Beauty Salon Interview Preparation Guide

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Magazines, trends, from your Manager/Company.

You need to be sociable, organised and definitely not squeamish! This job isn't as glamorous as you might think. You also have to have lots of tact and empathy - sometimes you feel like a psychiatrist!

I would give it a 9. This is because salon receptionists are the first people customers meet when they enter and it is up to them to provide a positive image of the place they are representing.

It is not only important to determine customers' needs. It is also important to translate those needs to the stylist / therapist so that they can be met properly. This is more important than anything else as customer satisfaction depends on this translation.

Hopefully if you're applying for this position you have bags of related experience, and if that's the case you should mention it all. But if you'reswitching careers or trying somethinga little different, your experience mayinitially not look like it's matching up.That's when you need a little honest creativity to match the experiences required with the ones you have.People skills are people skills after all,you just need to show how customerservice skills can apply to internalmanagement positions, and so on.

I either jumped over or walked around it.

1) saying good morning to my boss
2) internet
3) telling my boss his scheduled meetings for the day
4) internet
5) answering phone; taking messages; transferring calls for my boss
6) internet
7) greeting guests
8) internet
9) booking meetings, reservations, etc.
10) internet
11) Saying goodbye to my boss

Obviously you need to be answering that you feel you can make people feel and look good as one of your points.

I dislike the unsociable hours, commuting between clients and having to lug all my heavy kit everywhere!

One of our regular customers came in for a facial but had a severe reaction to one of the products that the therapist used on her. Even though she had been through the exact same facial regime many times before, she was quite upset and blamed the therapist for being careless and using a different product. I politely asked her to sit down and calmed her by apologizing for her discomfort. I explained that she may have had a reaction not because of the product but because skin tends to react differently under different circumstances. I offered her a discount on her next facial appointment and gave her the freedom to choose the products that she wanted to be used on her.

There are things that you can do to DRAMATICALLY improve your chances of getting that job or at least getting invited an interview and or trade test.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 1. Your CV - Make sure that it is factual, don't tell any lies and ensure that you can prove everything that you write.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 2. Make your CV no more than two A4 Pages long and condense your experience and qualifications into these two pages. Once you have completed your CV give it a third party and ask them to critique it. Make any edits suggested.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 3. CV Covering Letter - Hand write a letter to send with your CV explaining why your qualifications and experience make you the ideal candidate for a job with your prospective new employer. Only type this letter if your hand writing is terrible.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 4. References: Include at the rear of your CV the names and addresses of two referees that you can rely upon to give you great references. If you know that your current or past employer would give you a bad reference then you must overcome this by coming clean in an interview and telling your prospective employer why they cannot ask that person for a reference.

If you lie, you could be found out, its a tough position to be in but honesty is the best policy here.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 5. Do your research: Look on the internet and read the prospective employers website take notes or print out the pages.

Walk by the salon, notice how the staff are dressed, take in the environment: Make note of

☛ What colour house the salon uses
☛ What beauty brands the salon works with
☛ What retail products the salon uses
☛ Does the salon do any specialist services, (hair extensions, afro, permanent blow dry etc).

If you are familiar with all of the brands, products and any specialist services the salon has or uses that's great you can write about this in your CV covering letter. If you are not familiar with the brands, product, and services you see it gives you a bit of time to research those brands etc, so that you can be more confident talking about them in an interview.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 6. Your Portfolio: Assuming that you have a portfolio of your work, ensure that it is bound in a high quality album and all images are framed, you are trying to show that you take massive pride in your work.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 7. Turnout and Bearing. You have walked by the salon and seen what the staff wear, now you have a head start because you can dress similarly and make a great impression. What ever you wear make sure that it is freshly laundered and pressed.

Make sure that your makeup and hair style is fresh and representative of a great hairdresser or therapist. Make double sure your shoes are clean and in good order front and rear.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 8. Smokers - If you smoke, avoid smoking before the interview, but if you can't make sure that you spray your clothes with cent before you go into the interview and make sure you chew a few mints just before you go in (don't chew during the interview).

