Module 1
I attended my internship at Salon 17 and spa located in my program area- Vernon, Al. The work based experience provided efficient practical experience for my future career in cosmetology. The experience provided professional and personal development. In addition, I familiarized with the work place setting and as such learned through the experience. With unmatchable support from my supervisor, I acquired maximum benefits from my work-based experience. Over the 100 hour period of internship, I was able to observe various activities that happen on the day to day basis at the salon and spa. During that period of time, I observed the different techniques through which hair is styled by the highly qualified hair stylists. On top of that, I observed the various techniques of haircutting, from the less technical to the more complicated ones and realized that depending on the hair of various clients that visit the salon and spa, stylists apply different colour lines. I was also privileged with the rare opportunity of learning the various styles of perming and their origin. I learned more about traditional style perming, brick lay and spiral sperm.
Field requirements complying with the codes of practice
As a student in the organization I was bound to follow all company regulations and rules. As a trainee in SALON 17 & SPA located in Venom AL. the codes of practice which I had to follow are given below:
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Working time: At SALON 17 & SPA, the working time was limited to eight hours a day. The timings at the salon was strictly 0930hrs to 1730hrs. Punctuality was very important for the salon and late employees would be penalized by additional hours or making a half day for them.
Equality law: SALON 17 & SPA does not discriminate among their employees on the sexual orientation basis, race, creed or caste. Opportunities are made equal for all employees.
Payment received: I did not receive any payment from the salon as I was only a trainee there to gain experience. Therefore, the company was not liable to pay me any amount. However, I received commission for every customer I brought in for the salon.
Systematic records of work practiced
Work schedule: The expected working hours of the salon was 8 hours stretching from 9:30AM to 5:30PM. The employees’ job responsibilities included scalp and facial treatment, hair styling, manicures and pedicure and lastly make-up application. In addition, the salon management expected the employees to perform the following duties; maintaining supplies through stock checking and placing orders, analyzing hair condition and preparing hair for styling, conditioning and treatment of scalp, planning desired effects by studying facial features and making such recommendations to the clientele, upholding the standards and improving the quality service of the salon, adhering to the safety conditions of the salon and legal regulations and finally contributing to team effort by professionalism.
Diary of the 100 hour internship: I was placed under Stephanie Brown a Redken Certified Colorist who taught me exceptional technical skills for dying hair and also methods of communication with the clients and how to convince them of service offered. There was a huge rush of clients in my training period. In effect, I learned how to handle customers queries and how best to deliver my services. Below was my work based plan meeting the requirements of the salon and the rules and regulations of the salon in which I was a trainee.
25 hours observing and practicing different techniques of styling hair. For the most part of this period, I was made aware of simple hairstyles techniques that are popular with the salon’s clientele. To begin the training course, I familiarized with the equipments some of them being curling tongs also known as curling irons, hairdryers, hair clippers, heated rollers and flat irons used for straightening the hair. Also used in styling hair are tools such as cutting tools, combs and brushes and styling tools for working on wet hair including kirby grips, rollers and pin curls among others. Considerations to make before settling on a styling decision include head shape and facial shape, hair shape, texture and density.
20 hours learning and practicing hair cutting techniques. I noted that the clients struggled with the language hairstylists used resulting in stressful trips to the salon consequently leading to undesirable haircuts. As a trainee in the salon I engaged largely with the clients and was able to influence their choices. Most of the clients were interested in creating layers or removing them. I observed that thinning was ideal for clients with thick dense tresses who wanted to add dimensions and eliminate bulkiness. I was able to understand that for women whose hair is thinning, a topper is applied and I paid much attention to the way it is applied. I also observed the way in which tape and extensions were done for many customers who were both adults and children. The stylist in such a case would slide an open set of scissors along the hair shaft. Hair cutting techniques offered in SALON 17 & SPA included graduated haircut that involved cutting hair at angles less than ninety degrees, wedge haircut, blunt cut, choppy look haircut and lastly gamine haircut described as a short and sassy hairstyle. Contrary to women haircuts men cuts involved other terminologies describing the type of hairstyle. Here are some common barber terminologies used in the salon taper and fade styles, undercut fade and guard size also known as haircut numbers. Types of haircuts offered in the salon included undercut, buzz cut, crew cut, caesar cut, french crop, comb over and the classic side part.
