advise please :( O/T

[Littleslimmingbee]

Hey all..


basically i'm not really sure to what to do.

Before i trained as a hairdresser, i ALWAYS wanted to be an estate agent. I can't really explain why, but i just did ..
after years of looking into it, at the time being too young to do anything about it then.. i 'fell' into hairdressing as it were.
I LOVE hairdressing, i really really do. I absoloutly love it, but after working my ass off to get my qualification, its becoming increasingly difficult to find a job, and from what i'v slowly discovered, its always going to be a case of a job i love, but i'l never be earning really good moneys.

.. now. I flicked through the evening post that Oh brang home last night, and i'v found an advertisment from Andrews estate agents, they'r launching an apprenticeship spanning over a year where they place you within a local agency with them and give you all the expierance you need, along with putting you through all the qualifications you need. Deep down theres a part of me that really wants to go for it, .. especially as the money could be fantastic once i'v worked my way up.

But, iv just worked so hard, and hairdressing is so different from estate agency.. and what if i don't even like estate agency? and the miss out on years that could have been spent working my way up in the hairdressing industry?

I appriciate that i am young, and of course have years ahead of me that i can do what ever i please with.. but i don't want to end up wasting years and having to start at the bottom later on because i didnt seize the oppurtunity now.

do i build myself up in the hairdressing industry, doing somthing i love.. but never earning great money, thus the longer i must wait for me & oh to have decent savings to put down deposit for house.. or do i throw myself in a completly different direction, and work even harder.. but get somewhere really well paid in a couple of years time?

i have a friend, who i met when i trained as a hairdresser,.. who had come from estate agency, when she'd been made redundant from the houseing market collapsing and wanted a change in direction. she said how awful it had been when she first started, but had been earning great money within a few years.. and had loads of great qualifications now.



oooo i don't know. My mothers never wanted me to do estate agency, but quite frankley i'm not 100% she didnt just encorouge me to train as a hairdresser just for her need for her fringe to be cut every 5 days lol.

OH doesnt really understand, he's been with his alarm company since he was 17, he's worked his way up and got all his quals and is on good money now, with prospects of moving onwards and upwards, gaining more expierance, more quals and more money along the way.. (assuming they dont go bust or sac him anytime soon, fingers x'd) .. and hasnt had to struggle to find jobs or figure out what he wants to do with his life.

All i want is to earn good money, have a good working position and be able to start my life away from home financially stable.. whilst enjoying what i do with my life..

i spose my problem is, i love the hairdressing, and cant garentee that i wont make a huge mistake by plunging into estate agency..



oooo.. does any of this rambeling make sence?


i'm not getting myself too worked up for it, as even if i send off my cv there will be a tough lot of interviews that i can't garentee i'l even get the apprenticeship.. but do i just miss my chance alltogether?

xxx

 

[Vixxster]

Oh honey I would definitely go for it. The beauty of having your hairdressing quals is that you can do it at any time you want. Set yourself up as a mobile hairdresser, get a website, get a myspace, get a facebook, take pictures of your clients (with their permission) in return for free cuts and advertise advertise advertise - and keep yourself in work by doing it in the evenings.

If you get the apprenticeship it would be great for you to see what it is they are offering and a great way of seeing if you like it or not. And you still have your hairdressing to fall back on! Win win hun!

 

[Mrs V]

I agree with Vixxster. You would always be left thinking..."if only" if you dont go for this opportunity now.
You may find that it isnt for you after all...or you may find that this is a profession for you. Either way you wont know until you try.
You could do your hairdressing on the side to keep you afloat whilst going through your training and then at least you have something to fall back on, should the estate agent's position not suit.

Go for it Hun!

xxxx

 

[mommyB]

Yes i say go for it, you can always come back to hairdressing if it doesnt work out, you can probably do it in your spare time if the wages arent great to start with.
This sounds like an ideal oportunity,you'll only regret it if you dont give it a try

 

[Julianne_julz]

Go for it. You'll regret it if you don't. If you don't get past the initial stages then nothing's lost and you went for it so no regrets. If you get the job, give it a go and you can always go back to hairdressing. There's always going to be ifs and buts, BUT you won't be happy until you've given it a go. *hugs* Hope you do whatever makes you happy!! xxx

 

[littlehobbit]

i would say have a long thing and go with your gut feeling.im a big believer in everything happens for a reason and your gut feeling is right most of the time.
the fact that you have seen this advert for the estate agents isnt just a coincidence.and if you dont go for it,wil you always be sat wondering what if?
i like vixxster's idea of keeping your hairdressing running maybe in evenings or at least just know that you can use it whenever you need to.
in the end if its hairdressing you love then stick with it but it sounds like you really want to try being an estate agent.and im sure you would be great since you are such an inspiration to all of us!

