NVQ, please do something about short courses!

[Miss Sylk]

Ive just seen a professional acadamy advertising their Gel polish course for "anyone". So much for being mani trained. Its getting too slack. Ive lost 3 customers who had gelish as they know how to do it themselves now.

That and the fact my new suppliers didnt even check that i was qualified before selling me pro products at trade prices is really starting to grind my gears.

Theres enough people in this industry without untrained/unregisterd/just any people taking our customers.

Its just too loose these days i wonder how im going to survive this influx of people coming out of nowhere for an easy quid and doing beauty/nails.

Hairdressers now train in nails and lashes for like £50 minimum. That as well is affecting our custom.

What happend to the good old NVQ and further training if necessary? I wish the Nvq was still the way, back when there was no cheap/quick courses. The Nvq or whatever it is now needs to be updated to include the lot!! and be the qualification with recognition and qudos!

We are professionals not "people who paint nailz coz im dead good at doin me own"

TIME TO TIGHTEN IT UP !!!!!

 

[Beautygirl1977]

I totally agree! One of my clients told me the other day she has bought herself a CND Shellac kit and she's doing her and her friends. Her mums got one too.
S2 is the only company that has asked me for proof before buying products but I guess these people have bought the stuff on eBay.
I was shocked to hear a fellow beautician beside me was selling minx etc on eBay to get holiday money!
One of my regular spray tan clients has just bought her own machine etc too

 

[Miss Sylk]

Yeah ebay pee's me off to, i dont think we will ever combat that unfortunatly.

But the whole "anyone" can train in gel makes the matter worse as then they have training and a certificate to go do on friends and family without a mani qualification is wrong!

A lot of People arnt actually that bothered if you are qualified or not these days it seems, probably because so many arnt, people dont expect it like they used too of us.

Uniform, professional set up and products, good manner and god work= "she must be a professional" they would think! These days its like "how much does she charge" nice one! bargin! grrrrr

Educators and suppliers need to make moves our direction not the publics!!

Essie polish on sale in boots too!

I know people will say dont worry they cant do it as well as us, most cant, but some can and some people really do have no taste or view for quality or any care how their nails/lashes are cared for, just the immediate result and cost to them.

 

[Lynne Baker]

The solution here is to choose suppliers such as S2 who really do check that you're qualified. We're the same. We get lots of people wanting access to our website but when you ask them for proof of qualification and insurance they go awfully quiet.

Ask your suppliers what they're doing about this. If you don't like their answer choose a different brand.

 

[shelldavis]

Just to say! Im an ITEC level 2&3 therapist & I tried the quick Way to do nails?! It sooo didn't work not enough info on any short course & I ended up going to night School 2 nights a week to do my nvq level 3 in nails? It was brilliant & I now can do lovely calgel & silk nails! Still practising l&p but I will master it x short courses are not the way at all

 

[Miss Sylk]

The solution here is to choose suppliers such as S2 who really do check that you're qualified. We're the same. We get lots of people wanting access to our website but when you ask them for proof of qualification and insurance they go awfully quiet.

Ask your suppliers what they're doing about this. If you don't like their answer choose a different brand.

I thought about asking why he didnt ask for proof of qualifications.......i think i will!

 

[Carlalouise]

I know several hairdressers that have trained in Shellac, spray tanning, eyelashes so they can provide it when they're not busy in their salons, no one could have asked for proof of qualifications as they wouldn't have been able to provide it!!

 

[Beautygirl1977]

I wish they would stop too but it seems most are just interested in getting the products sold!
I've only been in business for a year so I'm not sure if this has been a problem for a while?
I wouldn't dream in buying into products without the training. Wouldn't have the guts! I like to be prepared and knowledgeable about my products. It costs a lot more money this way though.

 

[Tomme]

It works on the hair side too, people without hairdressing qualifications doing extension training. I know that's a sore subject on here but personally I don't think it's good enough. Iv done cuts, blowdries etc on people who have had extensions "blended" and it's quite clear they have no proper training in cutting, and there's no way they could fit that in on a 2 day corse when it took around 3 months for a college to teach it then another 3 with critiqueing before actually passing.


The only thing we can do as FULLY trained professionals is to show our quality and professionalism. Whack your customers with your knowledge in not just the nail polish and the service you are applying but what you know goes on in the background such as the hands, and throw in other services too, or just casually drop in that to be fully competent it takes x years, and there are new people out doing a day or 2 so they are obviously not any good or could case damage. Xoxo

 

[Balance Andover]

Uniform, professional set up and products, good manner and god work= "she must be a professional" they would think! These days its like "how much does she charge" nice one! bargin! grrrrr

In my opinion I think in some ways the short courses are seriously driving prices down. Anyone can do a short course for not much money and get a certificate. I've seen spray tanning for £12.00, Gelish for £10.00 and Eyelash extensions for £25.00 this week alone. (I'm not saying that everyone who does short courses does this, but it seems a high number near me are). These people are advertising one or two treatments only.

