Why you should get your hair cut by a student at a hair school?

The practical experience that students gain through servicing clients on the floor in their schools student clinic is a classic and fundamental part of cosmetology and barber education.

These real world experiences transform their textbook learning into three dimensional, living, breathing realities.

Your role as the clinic client casts you as a vital link in the chain of education. Understanding WHY being a clinic client is important and delivering on the How-To’s of doing your part will make the experience a positive one for you and will assist the student in achieving their learning objectives.

Here are Ivan Zoot’s 5.5 reasons WHY you should get your hair cut in a student salon clinic at a hair school.

Be a student clinic haircut client – WHY

1. Students have fresh ideas. Cosmetology schools are loaded with excited, fashion forward, trendy young people. They have first hand exposure to what is hot and what is not. Not everyone wants the latest and funkiest look on their head to wear to their office, but everyone wants a fresh perspective. Music, movies, television and the web are bombarding young people with updated ideas from the four corners of the planet every day. Young people are tuned in. Many veteran stylists can be out of touch and stuck in a rut of same old, same old. Young people will keep you young just by association.

2. Students are supervised by licensed professional instructors. All student clinic services are overseen, monitored and signed off on by a pair of trained, experienced instructor eyes. In many chain salons stylists have little experience and less supervision. The risks may be greater with a newly licensed professional than they are in the hands of a supervised newbie student. I volunteer regularly to assist on the clinic floor at schools in my area. You can not have a better pair of hands as a back up for a guys haircut if I do say so myself.

3. Schools are up to date on state-of-the-art products, services and technologies. The product manufacturers of the beauty industry work closely with the schools to insure their supplies, materials and practices are up to date. Vendors see the schools as vital training grounds for their latest products and services. They see to it that their partner schools are supported well. Second and third tier salons may be years behind the technology curve on vital areas like hair color formulation, skin care ingredients and take-home hair care products.

4. Schools hammer home disinfection and sanitation practices. One of the biggest responsibilities schools have is in training newcomers to the beauty industry in proper principles and practices of sanitization and disinfection. Schools will be flat out cleaner and safer in this regard than any, many and most licensed salons. Period.

5. You will be making a vital contribution to a young person’s career success. Mannequin based training can only take a student so far in the accumulation of practical knowledge and experience. Live clients are important. By participating in this way you serve a vital role as a member of the local community. You support the mission of the school to produce qualified and capable graduates. You contribute to the growth of the beauty industry and the individual careers of the next generation of salon professionals.

5.5. Save a buck or two. Student clinics in cosmetology and barber schools generally charge below market rates for services as an enticement to locals to patronize the business. You get all of the above benefits, and more and you get them at highly discounted rates. You win, the school wins and the student wins… A WIN, WIN, WIN for all involved.

Now that we learned “Why” you should go and get your hair cut by a student at a hair school, stay tuned for my next blog on “How” to make sure you get the best hair cut from a student attending hair school.