Who wants to be a Junior Part 3

This is a continuation from my previous article about Salon Assistants. Those of you who has not been following the story, I have been sharing the life, the up and down of a Salon Assistants. The obstacles they had to face, the challenges and work demand in a salon. The first batch of Salon Assistants whom we had hired 3 years ago when we opened was all gone. Each batch lasted an average 1 year if you are lucky, batch means there should be around four assistants at any time and then we will be receiving resignation letters one by one at different period of time. We are luckier in the second batch where all were gone too but one has been with us from the day she started work as a Salon Assistant.

Salon Assistant work pattern and attitude is similar to fresh graduates sometimes. I am pretty sure that we have read countless times on newspaper that our government reminding fresh graduates to stop job hopping ,be humble and willing to learn. Whenever employment rates are low, we would hear plenty of such reminders. My favorite place for a cuppa every morning has always been at San Francisco Coffee at Lot 10 and I have been having my fix there since 8 years ago. FYI they serve THE best black coffee in KL! Whenever I patronize the outlet, I can’t help but curious to know what have been making the Baristas happy. I have met quite a few Baristas who never left and they are still serving with passion. I totally salute them with great admiration. These are the employees who could visualize the future, be it in two, five or ten years. Having great understanding about the work demand, the business, the clients and experience plays a big role and a clear path to success.

The responsibilities are divided into two roles; one role is played by the employer and the other the employee. First of all, I need to clarify that I am not speaking on behalf of all salons in Malaysia, to all my friends in the industry; it is just a sharing within the hairdressing community. They are many different types of hair salons generally, some have great business acumen and structure and are waiting to open more outlets, and some are happy and contented with the neighborhood concept with just 3 seats and work solo and some into medium size salon with 10 seats and see how it goes. It will be good that Salon Assistants and fresh graduates from hairdressing school take these types of salons for consideration. Consider the environment, the style directions of each salon and find out what best fits you. Not everyone look super sexy driving a Mercedes Benz, what about an Alfa Romeo or an Audi TT?

The responsibilities of an employer may be from providing education, giving opportunity to do stage work, higher pay, better commissions etc. Again, to all Salon Assistants and fresh graduates from hairdressing school, please take these points as your consideration too. You should ask yourself these questions over and over again; what is in it for me? What do I want from this salon? What are the sacrifices if I chose this employer? What are the rewards if I am willing to pay the price?

Clear answers for the above questions will lead to a clear and positive mindset. A positive mindset will lead to a great working attitude and you would be able to work with passion


There is a line in Lara Croft movie which I have observed and make great sense; the world is fair, there is good and bad, yin and yang, day and night, man and women. It makes perfect sense, isn’t it? If we want something, be willing to pay the price.

Great education and training from salons but lower pay, higher pay and commission but no education, higher basic but work longer hours. Just remember that there are always good and bad. All you need to do is to measure it, analyses it and make the best decision for yourself. See what could you get 6 months later, you will be amazed with the rewards and by rewards it doesn’t necessary mean monetary reward but experience too.

Now to all the rest of other salon owners do not give up on these young salon assistants. Keep hiring; keep training and one day you will be able to find the best.

This article is especially dedicated to my team at my salon. Thank you Teng, Song ,Beatrice Chin and Alexander Yap because you are the few who could visualize the future, believing in yourself and believing in us. Most importantly you are a great role model for the rest of the Salon Assistants in the world because you were once one of them too!

Who wants to be a Junior Part 2

Juniors have the most demanding job duties in a salon. They clock in to work, make sure the salon is tidy, styling stations are clean, magazines are well arranged, glasses, cups and saucers are stain free, styling trolleys are clean, make sure the hair brushes are hair free, retail shelves are dust free, towels are ready, drinking water is boiled and only then is the salon good to open for its daily business. When clients start arriving, their job will turn to washing hair, rinsing, blow drying, performing treatment or coloring service on behalf of stylists, serving drinks and magazines to clients, and even sweeping the floor after each hair cut service ( although we could still see some salons who do not practice this given the “feng shui” reason. “Fatt” is “prosper” in Chinese akin to “Kong Hei FATT Choy” hence “Fatt” cannot be swept away until the end of the day).

They also need to hand over a mirror to the stylist to be used to show clients the style at the back. Then tidy up the station, put the magazines back on the racks, clear the cups or glasses and wash all the used color bowls and brushes. The same cycle repeats until end of the day. Now just before salon closes, they have to pick up all the used towels and wash them. Some salons use washing machines, some engage contracted laundry pick up services and some still practice hand washing. When it comes to hand wash, they will have to lay the towels all over the salons to dry it. They next day, they have to pick them up, fold them, and store them in the appropriate place. Their daily working hours could stretch anywhere from nine to twelve hours.

The job description of a Junior does look very demanding, stressful and challenging doesn’t it? Whenever I am conducting an interview to hire Juniors, I don’t always paint a colorful picture about this work position. Not to belittle what they do, but with all the fetching, carrying and cleaning, the job sometimes looks and feels like that of a domestic maid.

And this isn’t just a summer job. The average Junior will need to work in this role for around 2 years before being promoted to Stylist, and of course this depends on the individual Salon’s training programs, and on the Junior’s own drive to advance. I have known some Juniors who prefer to stay as Shampoo girls throughout their careers, enjoying the chance to interact with clients despite the menial tasks. It is a matter of choice, isn’t it? Some are happy to stay put, but some are hungry to grow

To be continue……..

Who wants to be a Junior?

Salon Assistants, juniors, shampoo girls and boys, or apprentices, whatever we like to call them are indeed the most important person in a salon, more important perhaps than all of us, the seniors. Why? They communicate, approach, and attend to clients more than we do. Here’s the general flow of service the moment client arrive the salon. First of all let us give our characters names – John the Junior and Mary the client.

Upon Mary’s arrival, reception will lead her to the seat. As soon as she is seated we, as stylists, will be with her. John will then get some magazines and drinks to Mary while we are busy talking about the intended cut or color. As soon as we are finished talking, John will begin to wash Mary’s hair. The whole washing plus massage will take approximately 10 minutes, which is usually longer than our consultation time with Mary. John will then lead Mary to the back wash for a rinse and to condition her hair, which will take another 10 minutes. John will then lead Mary back to the seat to prepare for the cut or color.

The usual stylist could spend just 20 min max to complete the hair cut, and John would then take over the blow dry service which could take up to 30 min if Mary’s hair is long, or if she requires curls.

Then, the Stylist would return to Mary to touch up the finishing look which takes only 3 min for example. John will assist in removing the cutting gown and send Mary off to the reception for payment. In total a stylist just spent about 25 min seeing Mary compared to John who spends more than 35 min. John has the opportunity to spend more time with Mary, creating the rapport, the connection and PR which will hopefully translate into trust, comfort and a feeling of ease between the service provider and the client.

I’m sure that you agree by now that the role of the juniors as efficient service providers is extremely important. When we go to a restaurant, the first impression isn’t how wonderful the chef is, it’s always based on the waiting staff. How they approach us in taking our orders, how they display our cutlery, and their overall attentiveness. We already begin to judge even before the arrival of food. Thus basic training for a junior, covering topics like courtesy, communication, selling skills, handling difficult clients, handling complains, positive body language in working environment and positive mindset is so essential. The question is where do they receive this type of training? Would they even believe in training in the first place? Are they willing to invest the time to be a better person, and a better employee? Does their employer share the same “learn to progress” mentality?

To be continued………