I hear this all the time. Students close to graduating from our 600 clock hour program hit the panic button. They are frustrated. Frustrated with themselves. Frustrated with the program. Frustrated with their trainers. They feel they haven’t learned enough to start out in their new careers.
But in most cases – they are wrong. Way wrong.
If you are attending a quality grooming school, they put a lot of effort in creating a comprehensive program. That program would be designed to allow the learner to accelerate at a constructive pace. A pace that is safe and productive for both the student and the school.
If you have opted to hasten your new career by attending grooming school – make sure you do your research. Just like everything else, there are good and bad schools out there. Personally, I highly recommend you tour the school you are thinking about attending. The following things are what I would look for when researching a grooming school:
- Ideally, their staff should have at least one certified master groomer on staff by one of the voluntary testing programs within the pet industry.
- Does their staff (or at least one staff member) have a competitive grooming or conformation show background?
- Look at how many years they have been in business.
- Are they licensed by their state department of education?
- How many dogs are supplied to you for practice?
- What is the quality of their text books?
- How to they handle lectures?
- Do they require continuing education of their staff through trade shows, seminars, workshops, videos, webinars or grooming competitions?
- What does the facility look like?
- Is it clean and well organized?
- Are the pets being treated with dignity and respect?
- Ask for references from past graduates.
- What types of training programs do they offer? What are the goals and objectives of each of those programs?
Bottom line: trust your gut. This is your future on the line. Currently there is no mandatory licensing for professional pet groomers. You CAN teach yourself how to do this as a career if you are extremely committed. However, a good school can take years off your learning curve.
Even if you have selected the best school – there still is a catch. The school is responsible for 50% of the learning – the student is responsible for the other 50% of the learning. There is no magic wand that can be waved over you to transfer the knowledge. There is no injection that will pump the skills into your system. It takes a quality program and a lot of effort on the student’s part.
Even if you enroll in a great school – you are still going to have to FOCUS and WORK! A student can monitor their end of the educational process through their attendance and their GPA. Strong attendance and excellent GPA’s go together. That’s nature. If a student has high absenteeism, I guarantee they have a low GPA.
It is not the responsibility of the school to supply you with every breed of dog or cat you will groom during your career. It IS the responsibility of the school to teach you the basic technical skills you will need to groom the majority of the pets out there. The foundation of all good grooming stems from the basics. I call them core skills.
Melissa’s Core Skills:
- Basic Anatomy & Terminology
- Basic Breed Identification & Conformation
- Tools & Their Use
- Bathing
- Drying
- Brushing
- Combing
- De-matting
- Nail trimming
- Ear cleaning
- Clipping
- Thinning Shears
- Basic Hand Scissoring
- Basic Hand Stripping
If you can master these techniques in a training program, you have a fabulous head start on your new career. But just because you have graduated from grooming school does not mean you are done with your education. Oh no. You are just getting started.
Most grooming schools are only a few months long. They are designed to get you started – not turn out a polished professional.
If you went to medical school – do you think you can jump right into your own practice straight out of school? If you went to business school, do you think you are you going to be hired by a major corporation to be their CEO? Heck no! You have to gain experience – lots of experience.
You need to keep learning throughout your career to stay on top. Top professionals – no matter what the field, know this – and do this. Going to grooming school is just the start of your career – not your entire career. If you want to truly succeed – continue to study and learn way beyond any formal educational program you start with.
Happy Trimming!
~Melissa
