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Men’s Hair Cutters Job Overview

Men's hair cutters concentrate on bettering the appearance of their customers by providing hair cutting and other hair care services to them.

Men’s Hair Cutters Schools and Degrees

Usually, a GED or a high school diploma is required to become a men's hair cutter. A variety of courses in hair cutting and styling are offered by the vocational schools. Also, both private and public post-secondary schools offer these courses. Programs in hair cutting and styling are also offered by a large number of high schools. Attending a full time course in hair cutting is important in order to become a men's hair cutter. These courses generally take about 19 months to complete, and may culminate in an associates degree.

Job Requirements

Training is essential for a men's hair cutter. One needs to attend such courses throughout their career in order to keep up with the latest trends. Men's hair cutters generally train at salons and cosmetology schools, or even at industry trade shows. Licensure is important as all states ask for the same. Requirements for licensure vary from one state to another, but basically, a men's hair cutter must have a GED or else a high school diploma. He/she needs to be sixteen years of age and needs to have successfully completed a state approved barber or cosmetology school. Besides, to get the license, one needs to pass a written and practical examination.

To further their careers, experience is an important requirement for men's hair cutters. It brings with it the prospects of earning well and building a stable customer base.

To be a successful men's hair cutter, one should have a good understanding of the art and also of the current fashion trends. Men's hair cutters need to be nimble with their fingers and be able to adeptly use the scissors. They need to keep the work area clean and also maintain a good personal appearance. Interpersonal relationship management skills are an added bonus, as client retention, sales and marketing gradually become an important part of the profession.

Nature of Work

Men's hair cutters fulfill the need of hair care for men. They look after simple aspects like the cutting of the hair, and also offer complete services like trimming, shampooing, coloring and hair styling. Complex procedures like scalp treatment are also conducted by trained hair cutters. Men's hair cutters who own salons also need to look over other aspects like the hiring of workers and the maintenance of inventories.

Men's hair cutters work for about forty hours a week. However, since a lot of their customers come in during the evenings and the weekends, they need to work odd hours at times. They usually work in a pleasant atmosphere where the places are well lit and clean.

Men’s Hair Cutters Jobs and Outlook

According to research in 2006, the jobs of those in the hair cutting is to pick up gradually. The median hourly earnings for men's hair cutters was approximately $10.25 in 2006.

Job Numbers and Growth

If you add up all the men's hair cutters in the country you get a total of about 60,000. There has been a low unemployment rate for workers. An unfortunate 3% of employees were without jobs in 2008.

Area Job Conditions

Men's hair cutters appear most common in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Virginia Beach (Virginia), and New York (New York), and least common in Virginia Beach (Virginia), New York (New York), and Nassau (New York).

Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), New York (New York), and Nassau (New York) offer the highest pay. New York (New York), Nassau (New York), and Virginia Beach (Virginia) offer the lowest salaries.

Training and Education

A postsecondary vocational award is often necessary for working in the field. About 4% of men's hair cutters have earned a degree. Some college, below a 4-year degree, is sufficient for 34% of workers. Employees with only a high school education represent about 62% of all. Recommended schools are shown in the column to the right; request information from them to help you decide which if any could help you with this career.

Part-Time Work and Self-Employment

Government statistics report that 20% of men's hair cutters are employed part-time. Workers who work for themselves total about 81%.

Men's Hair Cutters by Metropolitan Area (city and its surroundings)

In the table below, a Job Density near 0% means the area has an average number of people in this occupation, for its population. A higher or lower Job Density (e.g., +22% or -45%) tells you there are that many more or fewer workers of that type there than in the average US metro area. So, the higher the number, the more common the occupation.

New York

Pennsylvania

Virginia