Shampoo technician vs laser technician

The differences between shampoo technicians and laser technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a shampoo technician, becoming a laser technician takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a laser technician has an average salary of $37,370, which is higher than the $34,204 average annual salary of a shampoo technician.

The top three skills for a shampoo technician include appointment scheduling, customer service and stylists. The most important skills for a laser technician are patients, customer service, and laser equipment.

Shampoo technician vs laser technician overview

	Shampoo Technician	Laser Technician
Yearly salary	$34,204	$37,370
Hourly rate	$16.44	$17.97
Growth rate	11%	17%
Number of jobs	23,640	24,920
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 44%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	34	45
Years of experience	12	2

Shampoo technician vs laser technician salary

Shampoo technicians and laser technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Shampoo Technician	Laser Technician
Average salary	$34,204	$37,370
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $54,000	Between $30,000 And $46,000
Highest paying City	-	West Fargo, ND
Highest paying state	-	Alaska
Best paying company	-	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between shampoo technician and laser technician education

There are a few differences between a shampoo technician and a laser technician in terms of educational background:

	Shampoo Technician	Laser Technician
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 44%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Cosmetology	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	-	California State University - Long Beach

Shampoo technician vs laser technician demographics

Here are the differences between shampoo technicians' and laser technicians' demographics:

	Shampoo Technician	Laser Technician
Average age	34	45
Gender ratio	Male, 8.4% Female, 91.6%	Male, 47.8% Female, 52.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.4% Asian, 13.6% White, 51.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 7.5% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	12%	6%

Differences between shampoo technician and laser technician duties and responsibilities

Shampoo technician example responsibilities.

Provide hairstylist services/professional makeup/manicures/pedicures and modeling.
Provide hairstylist services/professional makeup/manicures/pedicures and modeling.

Laser technician example responsibilities.

Maintain coating quality using adhesion testing and spectrophotometers, and manage coating hues and reflectance adjustments.
Build solid-state, diode end pump lasers using YAG, YLF, and YVO4 nonlinear crystals.
Operate a CNC laser welding machine which make metallic honeycomb core from sheets of aluminum, steel, and titanium.
Assist physician during dermal fillers and Botox.
Specialize training on Candela laser such as GentleLase and GentleYag.
Design, assemble, and test laser modules using SolidWorks.

Shampoo technician vs laser technician skills

Common shampoo technician skills

Appointment Scheduling, 54%
Customer Service, 20%
Stylists, 8%
Front Desk, 7%
Medical Treatment, 2%
Client Appointments, 2%

Common laser technician skills

Patients, 19%
Customer Service, 15%
Laser Equipment, 8%
Laser Safety, 7%
Laser Hair Removal, 6%
Surgical Procedures, 5%

Updated January 8, 2025

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