How to Hire Salon Staff: Job Ads, Model Days, Interviews and Onboarding

Hiring the wrong stylist costs a salon twice: once in the clients who don't come back after an uneven cut or a patchy colour, and again in the months of rehiring. Most bad hires aren't bad people. They were hired on a conversation, tested on easy hair, and left to sink or swim in their first fortnight.

This guide walks through each step, from deciding the role to the day-30 review, for stylists, assistants and front-desk staff. Figures are in US dollars; the maths is the same in any currency. Employment law differs by country, state and sometimes city, so wherever a step touches contracts, pay or licences, check your local rules or ask an employment adviser.

#Decide the role before you write the ad

Write down the role, its level and how it is paid before you advertise. A vague "stylist wanted" attracts everyone from a newly qualified junior to a senior with a full book, and you end up testing people you could never hire.

For each opening, answer five questions on one page:

1. Which role? Stylist, colourist, assistant, nail technician, beauty therapist or front desk.
2. Which level? Junior, stylist, senior or expert, with the price level clients will pay for their time. The guide to pricing salon services covers price levels by experience.
3. What must they do unsupervised in week one? A list of services, not "all hair services".
4. How are they paid? Hourly or salaried base, commission, or both, with the rates written down. The guide to salon commission structures compares six models with worked examples.
5. Which hours? Days, evenings and weekends, and how many Saturdays a month.

Check the pay against your existing team before you go to market. If the new hire would earn more than someone already doing the job well, fix that first; your team will find out within a week.

#What should a salon job ad say?

A salon job ad should say the role and level, the pay range and how commission works, the hours, the location, what support you offer, and how to apply. The pay range does most of the work: it filters out people you can't afford and people you would be underpaying.

Describe the work, not the person you imagine doing it. Your local equality or employment rules may limit what a job ad can ask for, and a list of skills ages better than a list of adjectives.

#Where to find salon candidates

The best candidates usually come from beauty schools, your own team's referrals, product educators, job boards, social media portfolios and former staff. Each source suits some roles better than others.

Paying a referral bonus only after the trial period rewards good hires, not introductions. Newly qualified graduates have usually practised far more on mannequins and classmates than on paying clients; plan supervised weeks before they take a column, and price their time at junior level while they do.

#A 10-minute phone screen

A short phone screen confirms experience, services, pay expectations, notice period, travel and availability before you spend a model day on anyone. Ask every candidate the same questions and write the answers down.

1. Where are you working now, and for how long?
2. Which services do you do every week without help, and which only occasionally?
3. Roughly what did you bring in last month in services, and how are you paid now?
4. What are you looking for in your next salon?
5. If we made you an offer, when could you start?
6. How far are you from the salon, and how would you travel?
7. Can you work the evenings and Saturdays this role needs?
8. Why are you thinking of moving?

A stylist who can't say roughly what they bill, or how their commission is worked out, has either never been shown or would rather not say. Both are worth knowing. And a candidate in a job who can start tomorrow is telling you how much notice they'd give you.

#The trade test: a model day

A model day is a paid half day in your salon in which the candidate performs two or three real services on models you have booked, with your products and tools, while two people score the work against a written rubric. It shows you technique, consultation, hygiene and how they treat people, which no interview can.

Book models who look like your typical clients, tell them what to expect, and give them the service free. For colour, follow the product manufacturer's instructions on allergy alert or skin tests, or test on a mannequin head instead.

The salon front desk guide has the scripts to role-play for front-desk candidates.

Pay the candidate for the day. A working trial is real work, your local employment rules may require it to be paid, and paying tells good candidates you run a serious salon.

A scoring rubric for the model day

Score each criterion from 1 to 5, multiply by its weight and add the results. Agree beforehand that a score of 1 on hygiene fails the candidate, whatever the total.

#Interview questions that get real answers

Ask about real past situations, not hypotheticals. "Tell me about the last time…" gets facts; "What would you do if…" gets the answer the candidate thinks you want.

Client care

• Tell me about a client who was unhappy with your work. What did you do?
• How do you handle a client who brings a photo you know won't work on their hair?

Selling and rebooking

• What is the last product you recommended, and why that one?
• How do you suggest the next appointment without it feeling like a sales pitch?

Teamwork

• Tell me about a disagreement with a colleague over a client. How was it settled?
• Have you trained an assistant? What did you teach first?

Reliability

• How many days did you miss at your last salon in the past year, and why?
• What would your current manager say you need to work on?

Good answers are specific, admit a mistake and say what changed afterwards.

#Check licences and certificates

Check whether your country, state or city requires a licence for the role, the premises or both, and verify it before the person's first shift. Rules range from none for the individual to a state licence with renewal and continuing education, so look them up for your own location rather than assuming.

Two examples show how different the rules can be. In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says all states require barbers, hairstylists and cosmetologists to be licensed, and that qualifications vary by state. In Great Britain, the Hair and Barber Council, the statutory body for the profession, says anyone can practise as a hairdresser or barber with no training or qualifications. Even there, GOV.UK says some councils in England require hairdressing businesses to register, and many London boroughs license premises that offer "special treatments" such as massage, manicures, pedicures and nail extensions.

#Reference checks

Call two previous salon owners or managers, with the candidate's permission, and ask questions that need specific answers. Friends and colleagues of the same level are not references.

The last answer matters most. A long pause before "yes" deserves a follow-up question.

#Making the offer

Make the offer by phone or in person, confirm it in writing the same day, and settle any pay gap with criteria rather than a bigger number. Most salon offer negotiations come down to a few hundred dollars a month.

Rebooking rate is one of the numbers worth putting in an offer; the guide to salon KPIs to track shows how to calculate it.

Whether a non-compete or non-solicitation clause can be enforced depends on where you are, so take local advice before you put one in. The guide to stylist retention explains how to protect client relationships without relying on one.

#The trial period

Set a trial or probation period in the written offer, with reviews at day 30 and day 90. Check your local employment rules on how long it can be and what notice applies during it; within those rules, three months suits most salon roles.

Use the reviews to sign off services and agree targets, not as a formality. If someone isn't ready at 90 days, extend the period once, in writing, naming the two or three things that must change, rather than letting a doubt drift.

#Onboarding: the first 30 days

Spend the first month on salon standards, shadowing and supervised services, signing off each service before it goes on the new hire's column alone. A new stylist thrown onto a full book in week one learns your shortcuts and your clients' complaints at the same time.

Give each new hire a buddy who isn't their manager, someone they can ask the questions they'd rather the owner didn't hear.

If you hire often, Salos Ultra includes a recruitment pipeline with built-in candidate chat, so applicants are tracked in one place rather than across your phone and inbox. More guides on running a salon team are in Fully Booked's international edition.