Seeking strong opinion

[VHunter]

ALL tech's should be required to have a license.
Whether in the UK, USA, Canada, or Zimbabwe (or however that is spelled).

I'm in Quebec Cda, and licensing is NOT a requirement here and there are a TONNE of techs that do not have all the necessary training, and many none at all.
It's TERRIBLE:!:

 

[ksmoores]

i suppose it depends on what the criteria for gaining a license is, if you are just getting it by applying and filling in a form then it will never work. Proof that you are a timed served professional should be the only way of getting licensed and then ongoing proof. So what about new blood, well have you ever heard of apprenterships. The industry has the chance to change the way we gain experience aswell as get our education. Too many people teaching in colleges have no real qualification to teach nails, and so unfairly say that when the students leave they are ready to take on there own business and clients with no further training or help.

We need to take a good look at ourselfs and not keep saying well i trained in 3 days and i am a good tech, i have a passion and take care over my clients, so why can't everyone do that. Nails is an artform and people learn in different ways.

Also if people don't have the money to keep training then colleges are the only place to go, and we do not have good education in all colleges, despite a NVQ which in my experience lacks real industry experience. You can teach as much theory as you want but this is a practical artform and technician is an insulting name. You will never change the industry while we are seen as a technician insted of an artist.

 

[pennijar]

Definately.
With the help of HABIA we are taking the first steps to standardising the Nail Industry, surely at some point down this road, there will be some form of discriminating the "Good" from the "Bad" be it Licensing or some other form of accreditation.

Joan

 

[keri R]

Ive only been doing this a year, and although i feel happy with how im progressing, it scares me that i could get a job in a salon when im nowhere near the standard that should be acceptable to work.

I totally agree, i've been doing this a year, a while back i applied for a trainee job in a salon as i was working on finishing my nvq and thought this would be helpful, the owner said the job had gone but did i want to work as a tech anyway? What?? i hadn't even finished my training! this didn't put him off, it was only because i hadn't actually worked in a salon, (working form home and mobile wasn't good enough) that made him um and ahh about it. In the end it was my decision and i said a firm 'no'.

I realised that this wasn't the type of place i wanted to work and learn in.
God only knows what it would be like to recieve a treatment in.

I also agree that starting with educating clients and customers could help to eliminate the questionable salons and techs, i'm doing my best with my friends and family- with my mum on the band wagon as she nearly lost her nails due to bad enhancements.

Maybe licensing isn't the answer for now, but we all agree something has to be done so for now it looks like it's up to all the responsible techs to put the message out there.

 

[connoisseur]

I reckon licensing is a positive step forward and will help to make the industry more professionally recognised in the eyes of the consumer.

Someone mentioned in an earlier post that it wouldn't make a difference to the industry now, but I disagree.

If you take minicab firms (and I'm only talking about what happens in London as that's where my personal experience lies) Since licensing was brought in a few years ago it has changed the way people view them.

You now know that if a firm and its employees have been licensed, there is some kind of regulation going on, which means if they put a foot out of place, the license can be revoked and the firm lose both custom and reputation. Licensed minicab firms are doing a lot to ensure this doesn't happen to them.

And so the same principle can be applied to nail technicians.If the 'tech' has a license that has been issued by an official governing body, the consumer knows straight away that they have 'some' type of protection and that if and when things go wrong, they can get some kind of recompense.

It also comes down to building public awareness as well.

 

[Welsh Geek]

I don't think general licencing will improve standards. However, I do believe it would be more appropriate to licence educators rather than technicians. This would be easier to police, and certainly could help to raise the standarrds of those teaching nail technology to those who wish to train.

When I completed my first course, I believed that I was a good technician. I was led to believe that as I had a certificate, I was good enough to practice on paying clients and this was not true.

I was one of the lucky ones, because when I lacked confidence I completed more courses, which in turn made me realise how much there is to learn. I have the understanding that many people who teach nails have no teaching qualification, many don't have a minimum number of years in the industry either.

Also, there are many educators,especially in colleges who are 'Beauty therapists', who may in their years as therapists have dabbled in nails, but have no real talent for them. The learners who attend these colleges often believe that their lecturer is going to be excellent with nails, when they are often unable to actually produce good nails themselves.
There are even colleges locally to my area, where the lecturers encourage mixing products to save their own costs. I am an educator myself and am proud that the college where I work have very good educators, but this certainly isn't the case in many establishments.

It would be wise to licence education in nails, ensure all educators and lecturers in nails have a yearly exam, something similar to the creative masters exam!! (both practical and theory!)