’s much less stressful at the beginning of the year. Over the year it balances out with intensive periods followed by calm (when your Boss is snappy because they are stressing about low bookings)
We work when clients want services. Like the hospitality business there is more demand at weekends and evenings. It’s unrealistic to expect a full time job 9-5 I’m afraid.
You should expect to work 2 evenings and most Saturdays. You should expect to work every Saturday during the holiday seasons. That’s the sector. That’s the deal. You need to manage your friendship circle and family expectations.
My husband works in Fintech and is hybrid so some time in the office and some time at home, when he walks the dog, sticks the washing on and uses every mug in the house. He checks his emails in the evenings, at weekends and logs in on his days off. When he’s off, he’s never really off, when colleagues are on holiday he has to cover some of their work as well as his own. All these people working in offices, unless they are really junior are also checking their emails or just thinking about work stuff. That’s why they get early finishes etc. they don’t mention this stuff because it’s obvious to them.
What I love (having previously had an office job) is that I can’t be stressing about beauty work when I’m off in the way I used to worry about my intray and emails. When I’m busy, the most I can do is to be fully booked. I can’t do double or triple the business like hospitality or shops in busy periods. I can’t do a colleagues work as well as my own. When I come back after a holiday I feel refreshed. When I used to come back to work in an office after some time off I’d find loads of work piled up for me - it was really stressful and I worried about the work when I was on holiday. I’m busy when I come back to work in the salon, but I’m not doing double the work to compensate for my time off. That’s one of the reasons why we have one of the highest job satisfaction rates.
There are pros and cons with the hours. I hate shopping on Saturdays so I’m happy to be working and I love having time during the week to get my personal stuff done. I like doing all the things you can do during the day - evening activities seem a bit overpriced in comparison and not really my thing if I’m honest. If you have kids, these hours work well because family can help out with childcare for free around a 9-5 job and you get a bit of time to yourself during school hours which is ace.
If you think about all the things you’d rather do on the evenings/Saturdays that you work, spare a thought for all the working people that make that possible - public transport, retail staff, hospitality, TV and media, musicians and actors, event organisers, security, NHS and emergency services. You’re certainly not alone in working unsocial hours.
If the hours are not for you, you can look for work in retail selling products (you’ll still work Saturdays) or become really experienced and become a trainer. If you work in a college you’ll still do evenings and if you work training qualified beauticians you might do the occasional weekend or Saturday but not so many.
on top of this the salon I’m at is so busy we rarely get a full 30 minute lunch break (if any break at all) and often finish 30 minutes late each day I think I’m feeling fed up of working at salons that give not even the bare minimum and no perks
