How To Become A Hair Assistant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a hair assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Kathy Grant

The average hair assistant salary is $36,693. The most common degree is a high school diploma degree with an cosmetology major. It usually takes 1-2 years of experience to become a hair assistant. Hair assistants with a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 65,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a hair assistant?

Kathy Grant

Instructor, Cosmetology, Guilford Technical Community College

Research salons and make sure that you pick one that is willing to help advance and improve on the skills you have acquired in school. Continuing education should be relevant to them. Don't be afraid to start as an assistant. Make sure the salon is a good fit for you financially. Some salons offer hourly pay while others offer commission or booth rent. And lastly, there are so many directions you can go in with your degree. You are not limited to working in a salon behind a chair.

ScoreHair AssistantUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,693

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.55%

Asian 7.53%

Black or African American 12.80%

Hispanic or Latino 19.86%

Unknown 4.29%

White 54.97%

Gender

female 90.25%

male 9.75%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

5.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

10.0

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a hair assistant

Explore hair assistant education requirements

Most common hair assistant degrees

High School Diploma

32.6 %

Bachelor's

24.4 %

Associate

16.5 %

Start to develop specific hair assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
Schedule Appointments	50.98%
Cleanliness	12.26%
Customer Service	10.88%
Front Desk	6.51%
Make-Up	4.78%

Complete relevant hair assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New hair assistants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a hair assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real hair assistant resumes.

Research hair assistant duties and responsibilities

Manage product inventory for cosmetology products, place product orders, maintain the inventory.
Maintain cleanliness of professional manicuring area.
Follow established standards of safety and cleanliness.
Provide hairstylist services/professional makeup/manicures/pedicures and modeling.

Prepare your hair assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your hair assistant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a hair assistant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable hair assistant resume templates

Build a professional hair assistant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your hair assistant resume.