✿ Salon Interview Tip 9. Don't Fidget: Ensure you sit up straight and face the interviewer, always get good eye contact when answering questions.

Do not fidget and try not to scratch or touch your face during the interview. Particularly If you are asked an awkward question avoid the temptation to move on your chair or scratch or fidget, this shows that you may be lying.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 10. Your Questions: At some stage the interviewer is going to ask you if you have any questions fro them. Now that you know that this question is going to be asked and you have hopefully carried out some research on the salon you must put some thought to this and write down a minimum of three sensible questions to ask.

If these questions are good and relevant they will show that you understand the interviewers business and that you ar really interested in working for them.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 11. Carry a good quality note book and pen: As soon as you are invited to sit down in the interview, get out your note book and pen straight away, make any notes you se fit and write down any questions that come up in your head whilst the interviewer is talking, being careful of course not to appear that you are not listening.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 12: Your current abilities. A great exercise. Your interviewer is going to ask you one or all of the following question* s:

☛ What are your greatest personal stren* gths?
☛ What are greatest strengths as a Hairdresser, therapist, barber? etc...
☛ What values or qualities do you think that you can bring to our salon?
☛ What is your greatest weakness?
☛ Where do you want to be in the future?

You need now to think about the answers to these questions and write down the answers. You should not refer to your notes during the interview but by think about these questions now and writing them down you will give a much better account of your self when the questions are asked during the salon interview.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 13. figures: Your salon Interviewer may ask you certain business related questions like:

☛ What is your retail conversion rate
☛ How many clients/services do you do in a day/week/month
☛ Do you work to targets ? Do you hit your targets?

Think about the above and write your conversion rate and target history down in your pad. Do not tell lies about your salon retail conversion rates if you say you are a brilliant retailer and your not you are stacking up problems for the future.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 14. Can you bring any clients with you from your current salon?

Careful now, you are being tested! If this question is asked you must answer, I would never dream of poaching my current or past employers clients that would be immoral and just plain wrong. However my clients do like me so I would be surprised if some of them do not seek me out and follow me of their own volition.

Ok so you put that into your own words and you will get many brownie points.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 15. Trade Test. At some stage you will need to carry out a trade test where all of your hairdressing and or trade skills are going to be tested.

Imagine that 3 candidates have been invited back for trade tests and there is only one job vacancy.

You turn up with four models. 1 For a colour, 1 for a ladies cut, 1 for a guys cut and one for a permanent blow dry. WOW what does that say about your enthusiasm and organisational skills. Then you work on all four of your models at the same time.

Hey dude or dude'ts this job is in the bag!!! So speak to your friends and relatives and put them on short notice standby.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 16. Salon Job Application Form. A well organised salon manager will give you a job application form to fill in and post or take back to the salon. Make sure you complete it in your best handwriting in black pen and get it back before the deadline.

Also ensure that you answer every question on every page. If you do not answer any of the questions the salon manager may think you have something to hide and reject you at this stage.

✿ Salon Interview Tip 17. Salon Marketing. No disrespect meant... But, most salon staff simply wait for clients to come to them and they don't really utilise their client referral skills and they certainly do not get involved in salon marketing. If you would like to increase your earnings potential and enjoy your work more, learn Column building and business development skills by buying the Salon Stylists Business Development Guide. Having this depth of knowledge will give lots of positive discussion point for your interview that will help you win that Job!

✿ Salon Interview Tip 18. How to increase your chances of getting that job 100 fold by submitting the perfect CV and covering letter and by answering 1 important question so impressively that you are almost certain to get that job.


✿ Salon Interview Tip 19. Place your CV and covering letter in an A4 letter binder from office world, place it in an A4 envelope and post it 1st Class. (Do not use second class post).

