When do you go from junior, intermediate to senior therapist?

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HMC

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1. At what point would you consider a beauty therapist a junior, intermediate or senior? And why/what factors come in to play here?
(i.e. years in the industry only? or also skill set, percentage of sales vs wages etc.)

Junior - Newly graduated, how many years in industry?
Intermediate - 2 years experience etc.
Senior - ??
Any special title for those 10 yrs in? 30yrs?

2. And what hourly wage range would you expect as a minimum at each level?

My question comes from a junior therapist asking me how long it would take until she was considered a senior, and I didn't really have an answer to give her.

Thanks
 
It’s isn’t about time, it’s about competence. A junior needs advice and support and you would worry if they were left in their own for the day.

A good junior in a basic salon may move up in a year, but it’s not just about skill in treatments, there is also booking, up selling, answering the phone and closing, learning the retail products. Depending on maturity and prior experience that might take another year. In a sophisticated salon there are more treatments to learn - skincare is advanced level. A junior can be awesome and an integral part of the team - yet still learning skincare.

An “intermediate” therapist can run a small salon for a week and maintain her productivity and efficiency levels. When you come back from holiday there are bookings in the columns, the salon is clean and tidy, there hasn’t been a disaster in your absence and there is a list of anything low on stock. This is where you expect someone to be at 3 years experience.

A senior therapist is a highly experienced therapist. Not only is she knowledgeable about treatments and products and able to technically troubleshoot issues, she is also able to run a small team or work solo long term, managing her own motivation and morale. She will train an apprentice, manage promotions and give feedback to staff leaving the manager free to focus on back office, marketing, and front of house. It would be very unusual to reach this level in less than 3 years and 5 is more typical.
 
Thanks for your reply.

So on average, most junior therapists stay "junior" for at least two years. The therapist in particular asking me is almost reaching 6 months.
 

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