Hairdressing is an art that involves arranging hair for aesthetic purposes, participation in formal occasions or symbolic reasons. It is a creative field that needs an inclination and flair towards styling hair in different patterns. Hairstylists can get employment in salons and wages depend on their skills and work experience along with the requirements of the salon.

Job Profile

The job of a hairstylist revolves around dealing with different kind of people. It is a very important element of the fashion world and requires creativity and ability to visualize what hairstyle would suit a certain personality or occasion. In order to succeed in this field, you need to have certain basic skills, such as how to lend a different look to a client, taking bookings over the phone, dealing with clients and product representatives, and keeping an account of bills. It is also important to understanding the positive and negative effects of using various chemicals and heat on the hair and scalp. Such fundamental skills prove to be very helpful while advising and develop a rapport with clients, which is critical to growing in this field.

Apprenticeship

You can begin by going in for an apprenticeship, which would help you develop the necessary skills. It enables you to get involved with the tasks that are generally done in a salon. In the early stages, you would have to do cleaning, shampooing, using sterilizing equipment and performing simple hairdressing treatments. Later, as you develop confidence, you would be delegated more complex tasks based on how well you have observed and imbibed the various styles and treatment processes.

Special Qualities

A hairstylist can find a job in women's, men's or unisex beauty parlors where they can experiment with their skills and bring out the best possible hair- style as desired by a customer. It is very important to have a desire to evolve as a qualified hairstylist because this job calls for a lot of patience, dedication and hard work. Hairstylists spend most of their time standing on their feet and are required to adapt to the working hours of the salon.

In general, hair stylists should possess the following personal qualities:

a) Pleasing personality

b) Good communication skills

c) Ability to work under acute work pressure

d) Endurance

e) Creative bent

f) Observant to minute details

g) Good health and no skin allergies

h) Ability to execute reception work

i) Operate a cash register and computers whenever required

j) Ability to persuade people

k) Voluntary in taking responsibilities

l) Ability to observe and learn quickly

m) Interested in fashion and an ability to keep oneself in the loop on trends in the world of fashion.

Basic Qualifications

Hairstyling can be a lucrative career if you possess the basic qualifications and are capable of doing your work with concentration. More often than not, a hairstylist's work profile can involve performing the following duties:

a) Discuss and advice clients regarding various hair problems

b) Cutting hair using scissors, clippers or razors.

c) Shampooing, conditioning and rinsing hair

d) Dry and style hair using brushes, combs and other equipment

e) Advise clients on prevalent hair styling trends

Hairstylists can be find placements as stylists in television channels, advertising agencies, theatre as well as films. Some hairstylists prefer to set their own salons or become teachers, after gaining a substantial amount of work experience. Typically, you would need experience of at least five years in order to establish yourself in the competitive market as a professional hairstylist.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solutions - Six Sigma Online ( http://www.sixsigmaonline.org ) offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.