I think this thread is really interesting. It's hard not let your passion show in your replies (from both sides of the fence) as both groups (students and employers) seem to be getting screwed. Students who do well are given the same certificate / piece of paper as students who barely passed the course and this confuses the employers like myself who give up after seeing the umpteenth candidate with a qualification that doesn't match their abilities.
It's unfair on the students who are really self-motivated, sure, but the answer cannot be that every employer has to trade test everyone with a VRQ to find someone worth investing more time in - we'd never get a chance to do our clients considering most colleges churn out 30 students a year. If there are 5 colleges in your area that means trade testing 150 people every year! Hardly realistic.
Anyway, there were some posts I wanted to comment on so I've included the snippets below...
You might feel that a VRQ is better for you (as an individual) but the reasons you outlined are generally why employers prefer NVQ trained staff.
Hairdressing is about more than 8 cuts or 7 colour techniques or 3 shampoos (one surface, one penetrating and one scalp treatment) during a one on one service.
For a salon to work efficiently from the owners point of view, the stylists need to be capable of 3 on one services (a colour developing, a client being shampooed and a cut and blow being finished) while your next client is waiting in reception (perhaps that actually makes it 4 on one LOL). While all this is going on, the owner needs to feel confident that as a matter of habit you will be: filling in record cards, cycling the laundry, getting drinks, recommending retail, cleaning your tools, dealing with reception, tidying up after yourself, pre-booking clients and supervising the assistants in such a way that they don't end up hating you and causing a disruption to the team or the client service.
A salon trained stylist can do all of this. Seriously, 4 days a week in a busy salon = a lot of underpinning knowledge and an ability to multi-task in a way that college trained stylists just cannot fathom.
It starts at the very beginning with shampooing and backwash duties.
A college trained student shampoo's one person at a time (usually the client they are about to practice on).
A salon trained student will have Mrs Jones with a treatment on that needs taking off in 5 minutes, a perm that needs neutralising in 2 minutes and 2 clients waiting at reception who need prioritising in which order they should be shampooed considering one stylist is halfway through their blowdry and the other still hasn't eaten yet. College doesn't teach you these skills.
Fastforward 2 years and you have 2 students qualified at level 3.
They are both entering the same salon environment.
Their morning looks like this: 9AM Blowdry 9.15AM Top Head Hilights 9.30AM Hair-Up (accidentally booked in) 10AM Gents Cut 10.30AM Cut and Blow the Highlights Client 11AM Perm 11.30AM Shampoo Set 12 Midday Blowdry Perm Client.
Any salon trained stylist would look at that column and immediately think about certain things they'll be suggesting to clients. What would a college trained stylist do or suggest? I'd be interested in hearing ideas.
This made me laugh out loud!
If we hadn't trade tested a few VRQ students then we wouldn't be here moaning about the general lack of skills.
Still...made me chuckle!
We CAN help, and we DO agree that we can help you get more experience and training, but what's annoying for us is that most colleges seem to be telling people that they will be qualified after they have finished the course and will be able to go work in salons as a hairdresser instead of a trainee.
Many 'qualified students' seem a bit miffed when we explain that we can offer them a job as a 'junior'. They just cannot accept that their college tutor lied to them about 1) Their skills and 2) Their job prospects.
All of our lives would be made so much easier if college students were informed that after studying for their VRQ they would be able to approach salons and get a job as a junior where the salon would finish them off over a period of about 12 months to get them to "junior stylist level".
Sorry to snip your post faerififi, but I just wanted to comment on the bit above...all apprentices are paid the same rate and it wouldn't cost an employer double to employ you. We have apprentices who are 24 years old and they are on the same rate as the 16 year olds.
