Guest Article by Lucy Douglas, Freelance Lifestyle Journalist
Successful hires rarely come from going through the process under pressure. In an ideal world, hiring salon staff should always be at the back of your mind – hear Saad Aslam, CEO of HC MedSpa on this. Being on the lookout for talent and saving CVs for the right moment rather than choosing staff when a position becomes available can make your life significantly easier. Assuming you all do this already (wink!), what are the best methods for recruiting, what should you be looking at in a CV and what should you ask or not ask to ensure you uncover the hidden gems?
Related | Recruitment In The Digital Age: Advertising Salon Job Openings
What Are The Best Methods For Recruiting Salon Staff
Having CVs in hand means you can contact the right people when the time is right for you. If you’re only getting started with this, the first thing you should do is to save yourself time and use salon-based recruitment advertising space online, in print or in your salon. It still surprises me to see the amount of salons who are pulling their hair out saying that un-skilled people under the impression there is no training required to provide a hair or beauty treatment!
A dedicated salon advertising space is the place to be so you can avoid spending time sifting through un-skilled CV’s.
You don’t want to let the best CV’s slip through the net, do you?
Hiring salon staff online has boomed in the last decade. These days, it’s so easy for candidates and employers to access the right people at the right time. It benefits both employer and employee greatly in the way that you can create an account that allows you to always keep your eye on new CV’s in your area whether you are recruiting or not.
Tune in to Phorest FM Episode 46 as salon owner Sam Pearce shares her views on the causes behind the current recruitment crisis in the hair and beauty industry as well as how businesses and graduating students are affected by it.
What Should You Look For In A CV & What Are Signs Of A Great Candidate?
Because every one’s situation is different, it’s always best to start with a full list of ideal attributes that you are looking for and decide how you would measure these at any stage of the selection process.
Your list may include some of the following:
- technically-skilled
- experienced
- trustworthy
- loyal
- relaxed and friendly (but not too friendly)
- client-focused
- results driven
- attention to detail
- conscientious
- well-mannered and well-presented
- sales skills
- the ability to retain clients.
While it would be great to think that these qualities and skills can be relayed through a CV, the reality is that often, many won’t shine through. When hiring salon staff, I would suggest hosting recruitment open days, doing phone interviews, face-to-face interviews, trade tests and/or half day trials.
Key Tips For Conducting An Amazing Interview
- Know the identity of your business and make sure the candidate resonates with your salon/spa’s personality and standards.
- Always give candidates a tour of the establishment and gauge their enthusiasm for your products and services. Also look out for how they interact with your current team members.
- When hiring salon staff, treat your candidates like you would clients. They will talk to all their family and friends about their visit after the interview, and it’s great if they give good feedback!
- Go through CVs before your candidates arrive, and make notes of the areas you want to know more about. Ask as many questions as you can. Their knowledge and professionalism should show through in their composure and ability to speak the trade language.
What Questions Should You Ask/Never Ask During An Interview?
It is perfectly understandable that you would want to use a job interview to find out as much as you can about an applicant. Interviews give companies an opportunity to find out whether or not jobseekers have the skills and personal qualities that the job demands. They’re also great for gauging whether or not an applicant would ‘fit in.’ Likewise, candidates also get the opportunity to ask questions of their own, allowing them to determine, at the best of their capacities, whether the job they are going for is likely to meet up with their own expectations.
While job interview questions tend to stick to a fairly uniform pattern, sometimes you might want to throw in a tricky question. However, be wary of asking certain questions; they might contravene discrimination laws and, therefore, illegal.
The Don’t-Asks Of Hiring Salon Staff
- Questions about place of birth, ethnicity and religion
- Questions about marital status, children and sexual preference
- Questions about age
- Questions about lifestyle choices
One last piece of advice: if in any doubt, take HR advice!
Got feedback? Let us know either in the comments below or tweet us @ThePhorestWord! (Pssst! We’re on Instagram too!)
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Lucy Douglas is a freelance journalist based in London. She has a particular interest in small business, startups and the founders behind them and, in a previous life, was an assistant-editor at Professional Beauty magazine, where she road-tested spas up and down the country and checked out the latest advances in skincare. Her work has been featured in the Guardian, Telegraph, Courier magazine, Positive News, Emerald Street and Mayfair Times.
