SELECTED CAREER PATH AND THE MOTIVES BEHIND SELECTING IT
The career path that I have selected is the career of a cosmetologist. This career path attracts me because it offers a harmonious balance between esthetics, communication, and creativity. After completing a research on this career path, I likewise found out that the field of cosmetology offers diverse careers from a hair stylist to a manicurist.
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THE SOURCES
To prepare for this interview, I used Google and the following keywords: cosmetologists, career path, cosmetology, training in cosmetology, cosmetologist salary. In the course of this research, I located four valuable sources at such platforms as The Balance Careers, BEAUTY School Directory, Career Building, and Career Trend.
THE ORIGINAL QUESTIONS ASKED DURING THE INTERVIEW
Apart from the questions initially included in this assignment, I formulated the following questions:
Cosmetologists are normally associated with beauty salons, but I am sure there are many more places where they can find employment. Could you, please, give some examples?
What opportunities for self-employment does this field offer?
According to your estimations, what is the average salary that a beginning cosmetologist can earn? What about more experienced professionals?
What are the three words that first come to your mind in relation to the phrase “the profession of a cosmetologist”?
INTERVIEWEE
For an interviewee, I selected my hair stylist because she was the easiest to reach, she expressed a the willingness to participate in my interview, and she has a rich experience of working in this industry.
Name: Helena Martins
Phone: 1-541-754-3010
SUMMARY OF THE INTERVIEW
In the course of the interview, Helena told me that to work in the field of cosmetology, one needs to complete a cosmetology school. This correlates with the information I found in the course of my research (BEAUTY School Directory n.d.). She likewise mentioned the requirement for a license of which I also knew from my review (McQuillian 2017). Helena said that there are few ways that can really help to prepare for this profession; one option, according to her, is to spend a day with someone working in a salon. Helena explained that job satisfaction depends on numerous factors including salary, workplace environment, and conditions; in her case, she feels completely satisfied with her job. Helena argued that this career does not offer exciting career growth opportunities: as a rule, a more experienced cosmetologist should receive a higher salary although the status should not change as it happens with managers, for example. Helena said that the key disadvantage of this job is that it implies working with different people and they normally have their own vision of what is beautiful so that one should have good communication and conflict management skills to be able to work in this field. Among available options where a cosmetologist can work, she mentioned spas and barber shops and clarified that many cosmetologists work in a self-employed manner what correlated with what I found in the course of my research (McKay 2017). She said a beginner would earn about 7$ per hour and an experienced cosmetologist would get more than $15 what is slightly lower than Career Builder (n.d.) suggests. Finally, she said that the three associations that she has with cosmetology are beauty, art, and glamour.
IMPLICATIONS
This interview offered some valuable insights into understanding the career of a cosmetologist. I was surprised about the diversity of specialties that this career path offers (e.g. makeup artists). I also discovered some challenges such as managing conflict situations but they only make this career path more interesting so I still want to pursue it.
