Salon Nail Technician

A nail technician is a trained professional, specializing in offering a range of nail treatments to clients and working to improve both the condition, health and appearance of their client’s nails.

A nail technician typically works in a salon or nail bar, but there is also the option to work self-employed as a freelance nail technician, working from home and/or mobile. Requested treatments for your clients could range from a basic manicure treatment to a bespoke decorative design, including nail art or extension processes; requested treatments typically correlate with the latest nail trends. Nail repair is also popularly requested, especially for clients with extensions.

Due to the nature of the job, it is important that nail technicians are aware of the health and safety procedures, as well as hygienic requirements, before embarking on a role in this industry. The Beauty Academy offer a wide range of treatments to assist you in launching into this chosen career with the appropriate knowledge.

To embark on a career as a successful nail technician, it is important that you are able to make your clients to feel relaxed and welcome in your company. Interpersonal skills are necessary to successfully network potential clients, as well as a tactful and diplomatic manner in the company of clients to ensure repeat custom. Being able to come up with creative ideas, use initiative and ensure these ideas are refined with an excellent attention to detail are skills you will develop as you train in nail technology. 

You will also benefit from having a business-orientated mindset when at work; being able to retail products whilst you are performing treatments could potentially generate further income and selling additional treatments can encourage repeat business; many salons and mobile nail technicians’ work closely with brands for this purpose.   

You will develop all the appropriate technical skills for this career route during your training, covering the basics of hygiene in the workplace, health and safety factors, contraindications, as well as the specific treatments involved in becoming a nail technician, working to an industry-required standard.

If you are considering gaining employment within the industry, or looking to eventually open your own salon, nail bar or premises, it is in your interest to achieve a Level 2  qualification.

Level 2 qualifications are required to enable you to work in a salon or nail bar.

Opposed to being self-employed, working in a salon or nail bar enables you to benefit from structured work hours that are typically 9-5 (you may be required to work Saturdays as nail bars/salons are open over the weekend). Structured working hours may be desirable to some, however other may find this problematic if they have alternative commitments, such as young children.

A potential drawback from being employed in a salon is that you will not earn more money regardless of how many clients you are able to see in a day, whereas self-employed therapists have this opportunity. However, you will earn a regular wage and benefit from a steady source of income to ensure financial stability. Furthermore, if you are employed in a salon or nail bar, the business will typically cover the costs of insurance and potentially future training courses to expand the range of treatments that you are able to offer with the business.   

Many nail technicians find their work rewarding in that they are responsible for making their client’s feel good about themselves. It is often not just the treatment that client’s look forward to, but they enjoy the relaxing experience and personal connection with their nail technician during the treatment. 

As your abilities in offering treatments and financial stability increases, you may choose to open your own premises once you have the means to do so in terms of clientele and income, and respectively employ junior therapists to work for you whilst in a managerial role, giving you more flexibility in working hours. Your experience within a salon will help you successfully launch your own business with confidence.    

Your career path may also progress into a specialized sector of the nail industry, such as working for an agency on sets or editorial shoots for publications, manicuring and painting the nails for models. With further progression and once teaching qualifications have been acquired, you may also want to advance into teaching students and becoming a Beauty Tutor for private and further education beauty colleges.

Book your training…    

It is important that if you are looking to work as a nail technician within a salon or nail bar, you hold the required certificates and/or qualifications to ensure you have the appropriate skills and knowledge to be considered for these positions. You will need to be working to an appropriate level of practice, including hygiene standards and health and safety factors to avoid incidents within the workplace.

Your training with The Beauty Academy will cover this vital information, along with the required practical skills to assist you in achieving your chosen career within this exciting industry.