Salon Apprentice or Assistant
What’s the difference?
We’re Hiring a Salon Assistant or Apprentice

Cosmetology Graduate for Salon Assistant/Associate Stylist
Every stylist at Studio 39 has one thing in common, we were either a salon assistant or apprentice before we were stylists, including myself! You can read how I started in the salon industry here. Assistant or “stylist associate” is a term we use for someone who has graduated from cosmetology school and is starting their career. Most graduates aren’t prepared for today’s demanding salon world because cosmetology school prepares you for the State Board test.
A schools main job is to prepare you for Boards and unfortunately the test is about 50 years behind on services. Much of what you learn for services isn’t relevant to today’s salon world, especially a high end, high style salon. I took Boards in 1996 and I haven’t done a pin curl since! This is why we have a 3-6 month assistant training program to help acclimate you to the salon. Sometimes it takes longer because everyone learns at their own pace, but around 3 months is when we can tell if a stylist is ready to do Lumiere services, our program for beginning stylists.
Salon Apprentice
Cosmetology School
- 1500 hours
- between 17- 22k
- full time (every day) takes about 9 months
- controlled school and class environment
- you aren’t paid to attend school.
Apprentice
- 3000 hours
- free
- takes about 18 months
- real life salon environment with highly skilled stylists
- Yes- you get paid plus tips. 👌
Pay Realities
Studio 39 Salon Apprenticeship or Assistant
An apprenticeship takes longer than cosmetology school but you’ll be trained by our previous salon apprentice Brielee and we have a kit for the test created by an examiner on the State Board of Cosmetology. That’s an advantage few salons offer! Every team member receives continuing education from myself, plus we are a host salon to some of our industries top educators. Sierra is our certified L’Oréal Professional Salon Educator and does most of our basics of color training. She is amazing and everyone loves her education!

