Halo Hairdressing Course

raul2010

My sister is thinking of doing this course. It was formally David Marshall. It's an 18 month course costing €8,000. I don't know much about hairdressing so I thought I would post here. Is this a good course and value for money? Does it stand out on a CV and is it an attractive qualification for employers?

princess-lala

Have you a link to the course and I can take a look at it for you?

Sarah Bear

it is a great course. but dont expect to be a qualified stylist afterwards. most if not all salons expect you to have minimum 3 years experiance in a salon enviornment!

raul2010

Here is the link - www.halohairdressing.ie/education.html. I am trying to figure out really if it is worth spending €8,000 on plus the additional cost of living associated with moving to Dublin. Are there better/cheaper ways to break into hairdressing?

princess-lala

That doesn't really give much info away, I did look at that last night!

How old is your sister?

Where is she living?

Sarah Bear

better and cheaper way.. and the only way imo is to do an apprenticeship in hairdressing. at least you'll be earning some money allong the way too!

raul2010

She is 24 and living at home in Longford. She has some part time work in a shop which she would have to give up and then social welfare entitlements may go as well. From a financial perspective, it's a huge decision so I want to help her make sure it is really worth it. Can you get hairdressing apprenticeships though without experience?

Sarah and Lala, are you both hairdressers by the way? Thanks for your input.

Freiheit

Would she not consider Fas? actually highly rated in this area? and she'd keep her social welfare?....Bellisimo in Limerick charge E5K for a year long course in Limerick.

I'm not a hairdresser but have done a few courses and I'd make work experience a priority,wherever she goes, that will lead to employment. Ask her to quiz Halo thoroughly on access to work experience and potential employment by them in the future. A few hairdressers have said that courses are ok but that the real training is in the real world salon. Make sure she has access to this.

Fas expect you to find saturday and weekend work, think they provide work experience in the centre on fridays, as in cutting other students on the various courses. However there may be a considerable waiting list now, ask her to check it out in various places. Waiting list might be less long in remoter areas,such as Donegal.

Sarah Bear

yes im a hairdresser, i started my apprenticeship when i was 21 so late enough. best way to go is to start in a salon. if you did a course for 1 year or worked in a salon for 1 year you would still have only 1 years experiance as a hairdresser you need 3-4 yrs to qualify.

raul2010

She has asked around all the local salons and nobody is taking on anybody for an apprenticeship. She has done a lot of unpaid work at salons too but never really got an opportunity from there. She was thinking about FAS but got a recommendation from other hairdressers to look at this Halo course instead. Apparently, there is a lot of emphasis on practical work in salons as part of it. Like I said, I know nothing about it. I just want to make sure that she makes an informed decision.

irishgirl19

I done a 16month course full time in hairdressing also costing 8000.
It is not worth it,all you are qualified to be is a junior after,sure you can do highlights and some cuts etc but you will defo not be stylist standard.

Apprenticeships are hard to come by,most want experience and even then its still hard.
FAS do a work placement programme where you do an apprenticeship in a salon and they teach you but you still keep you dole.
That would give her a taste for it and she would have invaluable experience of working on the job.

raul2010

Thanks irishgirl19. She looked into the FAS course too. Do you think having a FAS course with the practical experience you gain on it would dramatically increase her chances of getting a full time job or would that just be a starting point for an apprenticeship?

irishgirl19

I am not sure how good the FAS courses are because I never done one of theirs obviously the halo one would be better than the course and as far as I know there is a long waiting list for the FAS ones.

But there is a programme called the work placement scheme.I am out of work in hairdressing for the past couple of months and find it hard to get a job in it.I was working the odd few days in a salon and they said to me they need someone but dont need them that much (ie too mean to pay me)
But they said I could do the work placement with them.
This is where you are effectively working and treated the exact same way as an employee but you are actually paid by FAS,its designed to help people get a real job and get experience.There is a limit of 25 hours so you can't be made work any more or the salon will have to pay you.

There are a lots of hairdressers doing this you can find them on the FAS website under the job search (it will say WPP after it).
I decided I will do it because I will be getting my training and on paper on CV I have a job.
It usually lasts 9 months and you get 188(maybe travel allowance not too sure)
Even if you just go into a salon and discuss this they could agree to do it because its no loss on them because you are insure by fas and everything.

bestin the west

fas i good couse as i done it and i have my own salon now for last 4 years