Introduction
For ages now, beautification has held its position as being of prime importance to many people. At least every sane human being cares about how they look due to their concern for their image to the general public. By this, I mean that beautification is one of the things that no human being has found a way of pushing out of life. Since time immemorial, various individuals, communities, and races have applied various key measures to ensure that they eventually look good if not the best.
In many cases, many have thought of it as being either a lady’s thing or a preserve of the wealthy. In this way, it is important to clearly notice that it is one of the things that everyone has had a moment to reflect on. It is because of its prime position in the life of any given individual that I think it is a key field to work in and develop.
An important observation is that various human beings view beautification in many different ways. First of all, those who can barely afford it look at as a luxury which should only be attained in the event of every other need being met. Because of this, they only perform the basic beautification acts which are mostly provided by the individuals themselves. They that have the financial backing to do much in relation to their looks often prefer to have the best services offered to them by specialists. It is the desire for specialized services that drives them to go through the pain of seeking the services without fear of the cost implication. Given the great long term prospects of beautification services, it is the most appropriate field to land in.
Work activities
Various activities are conducted within the range of what is referred to as beautification. These activities are centered around the treatment of the many clients, focusing keenly on their faces, hands, and feet. Beauticians have a huge range of facial work which are; application face packs, numerous creams, and lotions mainly to cleanse and tone an individual’s skin, massaging the client’s face to stimulate the circulation of blood and give some exercise to facial muscles (Benac 2010).
Personal qualities and skills
The field of service provision, whatever the type of the service, demands that some basics be well taken care of and are guaranteed. I think I have exactly these qualities and am in a position to be the best because of them. The first one is that clients need to be satisfied with the reception and how they are handled throughout their stay in my place of work. This will be greatly enhanced by my unique friendly personality.
It is so hard to have an opportunity of impressing a client unless the listening capacity is enhanced. This will come in handy in ensuring that the least of the clients’ bothers is known and dealt with. Together with being a good listener, being tactful will be a great addition.
Communication is a two-directional meaning that the client should be listened to. An important addition to all the above will be the explanation of all activities and procedures conducted on the client to ease them of any possible fear.
Being proactive in nature means that I have the ability to do enough commercial awareness on the products and services which increase the customer base that is important for the growth of any business.
Hygiene is definitely at the center of everything in beautification since it involves the handling of human bodies which are very sensitive to contamination and dirt. Together with strength, I am able to handle these responsibilities and meet the needs of every single one of the clients. Everybody desires to emerge the best after a beautification service. To get this good looks, some special artistry is required from the specialist. I have this special artistry in abundance and I am able to get the best of each client visible.
Entry Routes and Training
It is always important to be sure to do things the right way in whatever field one venture. However, with some fields like beauty consultancy, the requirements may never be so intense. There is no serious qualification preferred for it. A good standard of education is something inevitable in whichever field, however. Personal skills in beautification have proven to be much more important than formal qualifications. With much determination and a natural desire to do the best coupled with good practice, the end result is a satisfied client which is the ultimate fruit.
In regard to being qualified, there are two ways as stated. One of these methods is through formal training through education. There are various colleges that teach about beautification and the necessary therapies associated with the human body. The courses take between two and three years where the numerous lessons are well tackled. There is also the perfection of the skill via apprenticeship. This is where the specialist gets to perfect the art of beautification through learning from the more experienced ones and also via practice. This particular method of venturing does not need formal training for the participants of the field as was the case with the first one.
In such competitive ventures, there is always the need that more training in terms of short courses being offered to ensure that the clients get up to date services every time they visit. This is indeed a field where there are many changes in the techniques and products.
Wages & Risks
Every single field comes with a series of risks and shortcomings. Some of the greatest of these risks are associated with the wages earned from the duties perfumed. To this effect, there has been researching the various wage ranges of wages for some years and again in different regions of England. There are some variations due to the population differences and also differences in preference. With a focus on the table below, let us make a key deduction. In the year 2010, the mean salary for the beautician jobs was £22,479 (Krueger 2008).
A comparison of beautification job salaries in the United Kingdom (the United Kingdom’s salaries 2011).
In 2008, the average salary for this job was £12400. The year 2009 had a figure of £16000. This spells out a difference of about 29% from that of 2008. The 2010 figure, as said above, is £22,479. Compared to the year 2009, this change is approximately 40%.
As we look at the wages, it is also important that we consider the risks. First of all calls for patience and hard work without which the objectives may not be met. Most of the beauticians work for many hours (clocking up to forty hours a week standing on their feet and sometimes working even in the evenings and on Saturdays) which is not an easy thing to do for any human being. There are chemicals used in the exercise also that may not favor the beauticians. This risk is averted by wearing gloves. As all this is done, great hygiene is maintained as well as protecting the clients from dangers and risks bearing in mind that some of them have allergies.
Future opportunities and promotion possibilities
The trends for employment in beautification are projected to grow much faster than the average for all the occupations. This, therefore, indicates that it is one of the fields that happen to be growing very steadily in terms of employment.
Literally, its growth has been proportionate to the build-up in population. It is this growth of population that has increased demand for beautification services and thus ended up creating enormous employment opportunities throughout the time. With much more growth, employees get to their feet in terms of financial empowerment and open their own businesses hence becoming self-employed. Some of the key encouragements to beauticians working for various beauty points include; pleasant working conditions, flexible working hours, and bonuses for attracting loyal customers.
