How to Pick the Best Esthetician College Near Hazelwood Missouri

Since you have made a decision to enter the field of cosmetology and attend an esthetician school near Hazelwood MO, the task begins to find and enroll in the right program. It's important that the school you choose not only provides the appropriate instruction for the specialty you have chosen, but also readies you for passing the licensing exam. When you start your preliminary search, you might be somewhat unclear about the difference 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 plan on commuting to classes you will need to choose a school that is within driving distance of your Hazelwood residence. Tuition will additionally be an important aspect when evaluating prospective schools. Just remember that because a school is the closest or the lowest cost it's not necessarily the best option. There are various other considerations that you should weigh when analyzing schools, for instance their reputation and accreditation. We will review what questions you should ask about the aesthetician schools you are looking at later in this article. Before we do, let's discuss a little bit about what types of courses are offered.

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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 provide a wide range of beauty services to help their Hazelwood Missouri clients look and feel better. This includes improving the quality of the skin (including the treatment of skin disorders), hair removal, permanent makeup application, and facial massage. Some types of estheticians, like medical estheticians, provide highly specialized procedures that require detailed training in order for it to be done safely and effectively. Medical estheticians can help individuals suffering from serious skin disorders, burns, and other trauma, and to help with pre and post-operative surgery affecting the health of their skin. Estheticians work closely with their clients in a friendly and positive manner, so an enthusiastic attitude and desire to help people is an excellent attribute for an aspiring esthetician to possess. Some of the basic duties an esthetician may perform will include such tasks as:

• Assessing a patient’s needs
• Chemical peels
• Laser treatments
• Waxing
• Facials
• Massage of the head and neck
• Microdermabrasion

Online Esthetician Programs

Online esthetician classes are convenient for Hazelwood MO students who are working full time and have family obligations that make it hard to enroll in a more traditional school. There are many online cosmetology school programs offered that can be accessed through a home computer or laptop at the student's convenience. More conventional cosmetology programs are often fast paced due to the fact that many programs are as short as six or eight months. This means that a large portion of time is spent in the classroom. With internet courses, you are covering the same amount of material, but you're not spending many 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 area salons and parlors to ensure that you also obtain the hands-on training required for a comprehensive education. Without the internship portion of the training, it's difficult to gain the skills required to work in any area of the cosmetology profession. So make sure if you decide to enroll in an online school to verify that internship training is provided in your area.

Questions to Ask Aesthetician Training Classes

Following is a series of questions that you should research for any esthetician training program you are contemplating. As we have previously discussed, the location of the school in relation to your Hazelwood home, as well as the cost of tuition, will most likely be your initial qualifiers. Whether you want to earn a certificate, diploma or a degree will undoubtedly be next on your list. But once you have reduced your school choices based on those initial qualifications, there are even more factors that you should research and take into consideration before enrolling in a cosmetology program. Below we have collected some of those supplemental questions that you need to ask each school before making a final decision.

Is the Esthetician Program Accredited? It's important to make sure that the esthetician school you choose is accredited. The accreditation should be by a U.S. Department of Education certified local or national organization, such as the National Accrediting Commission for Cosmetology Arts & Sciences (NACCAS). Programs accredited by the NACCAS must comply with their high standards ensuring a superior curriculum and education. Accreditation may also be essential for securing student loans or financial aid, which frequently are not obtainable for non- accredited schools. It's also a prerequisite for licensing in many states that the training be accredited. And as a final benefit, many Hazelwood MO businesses will not hire recent graduates of non-accredited schools, or may look more favorably upon individuals with accredited training.

Does the School have a Great 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. Check that the schools have high job placement rates, indicating that their students are highly sought after. Check rating companies for reviews along with the school's accrediting organizations. If you have any relationships with Hazelwood MO salon owners or managers, or anyone working in the business, ask them if they are familiar with the schools you are reviewing. They may even be able to propose others that you had not looked into. Finally, check with the Missouri school licensing authority to find out if there have been any grievances filed or if the schools are in full compliance.

What’s the School’s Focus?  Some esthetician schools offer programs that are comprehensive in nature, focusing on all areas of cosmetology. Others are more focused, providing training in a specific specialty, such as hairstyling, manicuring or electrolysis. Schools that offer degree programs frequently expand into a management and marketing curriculum. So it's essential that you choose a school that focuses on your area of interest. Since your ambition is to be trained as an esthetician, make certain that the school you enroll in is accredited and well regarded for that program. If your dream is to start a Hazelwood MO beauty salon, then you want to enroll in a degree program that will instruct you how to be an owner/operator as well. Picking a highly regarded school with a poor program in the specialty you are pursuing will not provide the training you need.

Is Plenty of Live Training Provided?  Practicing and refining esthetician skills and techniques involves lots of practice on volunteers. Ask how much live, hands-on training is provided in the beauty courses you will be attending. Some schools have salons on site that allow students to practice their developing talents on real people. If a beauty academy provides little or no scheduled live training, but rather relies heavily on the use of mannequins, it may not be the most effective alternative for developing your skills. Therefore search for other schools that provide this kind of training.

Does the School have a Job Placement Program?  Once a student graduates from an esthetician academy, it's imperative that she or he receives support in landing that first job. Job placement programs are an integral part of that process. Schools that provide help maintain relationships with Hazelwood MO businesses that are searching for trained graduates available for hiring. Check that the programs you are considering have job placement programs and ask which salons and establishments they refer students to. Additionally, ask what their job placement rates are. Higher rates not only verify that they have broad networks of employers, but that their programs are highly regarded as well.

Is Financial Aid Offered?  Almost all esthetician schools offer financial aid or student loan assistance for their students. Find out if the schools you are reviewing have a financial aid office. Talk to a counselor and learn what student loans or grants you may get approved for. If the school belongs to the American Association of Cosmetology Schools (AACS), it will have scholarships offered to students as well. If a school satisfies all of your other qualifications with the exception of cost, do not discard it as an option before you determine what financial aid may be provided.

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Enroll in the Right Hazelwood Esthetician Program

Finding and enrolling in the right esthetician school is essential to obtain the appropriate training to become a licensed cosmetology practitioner. Make sure to ask all the questions that you require so as to feel positive about your decision. Be sure to organize all of the information you get from the beauty school admissions departments, prioritize what matters the most to you, and then employ that data to contrast schools. A sensible beginning in your due diligence process is to make sure that the institution and program you pick are accredited and have impressive reputations within the field. If you begin with that foundation, and address the additional questions presented in this post, you will be able to filter your list of schools so that you can make the proper selection. And when you graduate and pass your licensing examination, you will be self-assured that you are ready to start your new career as a professional esthetician in Hazelwood Missouri.

 

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