If you’re considering a career as a barber, now is a great time to learn. The demand is high for trained and licensed barbers, and if you’re passionate about cutting hair, the sky’s the limit for your career. Barbers are experts at cutting and styling men’s hair, including facial hair like mustaches and beards. There is a lot to learn, and the longer you’ve been consistently cutting hair, the better your career will look. But it all begins with barber school, so here are some important things to know before you enroll.
Visit Each School to Examine Their Culture
Most schools make it easy to schedule a tour of their facilities, and you should definitely check out each school you’re considering. Get a closer look at how the school is run, how the students are being taught, and how the students seem to like the school. The culture of the school is very important if you are going to enroll and invest time and resources there.
Considering Financial Aid and Tuition
One of the biggest questions you have to answer is how you will pay for barber school. Most vocational schools are eligible for financial aid, but you should find out what your options are. The overall cost of each barber school in your area will depend on how long the school has been around, the reputation of the school, and how extensive their training is for their program.
Many schools are eligible for grants, and some may offer scholarships.
One thing to pay attention to is whether the barber school provides a student kit, or whether you have to assemble that on your own. Schools with a cheaper tuition might not provide a student kit.
Student Kits for Barber School
Whether the barber school is providing the student kit, or you are assembling the kit yourself, these are some essential items that the kit should include.
- Clippers
- Trimmers
- Comb Set
- Brush set
- Mannequin heads
- Shears
- Blow dryer
- Barber cape
- Barbicide for clipper guards, combs, etc
- Cordless neck duster
You’ll Be Studying Theory Along with Practical Instruction
Get ready for lots of hours learning theory in barber school. It might feel tedious at the moment, but it pays off because what you learn in theory will help you with your practical skills. When you’re cutting hair those things you’ve learned will come back. Eventually, a lot of this will be second nature, but it helps to have both theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
Stay Humble and Teachable
If you have the good fortune of having prior experience with barbering, even if you’re the most experienced student in your class, stay humble. Let your work do the talking for you. You’ll always come across haircuts that are more challenging, and you’ll have the opportunity to learn. Everyone is at different levels, and there are always people more experienced than you. There are lots of places to learn the art of barbering, and you should always be learning, improving, and challenging yourself to get better at your craft.
Remember to Study for the State Exam
The main objective of every barber school is to make sure you pass the State Board exam and get licensed. Yes, you will learn barbering techniques and practical skills, but some of what you will learn is safety and sanitation, anatomy and physiology. These are things you must know in order to pass the State exam, so be sure to take that part of barber training seriously. Much of this training will be in the textbook. It’s not as exciting as giving haircuts to clients in the chair, but you won’t be able to get licensed unless you know this information.
Your Student Salon Time is for Getting Barbershop Ready
When you’re on the student barbershop floor, that’s the time to practice and get familiar with the different styles of haircuts. Every client is going to want a different haircut, and their hair texture is a bit different, so this can be nerve-wracking. The important thing is to remember all the steps in each type of haircut, break it down into the steps to getting the final result. The more you practice, the more haircuts you give, the more intuitive your barbering technique will become. Barbering is a combination of theory and practice, head knowledge and muscle memory. You’ll get this, and your skills and confidence will improve with time and experience.
Time Management is Crucial
Many people who go to barber school aren’t going right out of high school or college, lots of people have already started a career. There are plenty of students who are already working and going to barber school at night. But when you’re pursuing your dream, your passion, it’s 100 percent worth it.
Even if barber school is the only thing you’re focusing on at the moment, you still need to give it your all. Making sure you give yourself enough time to take care of your daily responsibilities and school is crucial. Time management will be an important component of your success in school and later on in your barbering career.
Passion and Mindset
Barbering is not only a career, it’s a calling. When you’re a barber, you get to help people feel better about themselves. When you finish giving them a fresh haircut and beard trim, and they stand up out of the barber chair feeling better about themselves, that’s your hard work paying off. Barbering is a career where the more you put into it consistently, the more you can get out of it. Barber school is the first step towards building your new career.
How Long is Barber School?
The length of the barber school program is going to depend on the state regulations, the school, and how much training each school puts into their curriculum. Some states require 1500 clock hours to sit for the licensing exam, California changed their requirements to 1000 clock hours as of January 1, 2022 with Senate Bill (SB) 803.
Most barber training programs in the US are several months to under a year long. The program at Campus Sacramento is about 30 weeks long.
You Can Also Learn From Local Barbershops
Even when you’re in barber school, you can reach out to local barber shops and ask them if you can hang around for a day and observe them at work. You may learn a lot by watching the process of how a barbershop operates. Ask if you can help out and shadow an experienced barber for a day, you’ll be surprised at the insights you pick up.
Once You Graduate, The Hustle Begins
How much you make when you’re first starting out will depend on your area, your skill, how much you’ve been promoting your skills to friends and family, and your social media presence. At first, it might seem tough, because you’re building up a clientele from the ground up. The longer you’ve been cutting hair consistently, the more your skill increases, the more demand you’ll have, and you can make a decent living. How far you go is up to you, your drive, your marketing skill, and your customer service.
Become a Highly-Skilled Barber at Campus Sacramento
If your goal is to work as a barber, Paul Mitchell the School at Campus Sacramento has a professional Barbering program to give you the training to help start your career. This program is 1000 clock hours as mandated by the California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. Students can take either day or night classes, and the program runs about 30 weeks. Most of the classes are in-person, and a student kit is part of your tuition. For more information, contact our friendly Admissions team today or call 888-675-2460 for more details.