How to Pick the Right Esthetician College Near West Lafayette Indiana

Once you have decided to enter the field of cosmetology and enroll in an esthetician school near West Lafayette IN, the task starts to find and enroll in the ideal program. It's important that the program you choose not only provides the appropriate training for the specialty you have decided on, but also readies you for passing the licensing examination. When you begin your preliminary search, you might be a little bit confused about the contrast between beauty schools and cosmetology schools. Well don't be, because the names are basically interchangeable and both refer to the same type of school. If you anticipate commuting to classes you will want to find a school that is within driving distance of your West Lafayette home. Tuition will also be an important consideration when assessing prospective schools. Just remember that because a school is the nearest or the cheapest it's not necessarily the ideal option. There are various other factors that you should evaluate when comparing schools, such as their reputation and accreditation. We will go over what questions you should ask regarding the aesthetician schools you are thinking about later within this article. Before we do, let's discuss a little bit about what types of training programs are available.

It Takes Just a Few Minutes to Start Your Esthetician Career Below!

Esthetics Training Programs

Esthetics school is an investment of time, energy, and money. Requirements vary from state to state, but the majority of states require that you complete at least 600 hours of training. Full-time school can take an average of six months to complete, and part-time school can take anywhere from 9-12 months. The primary purpose of esthetics school is to get you ready to pass the state licensing exam. They also teach basic skills that you will need to perfect through experience and sometimes additional classes, such as giving facials, body treatments, and performing waxing.  More advanced training includes learning to work with machines, such as IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) and Lasers used to rejuvenate the skin and permanently remove hair.

Esthetician Job Description

Estheticians (or aestheticians) are skin care specialists who typically work in West Lafayette Indiana spas and salons as well as resorts and medical facilities to provide a variety of treatments for their clients. Some of the typical duties of an esthetician include performing deep skin cleansing and treatments, hair removal, and massages. Estheticians also recommend skincare treatments, products, and regimens to their clients. Many estheticians are self-employed, which allows them to set their schedules and work where they wish. However, these professionals still often need to work evenings and weekends. These skin care specialists also spend much of their time standing and may be exposed to harmful chemicals. Certified estheticians have excellent customer service and communication skills. They're adept at time management, observation and monitoring and are competent in understanding and using the tools necessary for facial procedures and extractions. Certified estheticians are familiar with medical, spreadsheets, and word processing software. They present a professional appearance and have the physical fitness to stand for prolonged periods of time. A career in esthetics generally requires working evening and weekend hours.

Online Esthetics Schools

Online esthetician classes are accommodating for West Lafayette IN students who are working full-time and have family obligations that make it difficult to enroll in a more traditional school. There are numerous online cosmetology school programs offered that can be attended via a desktop computer or laptop at the student's convenience. More traditional beauty programs are often fast paced given that many programs are as brief as 6 or 8 months. This means that a large portion of time is spent in the classroom. With internet programs, you are dealing with the same amount of material, but you're not devoting numerous hours outside of your home or driving back and forth from classes. On the other hand, it's important that the program you choose can provide internship training in local salons and parlors to ensure that you also obtain the hands-on training needed for a complete education. Without the internship portion of the training, it's impossible to acquire the skills necessary to work in any facet of the cosmetology field. So don't forget if you choose to enroll in an online school to verify that internship training is available in your area.

Questions to Ask Esthetician Training Courses

Below is a list of questions that you will want to investigate for any esthetician training program you are considering. As we have previously discussed, the location of the school in relation to your West Lafayette home, together with the expense of tuition, will most likely be your primary qualifiers. Whether you would like to earn a certificate, diploma or a degree will undoubtedly be next on your list. But once you have reduced your school options based on those initial qualifications, there are additional factors that you need to research and take into consideration before enrolling in a cosmetology program. Below we have put together several of those supplemental questions that you need to ask every school before making a final decision.