I have natural nail overlays done, I go to my therapist purely because she is good at what she does, she NEVER does any special offers and I believe in giving my business to people who want to keep the industry alive, rather than trash it!

 

[Lynne Baker]

I have natural nail overlays done, I go to my therapist purely because she is good at what she does, she NEVER does any special offers and I believe in giving my business to people who want to keep the industry alive, rather than trash it!

I believe in giving my business to people who are experts in technique and customer service. It naturally follows that they will be successful if they live by those values.

Just because someone down the street is offering ten pound tans does not mean that they're really good, but if they are, then one has to look to their own game and raise it.

 

[Carlalouise]

It works on the hair side too, people without hairdressing qualifications doing extension training.

I agree!! If I were to have hair extensions I would want to go to a qualified hairdresser.

 

[Miss Sylk]

I know several hairdressers that have trained in Shellac, spray tanning, eyelashes so they can provide it when they're not busy in their salons, no one could have asked for proof of qualifications as they wouldn't have been able to provide it!!

They should be busy enough with hair if they are any good at it. i considered doing hair as well as beauty but im busy with beauty ive knocked hair on the head.

 

[Miss Sylk]

In my opinion I think in some ways the short courses are seriously driving prices down. Anyone can do a short course for not much money and get a certificate. I've seen spray tanning for £12.00, Gelish for £10.00 and Eyelash extensions for £25.00 this week alone. (I'm not saying that everyone who does short courses does this, but it seems a high number near me are). These people are advertising one or two treatments only.

I have natural nail overlays done, I go to my therapist purely because she is good at what she does, she NEVER does any special offers and I believe in giving my business to people who want to keep the industry alive, rather than trash it!

I think your right about it driving prices down.

 

[fiona wallace]

It still blows me away that people think they can become a Nail Tech in two days! Sadly, we continue to have people complain about the money they have lost and their time wasted, not to mention their self-confidence being eroded.

Please, if you are considering entering the Nail or Beauty Industry, do some homework and try to get recommendations from people who have become successful in their chosen field.

 

[Miss Sylk]

nvq all the way! yes its 2 years long but if they have that lazy attitude to working hard then they will have no luck i the job!

 

[MissConfused]

This arguement goes on and on and on.

I dont think its a case of if they are that good at this they dont need to do that blah blah blah. I think its more a case of giving clients what they want and earning yourself more money. We all want convenience. We all like everything under 1 roof (providing that everything is of the same high standard). Thats how we live our lives. Why shouldnt somebody train in an additional service to make a clients life easier and in the process make themselves an additional income? As long as the person carrying out the treatment is insured, qualified and knows what they are doing so much so that they can carry out the treatment well and safely then whats the problem?

Theres so much snobbery on threads like this. Doing an nvq does not make you a better therapist. What makes you a better therapist is continued formal education, reading, researching, pushing yourself and experience. If you spend a whole day or two doing a course then go off and practise what you have learned and read up more about the theory involved in that treatment then you are no different from somebody who has done an nvq. Youve spent time learning the theory and several hours doing the practical. Lets be honest the majority of time you are doing practical in college you are unsupervised as theres too many in a class for the teacher to watch you constantly and you dont do that many practicals before taking your assesments either. Youre working to a schedule in what you learn, you cant spend your whole nvq2 level perfecting one treatment. You see it done, practise a couple of times then do your assessment and make a few minor mistakes but you still pass none the less. Hows that different to 1 day courses? You see the tutor/teacher/educator/whatever do the treatment, you do the treatment a few times and you pass. All thats missing isthe theory that you do at home yourself in your own time.

People who do any kind of training and think at the end of it they know it all are the problem.

If you are confident in yourself and your products then why would you worry about people taking cheap courses then using cheap products because they dont know any different? The only people driving down prices are the ones who are stupid enough to want to compete with others who are charging cheap prices. Talk about broken records! Instead of focusing on being the cheapest why not focus on being the most fabulous? Id be disgustingly embarassed if my reputation was all focused on me being the cheapest. Why fight it out for that title? X

 

[sara x]

This arguement goes on and on and on.

I dont think its a case of if they are that good at this they dont need to do that blah blah blah. I think its more a case of giving clients what they want and earning yourself more money. We all want convenience. We all like everything under 1 roof (providing that everything is of the same high standard). Thats how we live our lives. Why shouldnt somebody train in an additional service to make a clients life easier and in the process make themselves an additional income? As long as the person carrying out the treatment is insured, qualified and knows what they are doing so much so that they can carry out the treatment well and safely then whats the problem?

