If you always loved playing with makeup and hair products, restyling your doll’s hair, or playing beauty shop as a kid, chances are your love has followed you into adulthood. There’s something immensely satisfying about helping people create hair, makeup, and nail looks that make them feel beautiful and look as good as they feel. There is a range of other career paths available to those who enter cosmetology school as well. Whether you have a specific one in mind or hope to learn a little bit about every part of the cosmetology industry, the first step is to determine which paths interest you and find a school that offers the right programs.
What Careers Can I Get With A Cosmetology License?
You are probably asking yourself, “what can I do with a cosmetology license?”. The answer is that you can do quite a lot. Being licensed makes it easier for you to focus on a specific interest in the industry, and there are many different career paths to explore.
Professional Stylist
Professional stylists are responsible for helping people look their best by providing them with tips and tricks for maintaining healthy hair and creating styles they like. This includes discussing style preferences before creating braids, updos, and other styles for weddings, proms, and more. Stylists may also work to create a combination of products that will work best for the guest to recreate the style at home later on.
Salon Manager
A wide variety of businesses that fall under the cosmetology umbrella rely on salon managers, making it one of the most important jobs with a cosmetology license. Spas, salons, and barbershops are common examples of where you can work. Managers oversee the entire operation, ensuring it makes a profit by keeping customers happy and operating efficiently. They are also responsible for ensuring the salon stays compliant with the laws and that all staff members remain licensed. This means hiring, firing, and guiding employees as well. Other responsibilities include ordering inventory, managing schedules, and resolving customer complaints.
Nail Technician/Manicurist
If you have a love for creating intricate designs with nail polish, gems, and other accessories, you may want to consider nail technician jobs with a cosmetology license. Manicurists do everything from basic trims and polishes to completely bedazzled acrylics. While many nail technicians work in nail or hair salons, you can find work as a manicurist in a wide variety of environments. Resorts and spas commonly apply manicurists, as do country clubs. If you’ve always wanted to spend your life on luxury cruises, you can even consider getting a job as a nail technician for a cruise ship. Good manicurists will understand a variety of projects and be willing to communicate with and listen to their guests. Those who are ambitious can even create their own nail polish line or open their own salon.
Makeup Artist
If you love working with colorful, high-end makeup brands and helping people look and feel their very best, becoming a makeup artist may be the right choice. Makeup artistry allows you to create a wide range of looks, depending on what your guest is looking for. If you prefer creating natural makeup looks, working with brides on their wedding days is an excellent path. Consider working with photographers and runway models if you like to get creative with plenty of colors, glitter, and more. Other options include TV, theatre, and special effects makeup for film.
Esthetician
Licensed estheticians allow you to work in a variety of fields, so you can mix and match throughout your career until you find just the right combination that works for you. Typically, though, estheticians are skincare professionals. They provide facials and other skin treatments for guests by consulting with them about their issue, finding or creating the right products to help them fight the problem, and then treating it in a sanitary environment. Chemical peels, waxing, and microdermabrasion are common. In addition to skincare, estheticians often work as manicurists or pedicurists, and some become beauty consultants or esthetician instructors.
Barber
Perhaps you prefer to work in a barbershop. Professionally trained barbers not only cut men’s hair but provide shaving or waxing for their bears and brows as well. Barbers who are comfortable using a straight razor and offering shaves are in high demand, especially in luxury barber shops around the country. There are also plenty of opportunities to open your own shop, as well as to work in film and television or at military or senior care facilities.
Cosmetology Instructor
If you are someone who has always been the “helper” in your family or group of friends, you may enjoy becoming a cosmetology instructor. Pursuing this job with a cosmetology license allows you to not only work in the career path you love but also help others who are passionate about it find their own career paths. Licensed instructors work in various environments, including beauty schools, esthetics schools, and nail schools. Eventually, if you prefer, you can even manage or own a beauty school. Other options as an instructor include managing a spa, leading workshops, or working as a guest speaker at industry events.
How To Become a Certified Cosmetologist in New Jersey
Whether you prefer to work in a traditional salon or you want to help people look amazing while they sail the seven seas, you’ll first need to complete the proper training. Each career path has its own training and licensing requirements. Make the first step to career success by contacting Rizzieri Aveda School for more information or by applying now.
Image Credit: ALPA PROD / Shutterstock