Is the Esthetician Program Accredited? It's necessary to make certain that the esthetician training program you select is accredited. The accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education recognized local or national organization, such as the National Accrediting Commission for Cosmetology Arts & Sciences (NACCAS). Schools accredited by the NACCAS must measure up to their high standards assuring a quality curriculum and education. Accreditation may also be essential for obtaining student loans or financial aid, which frequently are not available for non- accredited schools. It's also a prerequisite for licensing in several states that the training be accredited. And as a concluding benefit, many West Lafayette IN employers will not employ recent graduates of non-accredited schools, or might look more positively upon those with accredited training.

Does the School have an Excellent Reputation?  Any esthetician school that you are seriously considering should have a good to exceptional reputation within the field. Being accredited is a good beginning. Next, ask the schools for testimonials from their network of employers where they have referred their students. Verify that the schools have high job placement rates, signifying that their students are highly sought after. Check rating services for reviews along with the school's accrediting agencies. If you have any connections with West Lafayette IN salon owners or managers, or any person working in the field, ask them if they are acquainted with the schools you are reviewing. They might even be able to recommend others that you had not looked into. And last, contact the Indiana school licensing authority to find out if there have been any complaints filed or if the schools are in total compliance.

What’s the School’s Specialty?  Some esthetician schools offer programs that are expansive in nature, focusing on all facets of cosmetology. Others are more focused, offering training in a specific specialty, for instance hairstyling, manicuring or electrolysis. Schools that offer degree programs often broaden into a management and marketing curriculum. So it's important that you choose a school that specializes in your area of interest. Since your intention is to be trained as an esthetician, make sure that the school you enroll in is accredited and respected for that program. If your dream is to launch a West Lafayette IN beauty salon, then you need to enroll in a degree program that will instruct you how to be an owner/operator as well. Choosing a highly ranked school with a weak program in the specialty you are pursuing will not deliver the training you require.

Is Any Hands-On Training Provided?  Learning and mastering esthetician skills and techniques requires plenty of practice on people. Ask how much live, hands-on training is included in the cosmetology lessons you will be attending. A number of schools have salons on campus that make it possible for students to practice their developing skills on volunteers. If a beauty school provides limited or no scheduled live training, but instead relies mainly on utilizing mannequins, it may not be the best option for cultivating your skills. Therefore try to find other schools that provide this kind of training.

Does the School Provide Job Assistance?  Once a student graduates from an esthetician program, it's imperative that she or he gets aid in landing that first job. Job placement programs are an important part of that process. Schools that provide assistance maintain relationships with West Lafayette IN businesses that are searching for skilled graduates available for hiring. Confirm that the programs you are contemplating have job placement programs and find out which salons and businesses they refer students to. Additionally, ask what their job placement rates are. Higher rates not only affirm that they have wide networks of employers, but that their programs are highly respected as well.

Is Financial Assistance Offered?  Many esthetician schools provide financial aid or student loan assistance for their students. Ask if the schools you are considering have a financial aid office. Consult with a counselor and identify what student loans or grants you may qualify for. If the school belongs to the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS), it will have scholarships accessible to students also. If a school fulfills all of your other qualifications with the exception of expense, do not eliminate it as an option before you learn what financial aid may be provided.

Find Out How to Become an Esthetician in West Lafayette

Enroll in the Best West Lafayette Esthetician Course

Picking and enrolling in the right esthetician program is imperative to receive the appropriate training to become a licensed cosmetology practitioner. Make sure to ask all the questions that you need to so as to feel confident about your decision. Make certain to collect all of the responses you get from the beauty school admissions departments, focus on what matters the most to you, and then employ that data to compare schools. A reasonable start in your due diligence process is to make sure that the school and program you decide on are accredited and have exceptional reputations within the profession. If you begin with that foundation, and address the additional questions presented in this post, you will be able to narrow down your list of schools so that you can make the proper selection. Once you graduate and pass your licensing exam, you will be confident that you are ready to start your new career as a professional esthetician in West Lafayette Indiana.

 

West Lafayette Aesthetician Schools Near Me | West Lafayette Esthetician Schools Near Me