Theres so much snobbery on threads like this. Doing an nvq does not make you a better therapist. What makes you a better therapist is continued formal education, reading, researching, pushing yourself and experience. If you spend a whole day or two doing a course then go off and practise what you have learned and read up more about the theory involved in that treatment then you are no different from somebody who has done an nvq. Youve spent time learning the theory and several hours doing the practical. Lets be honest the majority of time you are doing practical in college you are unsupervised as theres too many in a class for the teacher to watch you constantly and you dont do that many practicals before taking your assesments either. Youre working to a schedule in what you learn, you cant spend your whole nvq2 level perfecting one treatment. You see it done, practise a couple of times then do your assessment and make a few minor mistakes but you still pass none the less. Hows that different to 1 day courses? You see the tutor/teacher/educator/whatever do the treatment, you do the treatment a few times and you pass. All thats missing isthe theory that you do at home yourself in your own time.

People who do any kind of training and think at the end of it they know it all are the problem.

If you are confident in yourself and your products then why would you worry about people taking cheap courses then using cheap products because they dont know any different? The only people driving down prices are the ones who are stupid enough to want to compete with others who are charging cheap prices. Talk about broken records! Instead of focusing on being the cheapest why not focus on being the most fabulous? Id be disgustingly embarassed if my reputation was all focused on me being the cheapest. Why fight it out for that title? X

Very well said Miss Confused! Ultimately people will have nails/waxing/hair etc done by the person they are happiest with whether for price, quality, personality, convenience or a combination. Not that many choose therapists because of their training course. If any of us are struggling, look at ourselves I say, not others

 

[jcpark]

We all like everything under 1 roof

Certainly not the true in my case, I go to see several different therapists for different services. I have a number of clients who do the same.

I'm not a beauty therapist so can't comment on NVQ's, but we have the same thing in massage therapy. It is a joke that anyone could learn massage in a week, much less the 2 day courses that I've seen advertised.

What is very apparent from reading threads over the years that the vast majority of beauty therapy courses do not leave the student ready to work in a professional capacity once qualified. I find this really alarming. I have lost count the number of employers that have said they will not take on a newly qualified therapist because they need practice and experience first. Why? Surely passing the qualification should mean that you have reached a level of competency required to perform the treatment professionally. If that is not the case, what benefit is a qualification?

The QCF regulates qualifications in the UK and overseas the awarding bodies. Too many of these awarding bodies fail to police their training providers resulting in too many courses falling far short of National Occupational Standards. As an example, a qualification that awards a Diploma requires 370 hours of classroom teaching, yet I've seen 'Diploma' courses advertised for 2 days!

I don't think it is enough that someone holds a qualification and has insurance. There are many therapists that hold such things that I would not go back to. There are many clients I have had that have been amazed at the treatments they have received from me because they were totally unaware of how that particular treatment should be delivered and it's results.

The bottom line is that these short courses are a disgrace to the industry. They devalue those courses that do deliver courses appropriately and those who have done thorough professional training. They short change the students who believe they are being trained to reach a professional standard and they short change the public who may not be aware of the difference between such therapist's treatments.

Surely we should all want to provide professional services of high quality. Of course, no one expects someone that is newly qualified to know it all, but they must have a good level of knowledge and achieved a professional level of competence to work professionally.

 

[Lynne Baker]

If any of us are struggling, look at ourselves I say, not others

I couldn't agree more.

I get asked all the time "how can I get more clients", "how can I compete with the cheapsters down the road", "why aren't I making any money", "how come you're so successful"

I'll try to précis it.

It doesn't matter if you are the most qualified therapist on the planet;

if you are rubbish at what you do people will not return to you.
If you are inflexible about the hours you will work it is unlikely you will be full
If you think this business is all pink and fluffy you will see quite quickly that it isn't! It's a business like any other; pig farming or avionics

Why have I chosen those 2 as examples?

Pig farming

It's sh1tty, smelly work which requires long hours, pretty much very single day of the year. It has intransigent clients (pigs), who don't care that the farmer had planned to have Thursday afternoon off - that's the day they choose to break out of their pen, run rampage over the neighbouring A road, and one of them has decided to give birth to 12 piglets and squash several of them in the process.

Tenuous analogy? Um, not really!

Back crack and sac -sh1tty
Pedicures - smelly
Every day of the year - admin, finances, training, marketing, reading...
Intransigent clients - "I'd like to book an appointment on Thursday afternoon, for your most expensive facial, shellac fingers and toes, full leg wax, Brazilian, brow shape and lash tint. No, sorry I can't do any other time, I've managed to wangle the afternoon off". You gonna turn that lot down because you wanted to meet up with your mum for a coffee? (my mum has to make an appointment to see me, and no, I'm not joking)

Avionics

Cutting edge, ever changing, risky, scary. Nuff said.

Crap, I'm rubbish at the executive summary. Still, I'm damn good at the things that make my clients happy bunnies, so I can live with that particular failing!

Conclusion.

It's not just about the qualifications; that's just one piece of the jigsaw.