Kick-start your career as a hairstylist, esthetician or registered massage therapist

BY NOA GLOUBERMAN

If you’re looking for work in the beauty industry, a new website – BeautyJOBshop.com – may be able to help. The website connects job seekers with leading hair salons, spas and fashion-industry employers across Canada and the United States.

“Whether you’re looking for an exciting new job as a hairstylist, fashion merchandiser, makeup artist or beauty therapist, we have it all on our site,” according to BeautyJOBshop.com. “It’s 100% free for job seekers.”

The free resumé posting also includes the option to upload a short video to showcase your portfolio of work to potential employers.

As of press time, BeautyJOBshop.com included job postings for estheticians, hairstylists and massage therapists in the Lower Mainland. We wondered what experience and training it would take to land one of these “beautiful” jobs.

ESTHETICIAN

An esthetician is a professional licensed in the service of makeup applications, facials and hair removal. The first step in becoming an esthetician is to enroll in a program that will certify you to perform a range of treatments and services for clients.

Vancouver’s Blanche Macdonald Centre (www.blanchemacdonald.com) offers an esthetics/spa therapist diploma that, in addition to the necessary theoretical and technical knowledge needed to succeed, will teach you to deliver “a total experience that leaves the client feeling pampered, healthy, glowing, relaxed and renewed.”

The program includes courses in makeup, nails, skin- and body-care services, massage, eco beauty (organics, sustainable practices), wellness/wellbeing (yoga, meditation, detoxification), medi spa (cosmetic rejuvenation and lasers), spa management and entrepreneurship, art and technology, and life coaching.

According to the school, a number of inherent skills can also help you succeed as an esthetician, including a motivating need to service and help people and the ability to create effective communication and positive emotional connections with clients.

“The realization for the esthetics professional is that the creation of “beauty” is more than skin deep. Estheticians must attend not only to the surface but also to the internal, to one’s overall sense of wellness and wellbeing. … The esthetics program at the Blanche Macdonald Centre is designed to enhance your ability to reach people with confidence, warmth, and respect.”

HAIR STYLIST

In British Columbia, many employers require trade certification to work as a hairstylist. Obtaining a certification of qualification will go a long way in helping you to get a job in the field.

There are two ways to gain proper certification as a hairstylist through the Cosmetology Industry Association of BC (www.ciabc.net). The first requires you to complete a training program at an accredited school and get 1,500 hours of training, after which you can write an exam to obtain a certification of qualification.

Because hairstyling is considered a trade in B.C., the second way to get certified is to apprentice through a salon to gain 3,000 hours of practical experience.  After that, you can write the qualification exam.

Suki’s Academy (www.sukis.com) in downtown Vancouver offers a six-month foundations course for hairdressers that includes classroom theory lessons, hands-on work sessions (on both mannequins and live models), demonstrations by senior stylists and colour technicians, field trips, practical work experience, photoshoots and fashion shows.

“You will study, practise and perfect every aspect of successful hairdressing including consultations, colours, men’s and women’s cuts, finishing, updos, extensions, product recommendations and business skills,” says Suki’s. “Ongoing written and practical exams will ensure that your knowledge and skills are evaluated and improved throughout your program.”

REGISTERED MASSAGE THERAPIST

Registered massage therapists (RMTs) are becoming an essential part of our health-care system as more British Columbians turn to massage therapy for treatment of medical conditions, injuries and overall wellness. In order to provide effective treatment to clients, RMTs must be registrants of the College of Massage Therapists of BC (CMTBC).

In Burnaby, PCU College of Holistic Medicine (www.pcucollege.ca) offers a registered massage therapy program that prepares students to write the CMTBC registration exam.

“Along with anatomy, physiology, arthrology and neurology, students will learn essential techniques, theories and methods of massage,” according to PCU’s website. “They’ll also cover assessment protocol, treatment principles and therapeutic exercises. In addition, students will examine the scope of RMT practice in B.C. and the business of being a professional practitioner.”

Among the unique aspects of PCU’s program is the hands-on experience students gain in a supervised clinic that welcomes real clients. You’ll also learn to provide treatment for patient populations with specific needs – sports injuries, chronic headaches, stress and more.