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

Thank you everyone!!!

i just feel like im in two minds. . i do need to so some thinking. Im gunna go ahead and send my cv anyways.. it may not even come to anything.
we'l see and i'l let you know. . i start back at coll in just over a week. im just gunna go ahead, go back to coll and start the advanced hairdressing, and if i do get anything back from the estate agency, il deal with it then.

thanks guys. xxxxx

 

[Vixxster]

Good luck hun xx

 

[LisaC]

Hi Fern

I think most of us feel there's something we've always wanted to do/be but if at the time its not possible we steer in another direction & then feel that is what we've always wanted....but if we never try we'll never know!

I dont know a thing about apprenticeships but I'd imagine it could be hard training at first but if a good few months into it you really really are unhappy then Im sure you're not tied down to anything??! I was offered a job in an estate agents a few years back, it sounded really interesting & varied work but it just wasn't for me. I hear you do earn good money & its still ok when you start from scratch & there's lots to work up to. If this is something you wanted to do years ago give it a go, it sounds like the opportunity has come on time....if you're really unsure don't do it but like the girls say its a horrid feeling thinking 'what if'.....

You've obviously worked very hard with gaining your hairdressing qualifications but if anything goes wrong you'll always have that to fall back on & as you're qualified you wont have to start at the bottom of the ladder.

Grab the bull by the horns Fern!!!!! (by that I mean if you fancy it go for the opportunity) xx

 

[icklerockchick]

good luck and yup i agree with everyone go for it!

nothing to loose and everything to gain!

and at the end of the day if you get into it and discover it isn't what you thought it would be then you don't have to continue with it go back to hairdressing which you know you love!

why can't you stay nearer I am in bad need of a haircut and dye lol!!

surely SW has shown you that you can do whatever you put your mind to!

X

 

[victorial85]

I think you should go for it. Take it from somebody who has been trying to get a job with her Honours Degree for a year and a half now with NO LUCK AT ALL!!!!!!! I have done everything I can but I just cannot get a job and the majority of people from my class are the same. Its depressing.......im thinking of changing my career direction completely but after 4 years of uni and a lot of student debt I am loathed to.......but i may just have to!!!!

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

^^ sorry to hear that hun. thats so poo. I think alot of people are in the same situation... always encouraged to get as much education as possible and somtimes not much comes from it

.. Iv registered, and once on my other comp i will send my cv off. I doubt i will make it even if my cv gets me anywhere.. because its very goal driven career and i will have to show that i can 'sell' which im not sure if i have that 'step on eveyrone and sacrifice everything to get what i want' because i often get the impression thats what this is like.. but im gunna give it ago.

why not.. who knows, one day il be a successful estate agent and buy my own salon haha xxx wishful thinkin!

oo to chase a dream...

 

[Busy_mam]

What do you mean sell, this is what hairdressing is about selling you are selling a style to fit a lifestyle you are helping people realise their wants, just a inch off, full highlights, please don't do that it won't suit, try this house its not in the area you want but its exactly in budget it has a extra bedroom and a bigger garden, the area is up and coming and they are opening a all new city academy in the next year.

Its the same thing a different set of words, you are chatting to people everyday, listening to them, understanding what they want, how different are the two?

You obviously have people skills, communication skills, you have shown you can build a portfolio and such.

Don't sell yourself short.

 

[charlottegrace1]

Fern, could you not do both, train as estate agent and do mobile hair dressing to suppliment the income while money not too good. There always seems to be loads of adverts round our way for chairs to rent in salons, so based on that, would it be that difficult to get back into it if the estate agents went wrong? At the end of the day hun its your call, but my advice would be have a go, cos you will always wonder what if, if you don't. If it doesn't work out never mind, its not the end of the world.

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

Thanks girls
I guess your right, its quite different but i sell hairdessing too.. highlights, another cut.. a different style etc..


Im gunna go for it!!! xx

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

Ah, Maybe its not meant to be, the site won't except my Cv so wont let me apply.

Boohoo. . x

 

[Busy_mam]

Why won't it accept it is it the wrong format?