Studying to be a nail technician

[Lindawestwater]

Hi all, I was just hoping for a little bit of advice? I am currently studying for my NVQ level 3 in nail technology, after I have graduated from this course I will then move on to do my NVQ level 3 in nail services to master nail enhancements and nail art, but could anyone give me any advice as to what my next step would be after I am fully qualified? as there are so many nail technicians out there, I am guessing isn't going to be that easy to get a job in a salon? But I am also unsure of how to go about mobile or even self employed, hiring out my own chair somewhere? I am very new to all this so if anybody has any tips they could give me or advise me on the best route to take that would be brill,
Thanks in advance [emoji8][emoji178] xxx

 

[Kimmyroyalnail]

I would see if you can do an apprenticeship , you get a much better experience , learn so much more and if you don't get a job in the salon you train with you have real salon experience putting you head and shoulders above those straight from full time college - also my local does a level 3 full time Nail course , 2 full days a week for a year. I trialled a girl from this course and she had nowhere near enough experience. Her qualification covered gel and acrylic but she was inexperienced in both , she had spent a lot of her college time doing theory and assignments which meant she knew how to do it but needed a lot more practice - thing with false nails is practice , practice , practice then practice some more. I would do a shorter course , with the brand you intend to use and focus on either gel or acrylic - and then just focus your time on practicing - do offers on social media for models and eventually you will master the skill.

 

[Lindawestwater]

This is so helpful, thankyou so much, I will definitely look into an apprenticeship! Xx

 

[laurakate]

If they're both level 3 I'm not sure what the difference is.

After level 3 nail services at college I did training with some product companies because that was the difference between college and professional standard. This is worth doing if you struggle to get onto an apprenticeship because they can be hard to come by.

 

[Lindawestwater]

On the course I am doing now I am covering luxury manicure and pedicure, fibreglass and basic gel and acrylic extensions and on the next course I will go more in depth with the gel and acrylic and learn nail art, what is the training with product companies that you mentioned? Xx

 

[Kimmyroyalnail]

By basic gel and acrylic what do you mean ? Tips and overlay ? I would choose a product (I use nsi) and they offer training in sculpting and getting their product right - others may disagree with me - I just feel college courses are too general with too much theory which could be better learned on the job. I would choose your preference though and practice gel or acrylic - perfect one before you concentrate on the other - I never do fibreglass and you can teach yourself most nail art on YouTube (though I'm inclined to think if your artistic this is more natural than if your not , which I'm not but I'm still doing ok from the you tube tutorials )
The key to success is practice , not learned from textbooks
Xxx