Why do a Beauty Therapy Apprenticeship
So you’re considering a career in Beauty, amazing! Your next step is likely deciding on what kind of course you feel would best suit your lifestyle and your career goals, a decision that can often cause great confusion! There is such a vast range of options available these days, from full to part time, weekend and evening courses, deciding what works best for you can be overwhelming!
To add sometimes more dilemma to the mix, if you qualify, there are also options to study Beauty Therapy as an apprenticeship. If you are unfamiliar with an apprenticeship, think of it as an almost work based learning programme. Throughout your apprenticeship, which lasts 1 year and a week, you will need to find employment in a salon for a minimum of 30 hours per week. Your employer is required to pay you the national minimum wage for an apprentice; the rate of pay is tiered dependant on your age. Currently if you are under 18 or it is your first year of being an apprentice, the rate is £3.70 per hour. If you’re 18 to 20 and in your second year of apprenticeship the wage is £5.90 per hour and for over 21’s the rate is £7.38 per hour.
Omni structure our apprenticeship quite differently to other training centres. We do something called ‘frontloading’ with our training meaning you learn the entire qualification content of your apprenticeship within the first 15 weeks. This has some brilliant benefits; firstly you have a much longer amount of time to really learn and perfect your skills in your salon. Secondly, when looking for a salon to complete your apprenticeship, your employer will know that in just a few short months you’ll be able to start delivering all beauty treatments within the salon. This makes you more employable to salon owners. Whilst we are on the topic of benefits, there are a few other big ones!
Financial
Ok, the apprenticeship salary may not be the highest but it’s better than nothing, which is exactly what you get from going to college and studying full time. During the first 15 weeks of your apprenticeship your learning hours at the academy are factored into those 30 hours you must be employed for, literally meaning you are getting paid to go to college, great right!
Experience
By studying an apprenticeship you will gain the exact same qualification as someone who studied a different route. However you’ll have a whole years’ worth of salon based work experience to put on your CV, something that is invaluable when looking for jobs in the future!
Practice makes perfect
In our very hands on, practical industry, there really is no better way to learn than working in the industry. You will gain such valuable experience working with clients and learning to deal with the day-to-day operations of salon life!
The benefits don’t stop with you, there are also great benefits for salon owners to employ an apprentice!
No bad habits
All salons do things differently and what’s good for one salon, may not work for another. By employing an apprentice you aren’t taking on any previous salons’ habits and you can truly mould and nurture your new therapist to do things your way. We often joke at Omni that an apprentice is like a stick of rock, if you were to see down their middle they would have their salons name perfectly printed right through!
Incentive
When employing an apprentice, as an employer you automatically receive an Employer incentive of £1000 from the government. The incentive is paid in 2 halves, the first £500 at 13 weeks and the second at 52 weeks.
For more detailed information on funding, we have a great page on our website with some more details, https://www.omniacademy.co.uk/apprenticeships/employing-an-apprentice/
Great training!
Maybe we are biased, but our unique partnerships with the likes of the Exclusive Pennyhill Park Spa pay testament to our reputation for high standards of training! By employing an Omni trained apprentice you can be sure that your Therapist will be receiving the best, industry ready standards of training with fantastic support from our experienced tutors.
This post has only just scraped the surface of Apprenticeships, however we hope it has given you some food for thought! We are strong believers in the benefits of apprenticeships, our sister company Omni The Salon has now successfully employed three apprentices so we know all too well how they can work to both the Salon and Therapist’s advantage!
If you like the sound of what you have read the next step would be to come in and see us! We always advise bringing a parent or guardian with you to help absorb some of the information we will share (there’s quite a lot!) Give us a call on 01932 232322 to have a chat and we can answer any questions you may have.
Omni x