Differentiation and Discrimination
Racial discrimination
In the United Kingdom, whites are the majority while the other races are available but very few indeed. In this particular case, the other races are black, mixed, Asian, Chinese, and others who make up less than ten percent of the beautification industry. Cultural differences in these groups imply that at the end of the day, some services may not be needed by all individuals equally. Also, foreign certificates are difficult to judge in the United Kingdom.
Gender
Gender may never have been looked at as a potential challenge but it may result in discrimination from the clients which at the end of the day will result in discrimination by the employer. Most men prefer to be treated by female beauticians as much as women do prefer fellow women.
Age
Age is also a possible point of discrimination for employees of the beauty industry. The discrimination is mainly from the employer’s side where there is a perception that they have fewer responsibilities and are much more productive leave alone being easier to train.
International differences
Demand for beautification changes from one place to the next but one thing that is for sure is that there is a demand for a qualified and experienced beautician (McCartney 2011, p.1). There exist some points of difference as we observe here. The first one of these differences is with licenses (Zeske 2010, p.1). The others are; qualifications, remuneration, demand, and perception in the society.
Effect of economic crisis
The economic crisis that has faced the globe lately has hit this profession just like the others. The effects, just to name a few, are; lower demand, poor remuneration, and high materials cost. It is thus a threat to the growth and sustainability of this profession (Amber 2009, p.1).
Reflective Document
To successfully venture into the field of service provision, whatever the type of the service, it is always desirable to ensure that some basics are well taken care of and are guaranteed. I think I have exactly these qualities and I am in a position to be the best because of them.
Good client handling capacity
First of all, customers (clients) need to be satisfied with the reception and how they are handled throughout their stay in my place of work. This will be greatly enhanced by my unique friendly personality. Being served well is pleasing and being served well by a friend is even much more pleasing and always leaves one calling for more. This will go a long way in helping me create the necessary rapport that will eventually build a strong and committed (loyal) customer base not only for me but also for the entire beauty center. This comes into play because my clients will have an opportunity of feeling at ease in whatever they are engaged in and thus have the chance to make necessary suggestions so that they get the best.
Apart from my friendly nature boosting customer trust and appreciation, it also boosts employer confidence since there is always a chance that the employer will be pleased with whatever is happened and thus be able to keep my job stable. Every single employer, again regardless of the field, prefers an employee who is able to not only maintain but also increase the customer base to such a level as is profitable for his or her business.
Listening and tactfulness
However friendly, it is always so hard to have an opportunity of impressing a client unless the listening capacity is enhanced. This will come in as a second yet so important part of my good customer handling capacity. By being a good listener, there is always a chance that the least of the customer bothers will always be well known and dealt with within the shortest possible time. In some cases of good listening and appreciation of clients, the clients themselves end up bargaining for the service provider before the employer and even call other customers to bring them along.
Together with being a good listener, being tactful will be a great positive in this regard. By being tactful, it means that whatever the developments that face the operations and client satisfaction, there is always a way out in the best possible style so that at the end of the day the best still holds. This needs the trait of being a good learner, of which I am sure, since new developments may need training in a very short span of time to give outstanding services.
The perfection of procedures and explanations
Should the client be listened to well but still not be informed of the procedures involved, the client may never know and may feel unappreciated. By this, I mean that communication is two-directional and should thus not be allowed to be a single direction affair. Therefore, an important addition to all the above will be the explanation of all activities and procedures conducted on the client to ease them of any possible anxiety. By telling the client that they are going to be passed through some activity for an hour or for some time, it shows that you are concerned and are doing your best to ensure that they eventually look good.
Beautification is all about art. Everybody wants to look the best after getting beautification services. In order to look this good, the specialist must have a special artistic touch that leaves the client smiling all the way. This is one thing which I have for sure, that final artistic flare which brings out the best of every single service offered to the client. Flare and beauty are inseparable since flare is what eventually spells out clearly the good looks in a given individual.
Ability to conduct customer awareness
My proactive nature leads to the ability to do enough commercial awareness on the products and services which is the only way of increasing, if not winning, a customer base that is important for the growth of the business. It pays to mention to the client as they walk out that there is another procedure that could be done to make them even look better and be healthier and more comfortable in their bodies.
Order and hygiene
With enough awareness and good customer handling but without good services, the clients may not have much to do with the business. Hygiene is definitely at the center of everything in beautification since it involves the handling of human bodies which are very sensitive. Strength is inevitable after all these things. It, therefore, stands out as a great positive to me in this particular business. With strength, I am able to handle these responsibilities and meet the needs of each single one of them.
With such key traits that are directly associated with the satisfaction of the clients of whichever beautification service provider, I expect to be the best.
References List
Amber, H., 2009. Global Economic Crisis. Web.
Benac, J., 2010. Cosmetologist duties. Web.
Krueger, A., 2008. Does the Financial Crisis Threaten Your Job? .
McCartney, N., 2011. Beauticians- Trained Professionals Can Make a Huge Difference to Quality of Services Rendered. Web.
United Kingdom salaries, 2011. Beautification job salaries in the United Kingdom. Web.
Zeske, M., 2010. Cosmetology Licence Information. Web.