15 hours observing and practicing perming styles. There are a tons of perm options and trends offered in the salon customizable for the individual clients. These options include traditional perms, beach wave perm, braid perm, digital perm and the American wave perm.
27 hours in observing tape-in extensions installation and 13 hours in treatment using keratin complex smoothing Caucasian hair types. I also observed the way in which tape and extensions were done for many customers who were both adults and children. It was also noteworthy how the keratin complex smoothing treatment was used on biracial and Caucasian hair types. I understood that for Caucasian and biracial types of hair, the keratin complex smoothing treatment is used and the employees of the salon 17 and spa were kind enough to explain to me the reason why and also showed how to apply. I noted that tape-in hair was a favorite among the clientele as it is manageable and lightweight also the tape-in hair extensions are reusable, natural and seamless.
I could summarize that the time I spent at the Spa was worth every minute in my life. I was able to learn many things and the employees were very supportive and ready to explain to me anything that I needed to understand. Generally, the experience was great and I learned many things that are of much importance in my life.
Module 2
The SALON 17 & SPA is successful and popular owing part of the success to good employees that keep up with the latest trends in hairstyles. The salon has a world class management and top notch employees’ relationships that are aimed at keeping the clients happy and satisfied. The salon has established critical success factors that ensure that the services offered are competitive and meet the customers’ expectations with the following attributes. All clients is special therefore, they should be treated in a way that makes them feel special and ensures a repeat visits. Secondly, the employees are expected to embrace new technologies as this is important to the business also in consideration are emerging marketing strategies that can push the salon to the next level. Thirdly, every employee is advised to keep his/her working area spotless because this prompts customers to stay. In order for the salon and spa to maintain a high number of customers most of whom are return customers, the management are expected to uphold many attributes all of which are aimed at ensuring that the company makes much profit and still satisfies the needs of customers. The employees are expected to be focused on solutions over being obsessed on problems. This is because in the workplace, many challenges are encountered and finding a solution to them is not easy either. For instance, many clients will happen to come to the salon and spa later than their appointment states and expect to be treated in the same way that they would be treated should they have come earlier. On top of that, some clients fail to show up at all and lead to wastage of time by the service providers. In addition to that, some clients will get angry due to a small mistake and not be willing to be convinced. In order to solve all those problems, the employees are required to have a high ability of solving problems.
The employees at SALON 17 & SPA are required to have proper communication skills in the view of the fact that this builds a good rapport with the clients and is also useful in ironing out problems. The ability to respond to customers is another attribute the employees are required to have mastered. In the salon and spa, the management understands that each and every customer wants to be treated as soon as he or she enters and thus it is highly recommended that the employees be ready to respond to employees at the right time. As a result therefore, the employees are required to have much ability to talk to the clients and have the power to convince them to wait in case the service providers are currently busy with other clients. On top of that, the employees need to be soft to the clients in order to prevent any misunderstanding that may arise between them. On top of having good oral communication skills, the salon and spa, requires that the employees have the ability to effectively deal with clients over the phone and even convince them to make a later appointment if they are busy at the moment.
A genuine positive attitude is another attribute that the salon and spa expects their employees to possess. A positive attitude helps in attracting customers to a given firm and also helps in making the clients understand the culture of the business and appreciating it. A negative attitude discourages customers from coming back to the company and thus reduces the total number of customers that are received. Having a positive attitude helps in ensuring that customers remain loyal to the salon and spa and even invite other customers to be receiving their services from there. On top of that, the management requires that every employee has a positive energy in order to get all things done the way that they are supposed to. Such an attitude helps the employees in having the belief that they can successfully provide all the services that are required and serve all the clients diligently. A positive attitude also helps in instilling the much required sense of urgency that helps in pushing everyone to do the right thing within a short period of time in order to avoid wasting the time of clients and to also ensure that they fulfil their needs by that sense of positivity in everything that they do.
Module 3
SALON 17 & SPA provides a gateway to luxurious treatment. The salon boast of a work force driven with passion to help clients’ look and feel beautiful. This beauty company offers employment to creative people with the following qualifications.
Receptionist.
