AboutDana Sear Expertise I can answer questions on all types of hairstyling, cutting, designing, coloring, corrective color, perming techniques,product knowledge, and in general, anything that has anything to do with hair.
Experience I have been a designer and educator for 26 years. I have been a salon consultant for Redken, affiliate trainer for ABBA Pure and Natural and am currently a member of the design team and trainer for my company. I specialize in corrective color, perming and style support, and image updates (make overs)
Education/Credentials I have been actively licensed for 26 years. I have a college degree in another field, and actively participate in and teach cutting, perming, coloring, and business building classes. I am a certified Redken Consultant and certified to perform and teach Chi Transformation.
Question QUESTION: For someone who just got out of beauty school, which is the best way to go? Hourly or commission?
ANSWER: Hiya Beth,
Wow. Tough question. The answer, of course, depends on you. However, everything you do from here on out is going to affect your future in one way or another.
It is my personal opinion that going into a commission salon with people who have been doing hair longer than you is the way to go. In particular, a salon that focuses on education. The problem is, if you need money yesterday, you are going to struggle for a bit. I know I may offend some with this but, if you can avoid the Fantastic Sam, Great Clips, Snip 'n Clips, and Super Cuts type chain salons I would do so. Try to avoid any kind of squirt, snip and send type salons. You need to continue your training and while many of these types of chains offer education, my experience with them has. more often than not, been less than enthusiastic. A full service salon, where people pay more than 6 or 7 dollars for a hair cut and expect a complete experience is going to prepare you much better for your future.
It's true, you can make $8 or $10 an hour but you will never make much more than that, (regardless of what they say), you will get lots of practice doing trims and kids cuts, and you probably will not have a set schedule. And forget about building a clientele that will follow you when you get a better opportunity. Not only that, but add to that the frustration of people willing to bring their kids to you but not considering you "good enough" to do theirs. It's a dead end in so many ways.
There are exceptions to the chain salons. I don't know what area you are in but Beauty Brands, Regis, Penny's and several of the other larger full service salons do a much better job of training you and helping you build a strong clientèle. And, there is an art to building a clientèle so pay attention to the busy ones in the salon you end up in and do what they do,
Something to think about; when I owned my own salon, I would not hire anyone who had worked more than 6 months to a year at Fantastic Sam's or any salon where they did 15 minute haircuts or squirt and goes. ine was a full SERVICE salon and stylists who rushed their clients out the door did not do full consultations, plan out future appointments with their clients, or even listen very well. They were content to stand behind the chair and do trims all day. I needed people who had a command of their craft and could educate their clients. They were not even allowed to say the words "What do you want me to do today?" or "Just a trim then?" I had one stylist who, when asked for some ideas from her client just shrugged and said "I dunno. What do you want?" When the client said she wanted something new the stylist said, "Well, I can't start until you tell me what you want." I stepped in, helped with the consultation, we did a cut, color and highlights on a client who had only scheduled a hair cut and fired the stylist that day. The stylist had worked for about 4 years at a no appointment, trim 'em up and get'em out type salon and had lost her creative edge.
Another thing to consider is a salon that starts you out as an assistant. The training you will get is invaluable. There is only so much they can teach you in beauty school and while some do the job better than others, they still teach you what you need to know to pass the test. What you will actually do in the salon is another matter entirely.
All that being said, if you are in need of an hourly salary asap, that may be the way you need to go for right now. Most of the bigger chains pay hourly until you hit a set point. At my salon, once you hit $500 in the week you get commission. Anything less than $500 and you get hourly. The thing is, some only pay you commission on whatever you do over the break point. Avoid these. For example, Salon A pays commission for anything you do over $500 - what that means is, they pay you hourly then commissions on anything OVER $500 - So, say you do $550 - you only get commission on $50 - It's really disappointing when you get that paycheck and they didn't explain that to you. Then, Salon B pays you hourly until you hit $500 - That means, you do $500 or more, and you don't get the hourly salary but you get commission on the whole $500. Usually, these types of salons increase the amount of commission your earn with an increase in sales. They may only pay you 49% commission at $500 but by the time you do $800 they pay you 51% By the time you are doing $1000 or $2000 a week, your commission rate is 55 or 60%. It takes a lot longer to hit a ceiling in your pay and you make a lot more than $8 or $10 an hour.
It will take you a while to build a clientèle and only you know what your financial needs are right now but the first salon or two you work in may very well determine whether or not you are still doing hair 5 years from now.
I hope that helps and please email me again if you have more questions. I have been doing hair 27 years and still love going to work every day. I am very excited for you! Make these first decisions carefully and you could be in for a very fulfilling and lucrative career. (I just bought a house nicer than the one my parents own).
Good luck to you!
dana
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QUESTION: I had another question. Thank you so much for your information earlier. I don't want to work in a salon that rushes clients in and out. I have been treated like that and didn't like it so much. I was wondering if you knew anything about how Dillard's salon or Fiesta Salon worked as in would I have to bring in my own tools and how their pay works. I was told by a stylist at JCPenny's to go to Fiesta since I'm just starting out. Any information would help. Thank you.
Answer You are most welcome. Fiesta Salon looks very interesting to me. Any time you work in an environment where there are different levels of stylists, you are going to find flexibility and a strong focus on continuing education. I have not worked for Fiesta but here is what I can tell you about them:
They have a sliding scale, meaning the more you do, the more you make.
They offer insurance, vacation pay, and discounts
You can earn commissions on retail sales and tanning sales in addition to your regular services commisions
They like to promote from within so if you discover management is your thing, you can move into that. (job security - what if you get carpel tunnel or hurt your back and can't stand behind the chair?)
Ummm, what else...oh, they are a Regis company who's been around forever so there is company stability.
And, all you need is shears; they supply every thing else.
There are lots of other benefits that I can't think of right now but here's a link to their web site with info on their benefits and career opportunities:
They have ongoing training.
Sliding scale commissions.
They have a training program called Rising Star (or something like that) for stylists right out of school where on day a week is devoted to ongoing continuing education.
That's about all I know about Dillard's salon. They are full service and offer spa services and I think they offer benefits like insurance although I have only ever known one person who worked there and she was a nail tech. Not a particularly successful one. My vote goes to Fiesta but it would be a great idea for you the check both of them out and compare. Any salon is only as good as the management and the company behind it so if you don't gel with the management don't hesitate to keep looking. When I used to be in the job hunting mode, I would go into a salon and ask to look at style books. Then I would sit there and watch the staff and clients for 1/2 an hour or so. I did that in many salons and usually got a pretty good feel for the salon. If I liked what I saw, I asked for an application. If not, I thanked them and left. I watched to see if the staff seemed to be glad to be there, clients attitudes, cleanliness and the general atmosphere. It was a great system for me.
Good luck to you and let me know where you end up. Be sure to let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.
