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Contents
What Matters Most
Why This Hairdresser Resume Works
How to Write a Hairdresser Resume
What to Include in a Hairdresser Resume
Hairdresser Resume Summary Examples
Hairdresser Work Experience Examples
Top Hairdresser Skills
Key Certifications & Licences for a Hairdresser
Common Hairdresser Resume Mistakes
Hairdresser Resume FAQs
Summary
Qualified hairdresser with eleven years cutting, colouring and styling in busy Glasgow salons, the last four as a senior stylist with a loyal client base. Cuts and colours across all hair types, from precision cuts and balayage to corrective colour and bridal styling, and consults so clients leave with a look that suits their face, lifestyle and hair. Built a fully booked column through repeat clients and word of mouth. Keeps skills current with the latest techniques and products, mentors junior stylists, and helps run a calm, welcoming salon floor. Friendly, precise and genuinely interested in what each client wants. Looking for a senior-stylist chair in a quality salon with a strong client culture.
Work Experience
Senior Stylist
Merchant City Hair, Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Apr 2018 – Present
- Cut, colour and style across all hair types, from precision cuts to balayage and corrective colour.
- Built a fully booked column through repeat clients and steady word-of-mouth referrals over many years.
- Consult with clients so each leaves with a look that suits their face, lifestyle and hair.
- Deliver polished bridal and special-occasion styling for weddings and other big events too.
- Mentor the junior stylists and help keep the whole salon floor calm and genuinely welcoming.
- Keep skills current with all the latest cutting, colour and product techniques on the market.
Stylist
West End Salon, Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Aug 2013 – Mar 2018
- Built a client base cutting, colouring and styling on a busy salon floor.
- Developed strong colour skills and gained the advanced balayage certification there.
- Learned the consultation and aftercare habits that earned steady repeat bookings.
- Progressed to a senior-stylist chair on the strength of the work.
Education
NVQ Level 3 in Hairdressing, Hairdressing
Glasgow Clyde College
Sep 2011 – Jun 2013
- NVQ Level 3 in hairdressing covering cutting, colouring, chemical services and client consultation, with salon placement. The placement built real chair-side experience. Established the qualified-stylist foundation the role requires.
Advanced Colour & Balayage Certification, Colour Technician
Wella / L'Oréal Academy
Jan 2017 – May 2017
- Advanced colour certification covering balayage, corrective colour and the latest toning techniques. It sharpened the colour specialism clients ask for. Applied directly to the salon's growing colour and balayage work.
Highlights
Fully booked column
- Built a fully booked column through repeat clients and word-of-mouth referrals over several years. A loyal client base is the clearest proof of consistent, trusted work behind the chair.
Colour specialist
- Became the salon's go-to for balayage and corrective colour after advanced training. Fixing colour others got wrong is some of the most rewarding and skilled work in the craft.
Certifications
Advanced Colour & Balayage
Wella / L'Oréal Academy
May 2017 – Present
- Advanced colour certification covering balayage, corrective colour and the latest toning techniques. It sharpened the colour specialism clients ask for. Applied directly to the salon's growing colour and balayage work.
Cutting, Bridal & Hair-Up Techniques
Scottish Hairdressing Academy
Apr 2019 – Present
- Advanced certification in precision cutting and bridal hair-up styling. It supports the cuts and the wedding and special-occasion work delivered regularly behind the chair.
Advanced Training
Extensions & Textured Hair
Hairdressing Academy
May 2020 – Present
- Course in hair extensions and working with textured and curly hair types. It widens the range of clients she can confidently take and the services the salon can offer them.
Salon Business & Retail
Hairdressing Academy
Jun 2021 – Present
- Course in salon business covering retail, client retention and column management. It supports building and keeping a fully booked column and the retail sales that go with it.
Languages
- English (UK) — Native or Bilingual Proficiency
- French — Limited Working Proficiency
Professional Skills
- Precision Cutting
- Colour & Highlights
- Balayage
- Corrective Colour
- Bridal & Event Styling
- Client Consultation
- Chemical Services
- Blow-Dry & Finishing
- Product Knowledge
- Aftercare Advice
Personal Skills
- Creativity
- Attention to Detail
- People Skills
- Reliability
- Patience
Activities & Interests
- Bowling
- Online Shop
- Sculpting
- Baking
- Volleyball
What Matters Most
Before the detail, here is what decides a strong hairdresser resume:
- Lead with your qualification and years behind the chair: NVQ Level 3 (or equivalent), hair types you cut, and the services you cover from cut and colour to balayage and corrective work.