Salon/spa Manager
Salon/spa Coordinator
Spa Attendant
Colorist
Massage Therapist
Nail Technician
Hair Stylist
Wax Specialist
Spa Concierge
Cosmetologist
Being a cosmetologist implies that one gets into the wide world of beauty. In Salon 17 and spa, may careers are recognized and people are encouraged to specialize in them since they are well paying and others have a very high level of demand in the market with the main reason being that for most of the courses, one does not have to seek employment with any firm- it is possible to become self-employed as a well-trained cosmetologist. Make-up artists are one of the people whose job positions are recognized by the Salon 17 and spa. The role of the make-up artists is to enhance the physical appearance of a client through the use of cosmetic products and techniques too. The career is much recognized by the salon and spa because some of the well trained and disciplined make-up artists have been known to work with some of the biggest musicians and stars in Hollywood. However, Salon 17 and spa is worried by the fact that people do not understand the big opportunity that being a make-up artist brings with it. Fashion, theatre and bridal make-up artists and television/ film studios make up designers are some of the potential careers that are available for people who desire to get into it.
Nail technicians are another group of people whose jobs are highly recognized by Salon 17 and spa. The nail technicians are expected to give pedicures, manicures and create unique nail designs. In order to be successful in the job, the salon and spa advises that whoever takes up the career becomes creative and learns all the new trends in the career since it keeps on changing. However, it is a great career for one to be in. Hairdressing is another job that Salon 17 and spa recognizes. In the salon and spa, I realized that there was high demand for the hairdressers because of the great skills they possess. The salon encourages people to take up the job position since it is one of the few ones that have the potential of enabling a person to have a successful career in all their lives and have the opportunity to attend some events such as fashion shows, weddings, working with high-end salons, celebrity styling and photo shoots.
Module 4
Cosmetology as a course consists of many fields that one can specialize in depending on his or her interest and level of understanding. It is a course that has a high demand in all the parts of the world since the people who have chosen to take it are not very many. Cosmetologists- the people who have been trained and qualified in the course- are tasked with the role of providing personal care services including taking care of people’s nails, hair and skin. The course can be divided into various sub courses some of which include hairdressing, nail technology, hair cutting, make-up and skin care specialties
Many of the duties that cosmetologists are expected to perform are the same. However, there exist some unique duties that can only be performed by the people who have specialized in it. Notably, not only did the master cosmetologist in SALON 17 & SPA offer hair and nail treatment but also actively offered advice to the clients assisting them in achieving their desired look. The cosmetologist skill set included essential creativity this enabled her to keep up with new trends and provide the customers with the requested service. Additionally, she had exceptional customer service skills that made it easy to communicate with the clients. Moreover, her time management skills were excellent as she began her services at the appointed time and completed in a timely manner.
Simultaneously, the cosmetologist role and responsibilities as trained in the course work include providing skin, hair and nail services to clients, shampooing, cutting and coloring client’s hair besides providing specialized services such as scalp and hair treatment, perms and straightening treatments. In addition to the service she provide, she also cleans and styles wigs for clients. The cosmetologist is also trained to perform makeup applications, facial treatment and body hair removal through waxing. Giving pedicures and manicures is also part of her job role.
Besides the cosmetologist primary responsibilities, as an employee or licensed salon owner he/she is tasked with secondary responsibilities such as keeping the work area spotless. The equipment must also be sanitized after every use. Also, she tasked with booking appointments and most importantly she is required to maintain a professional appearance. In my 100 hours internship I observed how the salon was run. Carefully noting the services offered in comparison to the cosmetologist course study. I observed different techniques of styling hair, different techniques of cutting hair all discussed above in module 1. I distinctly learned that stylist use different color lines when it comes to client hair and preference. Moreover, I watched how tape extensions were done and had little practice with traditional style perming. The above skills are consistent with the course study.
Besides the technical skills, I learned different soft skills essential in managing a successful Salon and Spa. Patience is one important skill in the industry of cosmetology. One has to be keen on the client’s needs and specifications to meet the client’s expectations. The job entails meeting different people with various personalities which requires one to be culturally competent so as to handle all the clients with utmost dedication. I also learnt that dedication to service is essential in achieving customers’ satisfaction. The dedication by the employees and the management contributed much to the client’s satisfaction. Teamwork is essential to achieve a better customer experience. I observed that at the Spa the employees worked as a team and maintained effective communication with the management to ensure the service delivery was top notch.
