Tips for Salon Owners when Hiring Staff

‘Without a goal you can’t score’. - Casey Neistat

Finding and hiring the right staff for your salon can be a tiring challenge that sometimes just can’t be avoided. A shortage of skilled candidates in the industry will make it even harder to find the right person and the last thing you want to do is take on someone, you’re not quite sure about just because you need more staff. Nevertheless, we don’t want you to dismiss new possibilities altogether and with the right tips and tricks you can find the right new people for your business. To make things easier we have compiled a few useful tips from beginning to end, concentrating on what to look out for when hiring.


Know what you want

When advertising for a new position, be clear on what the position is about but also what qualifications you are looking for. If you define what sort of person you are looking for early on, it will make it easier later on to spot key indicators for those requirements on the candidates CV. Once sorted, you can write a job description and advertise them through social media, your website and even a local newspaper.

A CV reveals plenty already

Review candidates carefully, before inviting them for an interview. If you have a trusted colleague or manager that can assist with a second opinion then certainly take advantage of this. You want to look out for any red flags that are already noticeable in someones CV.

First, is the CV looking professional and spell checked? A CV full of spelling mistakes looks unprofessional and comes across as lazy. Do you really want to employ someone who couldn’t even make the effort to double check their work and make it look as nice as possible? As a salon owner, your priority is to make clients feel comfortable and cared for. A badly written CV might point towards a lack of motivation and perfection.

Secondly, look out for any job-hopping or gaps within a candidates CV. Without an explanation, this might point towards them having trouble integrating themselves within a salon culture or lack of motivation to work in general.


Warning signs during the interview

Once you’ve picked a few candidates you’re happy with, you want to invite them for an interview. The interviews go well and you hire new staff. However, a few weeks into the job, and you’re already regretting taking them on. Not only are they always late, but also are rude to your clients and can’t seem to get integrated with the team.

We advise you to carry out phone interviews before inviting them for an actual face-to face. This way, you’re not wasting your time on candidates who don’t really want to be there anyway. During a phone call, you can usually find out all the necessary things.


Interview Body language 

Experts say that it takes just 7 seconds to make that first impression. If a candidate sits unmotivated in front of you, can’t make eye contact and seems nervous around people then you might want to worry about it. In the end a salon is a customer facing business that will interact with people. A person who doesn’t seem confident enough around people will find it hard to work with clients on a daily basis. Moreover, clients themselves want to feel confident about choosing you, and it might reflect badly on your business if you have a nervous staff member with no customer service skills.


Late Comers 

Candidates who arrive late, without a call, text or any explanation should raise your suspicion. Interviews are important and it is unprofessional to arrive late for no reason. It might point to poorly time keeping once they’re employed, which will have a bad impact on your clients.

Unmotivated Behaviour

If they’re keen to work for you, they want to impress you. Therefore, a warning signal will be if a candidate seems to portray a lack of motivation towards the job and your salon. Has the candidate read the job description and know exactly what is asked of him/her? Have they looked up your salon on Facebook and on your website and know what services you offer? If they answer is no then I wouldn’t bother with theses types of people. 

Nor do they have any questions about the job itself, such as training and expectations.

These types of candidates are looking for a job but are not too bothered about the kind of job, as long as their monthly pay check is secure. 

As always, if you have any questions or would like to talk to one of our team members about this post then please feel free to get in contact with us, our number is 0113 350-8230.



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