You might imagine the average student attending a university or a trade school as a fresh-faced teenager or someone in their early twenties. However, almost half of the enrollees in for-profit schools and about 20 percent of four-year students are 30 and over. You don’t need to be in your 20s to start a new career.
Older students have advantages in an array of industries. Even the beauty industry, a place that often seems focused on youthfulness, has opportunities for people in their mid-life and beyond. Older adults can enjoy a beauty career in many ways.
Learn Better Personal Care
A beauty career benefits the individual personally and professionally. The classes on skin, hair, and nail care help people to learn how to maintain their healthy look and feel great at any age. These tips can become even more useful as people work to reduce the effects of aging. A boost in appearance rejuvenates self-confidence, and personal experience is a wonderful sales tool.
Build a Unique Following
Older hairstylists and aestheticians may appeal to older customers that are uneasy accepting fashion advice from people young enough to be their children. Clients may feel more confident that someone closer to their age will better understand their age-related beauty concerns or experienced the problems for themselves.
Beauty concerns for middle-aged clients and seniors often go far beyond lines and wrinkles. Age spots, thinning skin, and thinning hair on the scalp but coarser hair on the face are just some problems that arise. People are more comfortable discussing issues like these with someone who personally understands the experience.
Update a Skill Set
Discrimination can happen in the workplace. Ageism occurs because employers mistakenly believe that older workers have less energy and are unwilling or unable to learn new skills. Most companies want people with fresh ideas and the ability to take on new tasks.
A mid-life career shift proves a willingness to learn something new and the ability to do so. The willingness of someone mature to appreciate youthful fashion, and the desire to remain knowledgeable about the latest trends in the beauty industry, will prove wrong any unfounded belief that older workers cannot stay relevant.
In 2014, about 40 percent of people over age 55 were seeking work or active in their careers. Standing out from the pack helps people to draw the attention of employers.
The knowledge gained on trends and styles during a beauty education will help people to fit in with their younger counterparts, while they also keep their maturity and experience.
Prepare for Retirement Age
The Baby Boomer generation could increase the trend for active older workers. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects Baby Boomers to work well beyond their retirement age. Their contribution could cause the U.S. labor participation rate to increase the fastest in workers aged 55 and up.
Some people work beyond their retirement years for economic reasons, but many do so because they have too much energy to retire. Healthier lifestyles make it easier to live and work longer. A longer career can enable people to save more money when they finally need to retire.
A beauty industry career is fun and accommodating for many people. The variety of jobs and the flexibility of working environments and work hours make this job convenient for older employees. Beauty jobs exist everywhere, so older workers that spend the winter in the south or that want to downsize or move can find jobs that accommodate their lifestyle.
Happiness, success, and talent do not have age limits. Anyone can become a professional in the beauty industry if they have the willingness to learn and to work hard. At the New Age Spa Institute, we offer fast certification programs for a variety of positions in the beauty industry. Contact us to learn more about how our school can help you.