How do I check how a hair salon trains new assistants and apprentices?

A salon that trains well replaces its own people. Ask the owner to walk you through the last assistant who became a stylist. Who taught them, what could they do on day one, and how was the readiness judged? If the answer is that they picked it up by watching, the salon depends on whoever happens to have time.

Talk to the senior stylists, and to an assistant if the seller allows it. Ask whether there are set times for learning or whether training happens only between clients. Ask what assistants are paid, whether those arrangements are written down, and whether the salon has ever lost a trained stylist to a rival chair a few streets away.

Look at the way clients are handed over. A good training path moves clients from senior stylist to junior gradually. Ask how the owner would explain it to the clients, and what would happen to it if the trainers left after the sale. Ask what happened to the assistants who left, because their reasons often explain the culture better than the owner’s description does.

Key takeaways

• Ask for the story of the last assistant who became a full stylist.
• Check whether training is written down or only a habit passed along informally between staff.
• Find out who teaches, and whether they plan to stay.
• Speak to a current assistant if the seller allows it, and listen for how supported they feel.