Work Experience Student - What do I do with her??!

[Issy]

Hi everyone!

I have a work experience student coming in next week for three days and i'm not sure what to do with her!! I run a small salon (little reception area and 1 treatment room), by myself and i'm not exactly rushed off my feet! I agreed to take on this young lady as i'm the only salon in the area that would give her the time of day and I remember how difficult I found it to find a placement when I was in her position. I've asked a few of my clients if they'd mind her sitting in whilst I perform their treatment but quite a few, understandably, aren't so keen. My phone isn't very busy as most of my appointments are re-books so she won't be answering the phone much and i'm really worried that she'll be bored!

Any ideas as to what I could do to keep her occupied when it's busy?

Thank you in advance!! xx

 

[sweet cheeks]

I dont have a salon im startin up as mobile so feel free to ignore my asdvice im sure there will be lots more geeks with better.
im just picking up on u saying your quiet at the mo so could you not get her to do some marrketing for you for example ringing clients who maybe have not been in or rebooked lately with a special offer to try and get them to book in, handing out leaflets outside if you have a lot of traffic going past your room.
Hoiw far along on her course is she, if she knows any treatments that are the same as you offer maybe if you have anytime free she could do a treatment on you give you a chance to give her feedback and pointers
only couple of ideas sorry i dont have the experience to offer better advice but good luck let us know how u get on xxxx:hug:

 

[oey]

You could ask her that getting the room prepped for all treatments is her duty, general salon cleaning, making drinks - perhaps asking her to do some simple treatments on you when you are quiet - as long it is ones that you can talk her through - manicure, pedicure then that will give you an opportunity to see what her skills are likely to be.

Make the most of having some body there with you and take advantage of it.

x x x

 

[Martin Duffy]

I see you're in Bognor - that's just up the road from me (I'm in Arundel!). Likewise I'm a small salon as I'd previously worked in large salons & had the desire to go it alone for a while, although I rent rooms out to other professions when I'm not there.

I take work experience & likewise ask clients in advance so as not to put them on the spot, but I'm fairly busy so use them to help set the room up etc. However, in the quiet moments I get them to practice painting my nails etc & give them one-on-one help with areas in which they are struggling. I also explain to them the philosophies & products in my professional ranges & talk to them about what they're hoping to do when they leave college & give them advice where I can. There's so much more to this industry than the treatments, much of which is never touched upon at college so give them the benefit of your experience!

 

[Issy]

Thank you all so much for your speedy replies. Great ideas everyone! I definitely like the idea of getting her to practice a pedicure on me, haven't had one since college!!! :lol:

I want to try and help her as much as I can and involve her in the day to day running of the salon without treating her like a skivvy so I like the idea of talking through the products with her. I work with Decleor here so I think it could be really useful to show her the products so she'll have some basic knowledge if she needs it in the future.

Thanks again everyone! xx

 

[Martin Duffy]

Good to see another Decleor geek here! I'm also a Decleor salon, and it's good to introduce students to other ranges as most of them seem to think there's nothing else but Dermalogica; they really ought to at least mention the big skincare houses as part of their training so if nothing else they have an understanding of the market.

 

[lenna]

its a two way thing when your busy let her help out by cleaning the place and prepping, and when your quite you can help her by showing her some tips and basics in little things like nail polishing, eyelash tinting or eyebrow trimming so she also feels like she is benefiting from being there rather than just solely being used as the cleaner,

 

[bombini]

Would be quite nice if you gave her a treatment to

I had a Facial at both of my work experience placements which I thought was nice.

 

[Jaffacake]

maybe she could paint some cheap tips and decorate them with some nail art or something when you are busy with a client? I'm sure with a dotting tool and a brush she'd come up with some nice designs, maybe she could then paint them on your manicure customers if they are up for it?

I think it would be nice for her to practise some treatments on you too, maybe you show her how its done on her first and then let her have a go.

 

[julesgems]

Perhaps you could invite your mum, grandma, aunties in and let her manicure them too! (for a very small fee to cover products!)

 

[ambermay]

I would just try to remember what it was like when you were a student yourself and what you would have liked from the placement,

I know I would have hated being the skivvy expected to go pick up everyones lunch and make drinks and clean the salon all day, even though it is part of the day to day chores of a salon I think some emplyers take advantage of students rather than help them.

• ask them to phone around clients with a special offer, (already suggested by another geek)
• prep rooms
• disscus with them what treatments they struggle with and give tips.
• ask them to demonstrate treatments on yourself and maybe vicer versa if you have time.
• talk about different products and treatments available in the industry, because when your at college you only get taught the basics and maybe dont realise that there are so many other products.

you could just ask her when she comes in what she hopes to gain from the experience.

hope it goes well let us know hun

 

[Susie H]

I like the points already made, but would also suggest, in the quiet times show her how to organize a business. How to work out the cost of a treatment for a customer i.e. Your time + product cost + rent for business premises, business rates electric used etc.
Far to many techs leave collage with stars in their eyes thinking they can get set up with no money behind them and no real business sense, if she can see the whole picture, the one that shows how many hours you really spend on your business then hopefully this will be one of the ones who makes a success of her career.
Oh and lastly, have fun.:hug:

 

[loubylou]

I have a work experience student in for the next 2 weeks also,
at her interview i have asked her which treatments she is confident to do,
i am going to put up a poster offering half price treatments in the areas that she is confident with,
this will give her more experience in these treatments,
for the treatments that she is not so confident to do i am going to let her practise those on me with my guidance and hopefully she will gain more confidence and experience in these areas,

i have no cleaning duties for her to do as i would rather do this myself,

if we have a quiet day we may both go round the houses posting leaflets or i will allow her to bring in her course work so i can offer help there if needed,
hth :hug:

 

[oey]

Great ideas Loubylou. Just check (if you havent already) that your insurance or the college covers you for your work experience to carry out treatments on your clients, as I know when I did my work experience through college we werent insured to do any treatments on clients.

 

[loubylou]

I have insurance for all students that i teach as a trainer so this should cover her as i would be supervising the whole time,
and insurance to cover any staff working in the salon,
i will double check though,
thanks for the heads up hun :hug:

 

[RedAdmiral]

absolutely fabulous advice - I agree teach her the business side, get her to do the stock check and suggest ways of improving your business.

 

[Issy]

I can't believe the response to this post! Thank you all sooo much!! (exactly why I love this site!!) you've ally given me great ideas and am really looking forward to it now. Love the idea of teaching her the business side. I know that I certainly wasn't fully prepared when I first set up! I'll also get her to practice the treatments that she's less confident in on me. I remember how terrified I used to be of electrolysis when I was at college and through practice, its now my absolute fave treatment!!

Thanks again everyone xx
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