► Tell me the position you want to work in when focusing on a task?
► Tell me the popular mistakes which a Beauty salon owner often makes and tell me the solution to deal with them?
► Do you think that this job is lower than your level?
► Describe the methods/techniques you often used when you worked as a Beauty salon owner? Tell me how you performed them?
► Which type of work would you prefer, individual or team?
► Tell me how did you do to apply ISO 9001 to your Beauty salon owner job?
► Tell me your questions if you have any?

► Could you please let me know more about yourself?
► Do you have any teamwork experience as a Beauty salon owner?
► What was your feeling if you had to work with a person who is worse than you?
► Tell me the key tasks of a Beauty salon owner?
► Tell me the thing you dislike in your last job?
► Tell me your weakness?
► Tell me your key strengths?

Be prepared to answer more than just "yes" or "no" questions. Practice your responses to these interview questions by role-playing with classmates or a friend.

► What service do you find the most enjoyable to do? Which is the least?
► How will you market yourself and draw in your clientele?
► Why is it important to get manicures and pedicures?
► How personable are you with your clients?
► What will your reaction be if a client says she doesn't like your work and wants a refund?
► Are you willing to promote others in the salon and how?
► If you were experiencing a conflict with a fellow employee, how would you handle the situation?
► What are the possible consequences of using dirty implements?
► What are your strengths and weaknesses?
► How long does it take you to do a full set of gel? What about a full set of acrylic?

► Describe all the skills you have as a Beauty salon owner?
► What will you do to enrich the experience which you are lack of?
► Tell me the qualifications as well as skills you think necessary for a Beauty salon owner?
► Tell me some of your projects which you involved?
► Tell me the most difficult decision you have ever made?
► Are there any of your friends or relatives who are working as a Beauty salon owner in this company?
► Tell me your expected salary and promotions if you are offered this position?

Remember that salon's do late nights sometimes and always work on a Saturday. It's not a straight 9-5 job.

My advice would be to go for it but to expect to work long hours for little money, at least to begin with. Always work in a salon before you go out on your own to gain valuable experience.

A typical interview question to determine what you are looking for your in next job,and whether you would be a good fit for the position being hired for, is "What challenges are you looking for in a position?"The best way to answer questions about the challenges you are seeking is to discuss how you would like to be able to effectively utilize your skills and experience if you were hired for the job.You can also mention that you aremotivated by challenges, have the abilityto effectively meet challenges, and havethe flexibility and skills necessary tohandle a challenging job.You can continue by describing specificexamples of challenges you have met andgoals you have achieved in the past.

What is your routine? Remember to make someone else feel good you need to feel and look good too.

Make sure you research the salon, maybe even go in for a treatment yourself before your interview or ask a friend to and report back to see how they operate and what they would be expecting of you. You will need to be fully aware of what treatments they provide, products they use etc.

This is a challenging question -- as if you have no weaknesses you are obviously lying! Be realistic andmention a small work related flaw.Many people will suggest answering this using a positive trait disguised as a flaw such as "I'm a perfectionist" or "I expect others to be as committed as I am." I would advocate a certain degreeof honesty and list a true weakness.Emphasize what you've done toovercome it and improve. This questionis all about how you perceive andevaluate yourself.

Although this wasn't exactly a childhood dream, it was something that I fancied doing from my late teens. I finally trained at the age of 25 - you can start at any time!

It's important here to focus on theword "implemented." There's nothing wrong with having a thousand great ideas, but if the only place they live is on your notepad what's the point?Better still, you need a good ending. Ifyour previous company took youradvice and ended up going bankrupt,that's not such a great example either.Be prepared with a story about an ideaof yours that was taken from idea toimplementation, and consideredsuccessful.

A typical work day for me involves driving to client's houses and personally doing a variety of treatments, from nails to waxing, massage to make-up.

No regrets whatsoever!

I can multitask quite easily. This is a requirement in my work as I often have to juggle telephone calls, walk-in customers and scheduled appointments.