What does a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist do?

Provide beauty services, such as cutting, coloring, and styling hair, and massaging and treating scalp. Day to day that includes work like keep work stations clean and sanitize tools, such as scissors and combs and Bleach, dye, or tint hair, using applicator or brush.

What skills should a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Service Orientation, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Apple iOS, Appointment scheduling software, Customer information databases, Facebook, and Intuit QuickBooks. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Cosmetologist, Hair Stylist, Hairdresser, and Hairstylist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 79% reported their level of education as "Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist resume example

A resume for a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist needs to show the work itself: provide beauty services, such as cutting, coloring, and styling hair, and massaging and treating scalp. Day to day that means work like this: keep work stations clean and sanitize tools, such as scissors and combs; bleach, dye, or tint hair, using applicator or brush. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Cosmetologist
Hair Stylist
Hairdresser
Hairstylist
Beautician
Hair Dresser
Stylist
Beauty Advisor
Beauty Operator
Beauty Specialist
Beauty Therapist
Colorist
Cosmetic Consultant
Cosmetician
Electrologist
Electrolysis Needle Operator
Electrolysis Operator
Electrolysist

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Keep work stations clean and sanitize tools, such as scissors and combs.
Bleach, dye, or tint hair, using applicator or brush.
Cut, trim and shape hair or hairpieces, based on customers' instructions, hair type, and facial features, using clippers, scissors, trimmers and razors.
Schedule client appointments.
Update and maintain customer information records, such as beauty services provided.
Demonstrate and sell hair care products and cosmetics.
Analyze patrons' hair and other physical features to determine and recommend beauty treatment or suggest hair styles.
Shampoo, rinse, condition, and dry hair and scalp or hairpieces with water, liquid soap, or other solutions.
Operate cash registers to receive payments from patrons.
Order, display, and maintain supplies.
Comb, brush, and spray hair or wigs to set style.
Develop new styles and techniques.

22 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Keep work stations clean and sanitize tools, such as scissors and combs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Bleach, dye, or tint hair, using applicator or brush, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Cut, trim and shape hair or hairpieces, based on customers' instructions, hair type, and facial features, using clippers, scissors, trimmers and razors, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Schedule client appointments, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Apple iOS
Appointment scheduling software
Customer information databases
Facebook
Intuit QuickBooks
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Word
Sale processing software
YouTube

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Butterfly hair clamps
Color application combs
Curling irons
Cuticle nippers
Cuticle pushers
Cuticle scissors
Desktop computers
Detangling combs
Digital timers
Duckbill hair clamps
Dye application brushes
Electronic cash registers

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Speaking
03Service Orientation
04Critical Thinking
05Active Learning
06Judgment and Decision Making
07Social Perceptiveness
08Complex Problem Solving
09Monitoring
10Reading Comprehension

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Customer and Personal Service
Sales and Marketing
Administration and Management

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

79%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school
21%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
0%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist do?: Provide beauty services, such as cutting, coloring, and styling hair, and massaging and treating scalp. Day to day that includes work like keep work stations clean and sanitize tools, such as scissors and combs and Bleach, dye, or tint hair, using applicator or brush.
What skills should a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Service Orientation, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Apple iOS, Appointment scheduling software, Customer information databases, Facebook, and Intuit QuickBooks. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Cosmetologist, Hair Stylist, Hairdresser, and Hairstylist. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 79% reported their level of education as "Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologist role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.