For many different people, getting into the beauty industry is an ideal career choice. The UK has experienced a huge rise in demand for beauty products and services over the past few decades, and supply has increased too, with professionals developing their skills in new areas that didn’t even exist until recently. Of course, our capital city has become home to some of the most respected businesses in the field, and hair and beauty jobs in London are much sought after. But how do you go about finding them?
First of all, it helps to have an idea of the direction you want your career to go in, and imagine where you would ideally see yourself in a few years’ time, or even decades in the future. Perhaps you’d like to manage a chain of hair salons, invest in the latest high-tech skin treatments, or even create your own cosmetics brand.
Whatever your ultimate goal may be, or even if you don’t have one yet, you might that the job you take when you first come into the industry may be completely different to what you end up succeeding at in the long term. Here are some examples of jobs that might get you into the right sector of the hair and beauty job market…
Hairdressing –
Even if you start out as an assistant in a salon, which most people would, you will most likely be given plenty of opportunities to gain new skills and quickly take on more responsibilities. You might even opt for starting your own mobile hairdressing service instead, once you have some experience. Hairdressing takes a huge amount of practice, and you will only get better with time. Building up a good reputation through word of mouth is usually the key!
Beauty therapy –
This sector is still all about being knowledgeable and understanding the science behind different products, but in a sense it is becoming less commercial. Natural and healthy beauty treatments are always increasing in popularity, as people are understand more and more about the benefits of relaxation and staying as natural as possible. If you’re interested in these kind of alternative beauty therapies, now is the time to get into the industry.
Male grooming –
It may be true that a large proportion of people interested in the beauty industry are still female, but there is growing demand for male grooming services too, especially in the fashionable heart of London. For people of any gender looking for jobs to get into the industry, retro male barber shops and modern grooming specialists are a great idea to look into.
So how do you actually go about finding these jobs, if they are so in demand? Well, here are some of our top ideas. The chances are you’ve already tried some, but probably not all of these!
- Sign up with a professional recruitment agency that specialises in recruiting for hair and beauty jobs. They will be able to assess your skills and match you up with contacts and opportunities that would have been otherwise unavailable to you.
- Don’t underestimate the importance of education and training. Serious qualifications will be respected, and in many cases essential. Experience is not enough in most cases to prove that you are the best person for the job. Again this is something a specialist recruitment consultancy can assist with.
- Look into apprenticeships if you are unable to find suitable jobs. Often there is a financial downside to this as they may be unpaid or offer a very low wage which is meant to be subsidised somehow, so see if you are eligible for any schemes to help with this. If you are successful, an apprenticeship can get you into a great job and provide some valuable experience.
- Decide on some companies that you really want to apply for, and focus your personal development efforts around them for a while. If you truly identify with a particular brand and feel passionately about working with them, make sure it comes across in your applications and interviews.