Employment Readiness

A Discovery Day is your opportunity to tour the campus, meet the staff and check us out.  It is not required for enrollment but is highly recommended if you have not been to our campus before. We are unique. We are different.

The tour is informal, will take about an hour, and will give you a great deal of information. You will tour the campus and meet with an advisor and a licensed staff member.

You will meet with a DR advisor that has been where you are.  All are licensed in multiple cosmetology fields and fully aware of your excitement and questions.  I encourage you to ask them about their background in the cosmetology field.

They love to share.

What they are not.  They are not commissioned sales representatives of the school. They do not read from a script. DR is a private school that provides an exceptional education, small classes, and great outcomes.  FYI/Our licensing rate with the State of Indiana is 100/first-time testers that pass the exam and has been for many decades.

Hit the student resources/orientation tabs for our school catalog, course outlines, disclosures, and student handbook.

The advisor’s goal is to help you determine if DR and you are a good fit!

To begin, our goal is to help you get the information you need so that you can make an informed decision about a new career!

The advisors are educators that want to know how you learn best.

They are nosy.

This is the key to a successful education. They will have the conversation that identifies your learning style, answer your questions, and will provide the insight needed to help you meet your career goal.

The advisor will start your DR Discovery Day with the gathering of some information about you.

Simple stuff that helps us help you.

The conversation will hone in on program details; days and hours of class; applicable to your career goals, applicable class start dates, educational charges, pre-scheduled school holidays, enrollment requirements, academic standards, a timetable for program completion, graduation and licensure, employment opportunities and financial and scholarship qualifying factors. They will share helpful information about how to qualify for early state exams and the probability of immediate employment. At the end of the interactive conversation, you will be given a homework assignment if your interest is strong!

Again, simple stuff that helps us help you.

A second appointment is often recommended a week later so that the financial aid office can present a financial aid package to you. This will help you understand how education is attainable.

Our team is here to share our amazing history as a post-secondary school, help you compare and school shop and encourage you to choose a school that is not only right for you but is accountable for its outcome, the successful graduate.

Enjoy the journey, one day at a time.

Jan Stemmer, President

The Career Path class provides the education needed to assist the Don Roberts School of Hair Design graduate in a professional resume presentation, social media, and professional networking. Salon Management and Structure studies give the student the insight needed to choose the correct employment path. Independent Job Shadowing allows the student to visit a salon/spa/medical facility, observe and practice their people and interviewing skills.

Don Roberts School of Hair Design invites various professionals into the classroom. These professionals come from multiple sources, such as licensed salons/spas, medical facilities, professional manufacturers, retailers, platform artists, and makeup and nail specialists.

The Don Roberts School of Hair Design has a 100% licensing rate!

A definition of a job is a task or piece of work, especially one that is paid. This industry provides a perk to those employed; a contagious passion for what is learned and then turned into a tool.

A new career gives the learner the skills to get the job and be successful. This doesn’t come overnight, and it does take practice and patience. As an educator for many decades, I have experienced thousands of students, and they have taught me a lot. This is, as I see it, the job of a student.

Without exception, the life suitcase that we all carry is the driving force of how we perceive awareness, attitude, attendance, and accountability. Our safe place is its weight, what is in it, and how it is packed. We pull it behind us where ever we go. It is the first thing we open in the morning, and we choose how we add to it during the day.

Awareness

It is the number one asset that a student can bring to education. A proactive student stays in the moment and will always be aware of their attitude, attendance, and accountability.

Attitude

This is a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person’s behavior.

Awareness of one’s verbal or body attitude is key to a productive day. To add knowledge to life’s suitcase means looking within. A successful student will have the awareness to look at old wrinkled attitudes that no longer fit.

Attendance

This is the action or state of regularly going to or being present at a place or event. In this case, education. This requires the body and mind to be in the same place at the same time, working together. Attitude will drive attendance.

The quality of attendance determines the value of any educational experience.

Accountability

This is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions. It is a commitment to yourself that does not sit at the bottom of the suitcase.

Accountability is about attendance and attitude.

I encourage students to be aware of their suitcases.

Consider an upgrade.

Rearrange and get a new one on wheels that you don’t have to drag behind you.

Choose one that is expandable and will travel well with you.

Only put lessons in your suitcase that will serve you in a professional and profitable career.

