How do you train as a hairdresser?

Gerrard Hynes of the Irish Hairdressers Federation (IHF) says there is a huge shortage of qualified stylists at the moment.

“With the economic collapse, hairdressing was severely effected. In order to stay in business, salons were forced to reduce the number of staff, including apprentices. While the economy is starting to turn around, it is only now starting to be felt in hairdressing salons.”

Gerrard also says that another factor slowing the recovery in hairdressing is the underground or black market hairdressing.

Below are the route’s Gerrard says are available for those interested in becoming hairdressers:

1 Apprenticeship: An apprenticeship combines practical experience with training and, more importantly, a pay packet! Getting an apprenticeship means knocking on the door of your local salon and simply asking if they will take you on as an apprentice.

If the salon is paying less than minimum wage (€9.15), there must be a structured, organised training programme where you can see exactly what you will be learning and when, throughout your training. Training can vary widely between salons.

2 ETBs: Hairdressing courses run by the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) all over the country offer QQI Level 5 (formally FETAC) and the Department of Education junior and senior trade certificates. These are classed as full-time courses (although students are not in college five days a week – their hours are spread out and quite often they are not in for full days). Work experience is an essential part of these college courses.

On completion of the courses, successful students will leave with recognised certification having covered all aspects of hairdressing that will give them a solid foundation to go into any one of the many other aspects of hairdressing (such as movies, stage, trichology, teaching etc). ETB courses generally also include modules on health and safety, communication, customer service and business. This means if students decide hairdressing isn’t for them, these other modules will give them useful skills.

3 Private colleges: There are a number of private colleges all over the country which also offer hairdressing training courses. Some have a licence to offer junior and senior trade certs, while some offer their own certs.

Some of the full-time courses can cost from €7,000 to €10,000, so they are significantly more expensive than training in your local ETB-run college.