- Prove a loyal column. A fully booked or repeat-client column, strong rebooking, and word-of-mouth referrals are the clearest evidence a salon can read.
- Name your colour ceiling. Full-head tint, foils, balayage, toner work and corrective colour separate a stylist from a generalist, so spell out where you sit.
- Show retail and aftercare. Product recommendation and rebooking numbers tell a salon you add to the till, not just the chair.
- Match the level you are applying for. Junior, stylist, senior-stylist and chair-rental roles each read for different proof, so anchor the resume to the seat you want.
Why This Hairdresser Resume Works
The sample reads like someone who has genuinely run a busy salon floor, not a list of services copied from a price board. Here is what it gets right:
- The summary opens with the qualification and years behind the chair, then names the hair types and the service range, so a salon owner knows in one line whether this stylist fits the chair.
- It leads on the column rather than tasks. Stating a fully booked column built on repeat clients and referrals is the single proof a salon screens for, and it sits high where it gets read.
- Colour is positioned as a specialism, not a line item. Balayage, corrective colour and toning are flagged separately, which tells a salon this is a colourist they can put on the harder work.
- Consultation is framed as an outcome, not a step. Saying clients leave with a look that suits their face, lifestyle and hair signals the judgement that earns rebookings.
- The structure climbs cleanly from stylist to senior stylist, with the advanced colour and balayage certification placed to explain the jump, so the progression reads as earned.
- The close states the seat wanted, a senior-stylist chair in a salon with strong client culture, which screens the resume straight to the right vacancy.
How to Write a Hairdresser Resume
A salon owner reads a hairdresser resume for two things: can you cut and colour to their standard, and will you fill a chair. Build every section to answer those:
Open with qualification, years and service range
First line names your NVQ Level (or equivalent), years behind the chair, the hair types you cut, and the spread from cut and blow-dry to colour and chemical services. A salon decides in that sentence whether to read on, so do not bury it under personality lines.
Quantify the column and the rebooking
Numbers a salon trusts are column size, rebooking rate, retail per client and average clients a day. Write "built a fully booked column with around 70% rebooking" rather than "good with clients". Even a busy day count, such as 12 to 14 clients on a Saturday, reads as proof.
State your colour ceiling precisely
Colour is where stylists get sorted. Spell out full-head tint, regrowth, foils and highlights, balayage, toner work and colour correction, and flag where you are the salon's go-to. A salon hiring a colourist needs to see corrective work named, not implied.
Show consultation and aftercare as judgement
Frame consultation by its result, that clients leave with a cut and colour that suits their face shape, lifestyle and hair condition, then tie aftercare and retail to rebooking. This is the difference between a technician and a stylist clients come back to.
Match the resume to the seat
A junior chair reads for speed and assisting; a senior chair reads for a transferable column and colour correction; a chair-rental or commission seat reads for clients you bring and your retail. Re-order your top bullets so the proof for that specific seat sits first, and if you want a head start you can build it on a salon-ready template and drop your column, colour range and retail figures straight in.
Extra tips
Salons hire on a live cut-and-colour on a model, not on the CV alone.
Say you are happy to come in for a trade day; it moves you ahead of stylists who only send paper.
What to Include in a Hairdresser Resume
Salon resumes are judged on credentials, column and colour range as much as on layout. Make sure these carry weight on the page:
Qualification line: NVQ Level 2 and 3 in Hairdressing (or SVQ / City & Guilds / apprenticeship equivalent), plus any colour, cutting or extension certificates.
Brand academy training: Wella, L'Oréal, Redken or similar colour and balayage courses, which tell a salon your colour standard at a glance.
A clear service list: cutting, colouring, foils, balayage, perms and chemical treatments, blow-dry and styling, updos, extensions and treatments.
Column and retention proof: column size, rebooking, retail figures, and how the column was built.
Insurance and licensing where relevant: public liability and chair-rental terms matter for self-employed and commission seats.
Hairdresser Resume Summary Examples
Your summary is the consultation before the consultation. These pronoun-free examples show how the same role reads at different levels and specialisms, so you can pitch the chair you actually want:
Whichever of these levels matches the chair you want, the summary only lands if your column size, colour ceiling and rebooking sit in the first two lines where a salon owner stops to read. You can shape yours on a salon-ready template and lead with the column and colour work that actually fills a seat.