We all have choices. Be accountable for your choice.

Most licensed professionals in the cosmetology field work in salons, spas, barbershops, or medical facilities. This could include, but not be limited to, a stationary or mobile facility. Salaries are generated by motivation, work ethic, effort, and consistency. Compensation methods can be salaried, salary plus commission, commission, tips, and/or percentage of retailed products and/or up-sold services.

This industry requires licensed professionals to establish a client base that will network for you. This will take not less than a year. It involves using networking skills, such as the professional use of Instagram. Knowing how to take great photographs is a tool that is easily acquired while in school.

Employment mobility, without a doubt, is a significant advantage within the Cosmetology employment world. Being one’s own employer and determining one’s working hours and conditions can be the best this industry offers if the newly licensed professional is prepared. This preparation requires a mindset, accountability to one’s self, and attainable goals.

On busy days, licensed professionals can find themselves on their feet or sitting for many hours, working with clients back-to-back, while on slower days, they have more free time to prepare for appointments or welcome walk-in appointments. Exposure to chemicals is common, license and job description dependent.

With initial licensure, there is a learning curve, which requires practice and patience. Many employers require an apprenticeship to adapt to the employer’s work environment. This can have the advantage of advanced education and a mentorship program. Job description dependent this can be initiated while waiting for certification and licensure from the State of Indiana.

The number of jobs for manicurists and pedicurists will grow by about 19 percent, and positions for skincare specialists will grow by 17 percent because of an increase in new salons and spas.

Desired personality traits for this profession are organization, time efficiency, artistic ability, friendliness, patience, amazing people skills, self-discipline, strong work ethic, practiced skill set, and physical endurance.

Awareness for future employment should begin no later than the first day of class.

Identifying one’s employment goals should be the priority of each student.  Determine one year and three goals at a minimum.  Verbally share desires with anyone that will listen.  Write them, think them, and allow them to alter and grow, as does your education. While in school, always think about employment, identify your strengths and visit where you might like to work in the future. Make yourself known, and take outside education.  Pro-action is the key!

Do not think back; think now and imagine what can be.  This is your responsibility to yourself.

Future employers often search out licensed cosmetology schools as a source for employees.  It has been this school experience that the opportunity to do Job Shadowing while in school gives the student the greatest opportunity to observe and learn about what they want and do not want.

Employment while in school can be found as a receptionist, assistant, shampooer, braider, permanent lash technician, retail sales and /or modeling for educational seminars.

Overall employment of barbers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists is projected to grow 19 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations. About 85,300 openings for barbers, hairstylists and cosmetologists are projected each year, on average, over the decade.

Industry Pros

• Personal Interaction
• Entrepreneurship Opportunities
• Job Satisfaction
• Artistic Interpretation
• Never Stop Learning
• Keep up with Trends and Fashion
• Completion of School
• Employed in a portion of the time than other careers
• Connecting with Clients
• Can be own Boss
• Portable Profession
• Can Develop own lines of products
• Expression of Art
• Never Stop Learning
• Learn Science Behind Hair, Skin, and Nails
• CE Requirements

Industry Cons

• Chemical Exposure
• Physical Demands
• Wages
• Licensing Requirements
• Adjusting to Clients’ Needs
• Burnout and Stress
• Competition to Gain Clients
• CE requirements

In the State of Indiana, a license is required of a cosmetologist, barber, esthetician, manicurist, and instructor. It requires an initial test and renewal of the license every four years. Indiana does not require continuing education for licensure. To sit for an Indiana license, you must graduate from a state-licensed school and then take a practical and written exam recognized by the State of Indiana.

The Indiana license cannot be used in another state unless the licensee is married to a member of the US Armed forces and is working on a US military base.

If choosing to work in another state, the licensee must apply to the new state through a process called endorsement or reciprocity. Based on their laws, the new state will determine if the applicants’ current state license is acceptable for reciprocity. Because Indiana requires both a written and a practical exam for licensure, it has been this school experience that endorsement to another state, with less or a lateral hourly requirement, is very easy and does not require another exam.

For states with a higher hourly requirement than Indiana, consideration of documented work experience is very often applicable. Each state has its conditions subject to cost, hours, training, continuing education (CE), and OSHA requirements, as well as testing requirements.