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

What is a salon assistant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a salon assistant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $12.54 an hour? That's $26,083 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 65,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreSalon AssistantUS Average

Salary

2.0

Avg. Salary $26,083

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.6

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.56%

Asian 7.91%

Black or African American 13.29%

Hispanic or Latino 18.49%

Unknown 4.34%

White 55.42%

Gender

female 87.41%

male 12.59%

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 salon assistant

Explore salon assistant education requirements

Most common salon assistant degrees

High School Diploma

36.6 %

Bachelor's

23.7 %

Associate

19.2 %

Start to develop specific salon assistant skills

Skills	Percentages
PET	22.49%
Cleanliness	16.13%
Customer Service	15.45%
Appointment Scheduling	10.41%
Front Desk	6.69%

Complete relevant salon assistant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New salon 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 salon assistant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real salon assistant resumes.

Research salon assistant duties and responsibilities

Maintain salon appearance ensuring cleanliness, organization and manage inventory of salon products.
Color, bleach, perm and relax hair.
Assist in blow drying clients hair by holding hair dryers and brushes in place.
Maintain and style wigs and hair pieces for the production shows through grooming techniques.

Prepare your salon assistant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your salon 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 salon 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 salon assistant resume templates

Build a professional salon 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 salon assistant resume.