Hey,
So last Thursday I had my work experience day at the salon.
This was the first experience I had ever had working in a salon, so it totally was an eye opener.
I came in quarter of an hour before they opened and introduced myself to the ladies in the staff room as confidently as I could (which came out more like a 'er.. Hi I'm Alice I'm here for a er.. work experience thingy') which in retrospect I probably should have been a little more prepared for - haha!
The owners arrived shortly after me and after a breif hello, he assigned me a woman called Val to shadow for the day. Val explained to me that she had been at the salon for two years, and although the owner had expressed great interest in her training to become a hairdresser, she wanted to remain as an assistant permanently, and enjoyed the job just as it was.
Val was really nice to me and I didn't find myself struggling to get on with her - or indeed anyone - during the day at all.
The first thing we did was plug in the hairdryers at each station. Once this was done we got the box of hairbrushes and removed any excess hair from them and made sure they were nice and clean for the day. This was the first experience of gross hair bits I had during the day, and although it didn't gross me out much, it was actually something I wasn't prepared for- which is why I can totally agree the experience in the salon is important. If bits of hair gross you out, this is not the job for you.
Once those were clean we folded up some of the towels that had dried and hung up the clean robes in the cupboard. By this time, a few clients had been seen to and there was some hair to sweet up from the floor. This was pretty straightforward. We just blow dried the seats to remove any hair bits and swept the floor below. The seats had to be re set for the next client, and the glass shelf under the mirror had to be wiped.
One thing I didn't know was that the scissors are very, very
valuable. Val reccomended when I wipe the shelves to hold the scissors a
few inches above the shelf as I wipe, as dropping them on the floor and
breaking them could be catastrophic. I Googled how much the scissors
would've cost when I got home. They were in the region of £400-£800, so yes, it is a good thing I didn't drop them.
When new clients came in, I learned to 'gown up'. This was essentially just placing a towel underneath the gown and a plastic bib over the top of that to protect their clothing from hair colour. This was the time to offer and make the client a tea or coffee also.
We had to keep on top of all these things as the day progressed. The two other apprentices there were doing this too, so there were actually 4 of us assisting that day. I really enjoyed meeting the other girls, they were both lovely and had so much information to give me. Between the three of them, I learned the basic techniques to shampooing, and under the guidance of another apprentice I actually did shampoo one client, to moderate success. Thankfully the client was very understanding of my inexperience and was rather encouraging, even giving me feedback on the pressure I was using during the head massage.
One thing that amused me was how all the staff were saying how manic it was that day, and a few even asked me if I was knackered or not.. My current job is in a kitchen in a very busy nursing home, and compared to that working in the salon was an absolute breeze!
I really enjoyed my experience day, and I still have two more to come which I'm looking forward to.
I'll let you know how they go,
Alice
No comments:
Post a Comment