What does a hairstylist/cosmetologist do?
Hairstylist/cosmetologist responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real hairstylist/cosmetologist resumes:
- Manage beautiful hairstyles with the use of flat irons, curling irons, blow dryers, and other hair products.
- Work as a hairstylist, receptionist, sell retail and up sell services and products.
- Apply make-up, dress wigs, learn customer's needs, provide fingernail treatments, and maintain clean work area.
- Receive certification and start as hairstylist.
- Maintain hair tools and salon instruments for salon cleanliness and compliance with cosmetology regulations.
- Train and employ by Aveda, demonstrating the use of plant and flower sensory methodology.
Hairstylist/cosmetologist skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Hairstylist/Cosmetologists are proficient in Scheduling Appointments, Makeup, and Salon Services. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Customer-service skills, and Listening skills.
We break down the percentage of Hairstylist/Cosmetologists that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Scheduling Appointments, 17%
Front desk responsibilities included calling clients for reminders, answering phone, cash handling, scheduling appointments, and data entry.
- Makeup, 12%
Provided one-on-one personal makeup artistry for clients.
- Salon Services, 8%
Provided salon services such as cutting, coloring, styling, perms, waxing, product sales and treatments.
- Cosmetology, 7%
Maintained hair tools and salon instruments for salon cleanliness and compliance with cosmetology regulations.
- Front Desk, 5%
Greeted clients and managed all front desk operations Including scheduling of appointments and appointment reminder notification.
- Customer Service, 5%
Offered exceptional customer service while demonstrating and recommend products to every client.
"scheduling appointments," "makeup," and "salon services" are among the most common skills that hairstylist/cosmetologists use at work. You can find even more hairstylist/cosmetologist responsibilities below, including:
Creativity. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a hairstylist/cosmetologist to have is creativity. Their role and responsibilities require that "barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists must keep up with the latest trends and be ready to try new hairstyles for their clients." Hairstylist/cosmetologists often use creativity in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "started as receptionist in 2009 duties included answering phone, scheduling appointments, ringing out clients, inventory and orders. "
Customer-service skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling hairstylist/cosmetologist duties is customer-service skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "workers must be friendly, pleasant, and able to interact with clients to build and retain clientele." According to a hairstylist/cosmetologist resume, here's how hairstylist/cosmetologists can utilize customer-service skills in their job responsibilities: "front desk services including; answering phone calls, scheduling appointments, greeting guests, appointment reminder calls, serving beverages. "
Listening skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of hairstylist/cosmetologists is listening skills. This skill is critical to many everyday hairstylist/cosmetologist duties, as "barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists must be attentive when clients describe what they want to ensure satisfaction with the result." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "communicated effectively with clients maintained professionalism trained new stylist inventory control handled cash debit/credit payments along with bank deposits"
Physical stamina. hairstylist/cosmetologist responsibilities often require "physical stamina." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists must be able to stand for long periods." This resume example shows what hairstylist/cosmetologists do with physical stamina on a typical day: "analyze patrons' hair and other physical features to determine and recommend beauty treatment or suggest hair styles. "
Tidiness. Another common skill required for hairstylist/cosmetologist responsibilities is "tidiness." This skill comes up in the duties of hairstylist/cosmetologists all the time, as "workers must keep their work area clean and sanitary for the health and safety of their clients." An excerpt from a real hairstylist/cosmetologist resume shows how this skill is central to what a hairstylist/cosmetologist does: "cut, style, shampoo, and color clients hair salon cleanup and tidiness assist in paying bills"
Time-management skills. While "time-management skills" is last on this skills list, don't underestimate its importance to hairstylist/cosmetologist responsibilities. Much of what a hairstylist/cosmetologist does relies on this skill, seeing as "barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists need to manage their time efficiently when scheduling appointments and providing services." Here is a resume example of how this skill is used in the everyday duties of hairstylist/cosmetologists: "key responsibility to assist stylist on all commercials and photo shoots critical time management skills as deadlines were based on daily shoots"
The three companies that hire the most hairstylist/cosmetologists are:
- Salon & Spa159 hairstylist/cosmetologists jobs
- Soothe50 hairstylist/cosmetologists jobs
- Kohler Co.6 hairstylist/cosmetologists jobs
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Compare different hairstylist/cosmetologists
Hairstylist/cosmetologist vs. Beautician
A Beautician is a person whose job is to do hair styling, manicures, and other beauty treatments. They work in various trades of the beauty industry, such as hair, skin, or nail care.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, hairstylist/cosmetologist responsibilities require skills like "scheduling appointments," "makeup," "product sales," and "product knowledge." Meanwhile a typical beautician has skills in areas such as "beauty shop," "compassion," "customer care," and "nail care." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Beauticians earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $37,525. On the other hand, hairstylist/cosmetologists are paid more in the technology industry with an average salary of $35,549.The education levels that beauticians earn slightly differ from hairstylist/cosmetologists. In particular, beauticians are 3.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a hairstylist/cosmetologist. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Hairstylist/cosmetologist vs. Braider
Each career also uses different skills, according to real hairstylist/cosmetologist resumes. While hairstylist/cosmetologist responsibilities can utilize skills like "makeup," "salon services," "cosmetology," and "front desk," braiders use skills like "braiders," "ran," "appointment calendar," and "assembly line."
Braiders earn similar levels of education than hairstylist/cosmetologists in general. They're 4.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for hairstylist/cosmetologists in the next 3-5 years?
Charley Sain
Cosmetology Instructor, Program Coordinator for Cosmetology, Esthetics, and Manicuring, Cleveland Community College
Hairstylist/cosmetologist vs. Colorist
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, hairstylist/cosmetologists are more likely to have skills like "makeup," "salon services," "cosmetology," and "customer service." But a colorist is more likely to have skills like "color correction," "davinci resolve," "color theory," and "color standards."
Colorists make a very good living in the media industry with an average annual salary of $38,234. On the other hand, hairstylist/cosmetologists are paid the highest salary in the technology industry, with average annual pay of $35,549.colorists typically earn similar educational levels compared to hairstylist/cosmetologists. Specifically, they're 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Hairstylist/cosmetologist vs. Hair and makeup designer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between hairstylist/cosmetologists and hair and makeup designers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a hairstylist/cosmetologist might have more use for skills like "scheduling appointments," "makeup," "salon services," and "cosmetology." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of hair and makeup designers require skills like "stage production," "photo shoots," "stage makeup," and "annual video. "
The average resume of hair and makeup designers showed that they earn higher levels of education compared to hairstylist/cosmetologists. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 6.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of hairstylist/cosmetologist
Updated January 8, 2025
