Should the beauty industry consider increased opportunities for graduates that allow for an apprenticeship, traineeship, or scholarship as options to create workplace opportunities?
This question was discussed in length by a panel of leading experts at Professional Beauty’s ninth industry roundtable, focused on Advancing Education.
Taking part in the discussion was was Bianca Polinelli from Just Lashes, Otto Mitter from Ex-Import Niche Products, Emma Hobson from Dermalogica, Pene Timberlake from Syneron Candela, Karla McDiarmid from Macquarie Medi Spa, Anh Hoang from Le Beauty, Jess Goldenberg from The Therapist Co and Kylie Scarfe from Vamp Cosmetic Clinic.
Our guests highlighted the importance of practical, hands-on experience, saying it was immeasurable and should be incorporated into the diploma of beauty therapy curriculum.
Otherwise, they said the default option was to mould new, enthusiastic employees to your own standard.
Anh Hoang from Le Beauty said she dealt with a lot of people that come to her with zero minimal skills, and she trained them up to leave feeling confident, and hungry for work, but in most cases, they came back defeated.
Otto Mitter from Ex-Import Niche Products said there was nothing like real life experience and learning on the job, but it was sad when you saw people on an apprenticeship shoved down the back of the store, not really getting the support that they needed.
Pene Timberlake from Syneron Candela said we needed regulation not only to enhance the training that people were getting, but for the trainers as well.
Jess Goldenberg from The Therapist Co said “the big gap within this industry was the postgraduates” and there was a huge deficit right now in staffing.
Kylie Scarfe from Vamp Cosmetic Clinic said in her clinic, staff had to have two to three years’ experience and must have worked outside of the immediate vicinity to even be considered for a role.
Karla McDiarmid from Macquarie Medi Spa said she would encourage everyone to come out and look in the country for jobs, because they could not find people who were qualified.
Watch the video below for the full discussion.