A Career in Beauty Therapy

The world of beauty therapy offers an endless number of exciting opportunities. A career in beauty therapy could be your passport to success. Imagine being able to choose to work in a range of different fields including:

• Move into management and run your own salon
  
• Cruise the world whilst working on a liner
  
• Pamper airline passengers as you fly from country to country
  
• Join the luxury market at a health farm or day spa
  
• The membership of sports clubs and leisure centres is booming - join them with your skills
  
• Teach your skills to others - become a lecturer at a further education college or at a private centre.
  

You may decide to go it alone and work from home as a freelance, or you may like the pace and glamour of working in a city salon, department store or want to travel the world.

You can even specialise in a particular field:

Create special effects for film, television or theatre - specialise as a make-up artist. You may be fascinated by the world of nail artistry and train as a nail technician. Enjoy the art of massage extending your skills to aromatherapy. Every fashion model and catwalk show needs a make-up artist - this could be you!

Once specialised, many therapists wish to develop their skills further into advanced techniques: as an electrologist you can learn to remove thread veins and warts; as an aromatherapist you can learn Shiatsu, Reiki or Indian Head massage. Some therapists even move into other related areas such as marketing, sales and retailing.
The possibilities are endless and the choice is yours.

So what do you have to do to become part of this exciting world?

First you will need to find a salon or training provider that offers National or Scottish Vocational Qualifications (NVQ/SVQ) in Beauty Therapy. You will work in a salon to gain practical experience and have regular assessments to see how you are progressing. The assessments take place either in the salon or with the training provider.

What are NVQ/SVQs?

NVQ/SVQs are developed by employers to ensure that staffs are properly skilled in their particular area of expertise.

Why NVQ/SVQs?

Employers value NVQ/SVQs because they prove that you can do your job to a high standard - the standard that your industry requires. It also shows an employer that you are committed to your career and training and have invested time in gaining the relevant qualifications.

What levels are there?

The minimum qualification you need for a career in Beauty Therapy is Level 2. This will provide the first step to becoming a competent Beauty Therapist and train you in the basic services offered in the salon.

NVQ/SVQ Level 2 and 3 also qualify you to work in a variety of roles such as a make-up artist or nail technician and as a beauty therapist aboard cruise liners, at a health farm or in a salon.