Entry-level resume summary example
Newly qualified hairdresser with NVQ Level 2 and 3 in Hairdressing and two years on a busy high-street salon floor, confident with cutting, blow-drying, foils and full-head colour across most hair types. Quick and tidy on the basics, from shampoo and conditioning treatments to gowning, sectioning and prepping colour, and trusted to run blow-dries and walk-in cuts unsupervised on a Saturday. Started rebooking a small group of regulars and adding retail to most colour appointments. Keen to keep building cutting and colour skills toward a full stylist chair, and to learn balayage and toning from a strong senior team. Looking for a stylist position in a salon that invests in training and lets newer stylists grow a column.
Mid-level resume summary example
Hairdresser and colour technician with seven years behind the chair across independent and commission salons, specialising in lived-in colour, balayage and foil work alongside precision cutting for all hair types. Carries a steady column of repeat clients with rebooking sitting around 70 percent, and is regularly booked for corrective colour and toning the rest of the team passes up. Comfortable consulting on face shape, lifestyle and hair condition, and consistently adds homecare and styling retail to colour appointments. Holds Wella and L'Oréal colour certifications and keeps technique current through brand academy days. Seeking a stylist or colourist chair in a quality salon where colour and client care are taken seriously.
Senior-level resume summary example
Senior stylist and salon colour lead with thirteen years behind the chair, fully booked weeks ahead on a transferable column built on referrals and rebooking. Owns the hardest colour in the salon, including corrective work, vivids and bridal colour, and runs a full consultation that sends clients out with a cut and colour suited to their face, lifestyle and hair. Mentors junior stylists through their colour and cutting progression and helps set the standard on the floor, while keeping personal retail and rebooking among the strongest in the team. Trained through Wella and L'Oréal academies and certified in advanced balayage and bridal styling. Looking for a senior chair, chair-rental or colour-lead seat in a salon with a strong client culture.
Hairdresser Work Experience Examples
Bullets should read like a salon owner watching you work: the service, the volume and the result clients rebook for. These labeled sets show how that looks across different seats:
Senior stylist / colour lead
- Carried a fully booked column of 40-plus regulars built on referrals and rebooking, holding personal rebooking near 75 percent and ranking among the salon's top three for retail per client across the year.
- Owned the salon's corrective colour and colour-correction work, rescuing banded and over-toned colour that other stylists declined and turning most one-off fixes into repeat colour clients who rebooked.
- Delivered precision cutting and lived-in balayage across all hair types, consulting on face shape, lifestyle and hair condition so clients left with a cut and colour they could actually style at home.
- Mentored three junior stylists through their cutting and colour progression, running model nights, signing off blow-dry and colour competencies, and lifting the whole section to a consistent salon standard.
- Styled 20-plus weddings and special occasions a year, managing trial-to-day-of bridal hair-up, agreeing looks at consultation and keeping bookings on time alongside a full chair of regular clients.
Salon stylist / generalist
- Built a personal column from walk-ins to roughly 25 repeat clients in eighteen months through careful consultation, honest aftercare advice and consistent rebooking at the chair before each client left.
- Cut, coloured and styled 12 to 14 clients on a typical Saturday, covering full-head tint, foils, blow-dries and restyles across all hair types while keeping the section to its booking times.
- Added homecare and styling retail to most colour appointments, lifting personal retail to one of the higher figures on the floor over two seasons by matching products to each client's hair at consultation.
- Handled foils, regrowth and toner work to a clean, even finish, learning balayage and colour correction from the senior team and taking on simple corrective fixes solo within the first year.
- Kept the section sanitised and fully stocked between clients, managing gowning, tool sterilisation, colour-bar tidiness and laundry to salon hygiene standards through back-to-back appointments.
Junior stylist / assistant
- Ran blow-dries, shampoo and conditioning treatments and walk-in cuts unsupervised within the first year, freeing senior stylists for colour and cutting work and keeping the salon's booking flow moving.
- Prepped and mixed colour for the team, sectioning hair, applying regrowth and weaving foils to the colourist's brief across a busy six-day floor without holding up the colour timings.
- Started a small column of rebooking regulars from front-desk walk-ins by offering tidy, unhurried consultations and reliable, on-time blow-dries that clients kept coming back to the salon for.
- Maintained colour-bar stock, laundry and station hygiene to salon standards, keeping tools sterilised and the floor reset between clients through back-to-back appointments all day.
- Completed brand academy cutting and colour days and progressed onto the full stylist rota on the strength of consistent, salon-standard finishing, dependable timekeeping and clean colour work.
