Hair Stylist Resume Sample

The first hurdle to landing a hairstylist job is obtaining a license by your state cosmetology board or a similar professional organization.

All prospective hairstylists are expected to competently wield a pair of hair shears, so including any customer service experience and expert knowledge in your resume will place you a cut above other applicants.

1. Write a strong hair stylist resume objective

Beginning your resume with a resume objective (or career objective) is a great way to introduce yourself as an applicant, and list qualifications which you can then elaborate in other sections. We’ll look at this applicant’s Career Objective to learn exactly which points you should include to start your resume off strong.

Sentence 1: Licensed Hair Stylist equipped with over 5 years experience and a passion for cosmetology and hair care.

A cosmetology license is required for professional hair stylists, so be sure to first and foremost let your hiring manager know that you are certified. Including the number of years of work experience you have will substantiate your skills as a hair stylist.

Sentence 2: Proficient in a full range of high quality hair cutting, color, chemical, and thermal hair services.

Describe your skill set! Sell yourself as a versatile hair stylist. If you feel as though you’re lacking knowledge in some areas, stress that you are motivated to learn.

Sentence 3: Dedicated to crafting positive salon experiences and building effective client-stylist relationships through sales, customer service, and strong interpersonal skills.

Wrap it up; include any additional skills you have that relate to the hair stylist position. Above all, tell the hiring manager how you will apply your skills to benefit their business and goals.

2. Emphasize your business side

As a hairstylist, you will spend nearly every moment on the job interacting with customers. No matter how technically skilled you are, you need to be able to connect with your clients to sell your services and products.

Make your sales skills stand out with specific figures. Simply writing, “increased salon retail revenue,” means nothing to your potential employer who has no knowledge of your last workplace, the number of clients you worked with, or what exactly you sold.

Whenever possible, quantify the work you’ve done to give hiring managers more context into your achievements. For instance, most hairstylists have certain sales goals, so you can include positive numbers of your sales and any related sales awards such as “Employee of the Month.”

Here are two points in this applicant’s resume that effectively highlight his or her sales experience:

• Increased salon retail product revenue by 10% through client sales
• Consistently exceed monthly individual sales goals by over 15% through promotion of salon retail products and add-on treatments and packages

If you are just starting out and don’t have solid sales numbers to show off, list other customer service jobs in your resume. Waitressing and working in grocery stores may seem industries away from cosmetology, but what salon hiring managers will see is someone who can provide an excellent customer service experience and positively represent their business.

3. Highlight your relevant skills

Hairstyling is an industry that follows trends, and demand for certain services and styles will fluctuate yearly and even by season.

Beyond the initial schooling and certification, it’s important to emphasize on your resume that you’re keeping up-to-date and being trained in the latest hair care trends and technologies.

Examples of in-demand skills you might want to consider adding to your resume include:

• keratin treatments
• thermal reconditioning procedures
• non-natural fashion colors
• balayage

These skills and techniques can be added into the professional experience section of your resume as you discuss the job duties you’ve performed at previous salons. Another area to list specific areas of expertise is in the additional skills section.

By placing special emphasis on specific skills, you can brand yourself as a specialist of certain techniques or client demographics. In this sample resume, the applicant emphasized an area of expertise and made sure to include her involvement in special styling services.

• Specializing in hair color techniques, including highlights and ombré
• Work one-on-one with over 45 clients yearly for special event styling such as weddings, formals, and fashion shows

Highlight skills you can do better than other applicants, but be careful not to pigeonhole yourself.

Following all three tips by conveying your hairstyling background, sales finesse, and niche skills will show hiring managers that you are a capable hairstylist and a desirable candidate for their salon.

In addition to these tips, our professional resume builder can help you craft the perfect resume.