Top Hairdresser Skills
Salons skim a hairdresser resume for the services you can actually run unsupervised and the soft skills that fill a column. Cover both:
Hard skills
- Precision Cutting (Scissor, Clipper, Razor)
- Colouring (Full Head, Highlights, Balayage, Toner)
- Foiling & Colour Correction
- Perming & Chemical Treatments
- Blow-Drying & Styling
- Client Consultation
- Hair & Scalp Treatments
- Updos & Occasion Styling
- Bridal & Event Styling
- Hair Extensions
- Working with Textured & Curly Hair
- Retail & Product Recommendation
- Aftercare Advice
- Sanitation & Salon Hygiene
- Bookings & Clientele Building
- Rebooking & Client Retention
- Column & Commission Management
Soft skills:
- Creativity
- Attention to Detail
- People Skills
- Reliability
- Patience
- Communication
Key Certifications & Licences for a Hairdresser
For a hairdresser, the credential that matters most is the qualification (and, in much of the US, the licence) that proves you can work behind the chair to standard; brand colour academies then show your ceiling. List these:
-
State Cosmetology Licence
— State Board of Cosmetology (varies by state) Legally required to cut, colour or chemically treat hair for pay in most US states; earned by completing the required cosmetology hours and passing the state board written and practical exams. Not required in the UK, where a recognised hairdressing qualification stands in its place. Issued per state, so link or name your own state board rather than a single national body.
-
Level 2 & 3 Diploma in Hairdressing (NVQ)
— City & Guilds The standard UK vocational route; Level 2 covers cutting, colouring and styling to a competent chair standard, Level 3 adds advanced cutting, colour correction and creative work. SVQ (Scotland) and VTCT diplomas are recognised equivalents.
-
Wella Professionals Colour Certification
— Wella Company Optional brand academy training in colour theory, foils, balayage and toning; signals your colour standard to a salon at a glance and is worth naming by the specific course completed.
-
L'Oréal Professionnel Colour & Balayage Certification
— L'Oréal Professionnel Optional academy credential covering colour, foil and balayage technique; a common salon standard alongside Wella and Redken, and strong proof for a colourist chair.
Common Hairdresser Resume Mistakes
Most hairdresser resumes lose the chair on the same handful of points. Avoid these:
- Listing every service as a flat menu with no level. "Colour" tells a salon nothing; "full-head tint, foils, balayage, toner and corrective colour" tells them where you sit.
- Leaving out the column. With no mention of rebooking, repeat clients or referrals, a salon cannot tell whether you fill a chair or just complete appointments.
- Ignoring retail. Product recommendation and retail per client are real numbers salons hire on, and most stylists never put them on the page.
- Blurring the qualification. State the NVQ or SVQ level and any brand colour certificates clearly; "trained in hairdressing" reads as unqualified to a salon owner.
- Calling yourself a stylist when you mean barber or vice versa. Be specific about salon hairdressing across all hair types so the resume matches the seat.
Hairdresser Resume FAQs
The questions hairdressers most often ask when writing a resume for a salon chair:
List your NVQ or SVQ Level 2 and 3 in Hairdressing (or City & Guilds or apprenticeship equivalent) plus any brand colour, cutting or extension certificates. In the UK there is no statutory licence to cut hair, so your recognised qualification and brand academy training are what tell a salon your standard.
In the UK you do not need a personal licence to cut, colour or style hair, but the salon premises usually need local-authority registration and the business needs insurance. In many US states you must hold a state cosmetology licence, so if you are applying there, list it. Either way, put your hairdressing qualification front and centre.
A hairdresser is the general salon term for someone who cuts, colours and styles all hair types; "stylist" often signals a more senior chair and a personal column, while a barber specialises in short cuts, clippers and beard work, usually for men. Use the title that matches the seat you want and the work you actually do.
State the size, how it was built and the rebooking that holds it: "fully booked column of 40-plus regulars built on referrals, around 70 percent rebooking". A column is the proof a salon screens for, so put it in the summary and the top experience bullets rather than burying it.
Lead with your technical range: cutting, full-head and foil colour, balayage, toner and corrective colour, perms and chemical work, blow-drying, updos and consultation. Add retail, rebooking and salon hygiene, then a short set of soft skills like patience and people skills that keep a column loyal.
Yes. Retail per client and rebooking rate are numbers salons genuinely hire on, because they show you add to the till and keep the chair full. Even rough figures, such as adding homecare to most colour appointments or rebooking around 70 percent of clients, lift a resume above a plain service list.
One page is right for most hairdressers, even with ten-plus years behind the chair. A salon owner skims for qualification, services, column and colour range, so keep it to a focused page; only go to two if you have extensive brand education, bridal work or salon-lead experience worth detailing.
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