Happy hairdressers…
Do you want a job that brings you happiness? If so you might want to consider hairdressing as a career. A new league table has said that hairdressers are the happiest workers in the UK.

So what is it about being a hairdresser that makes you happy? Jonathan Pickup who works at the Slice Salon in Newcastle and has been a hairdresser for 21 years says ‘It’s quite a young environment – it’s quite trendy. You mix with quite a lot of young people. You get to my age and it is quite nice to be around people who are eager in their job’.

Michael Osbaldeston from examination body City & Guilds who conducted the survey said there were lots of reasons why happiness and hairdressing should go hand in hand. ‘It is the relationship they have with their client which makes the job what it is…They are appreciated. They make people feel good and look good.’

…or not!
But before you get out your curling tongs and enrol on the nearest hairdressing course, see what other hairdressers have to say! Here are some of the comments posted on the BBC website following this story.

‘I am a former hairdresser … and gave up 8 years ago to do a degree. I am now working at a university and have regular hours, no back problems, Saturdays to do what I want with and no late nights. There is nothing I miss about hairdressing…’
Jill Handley from Norwich

‘I did summer work [at a hairdressers] as a teenager and hated every minute of it. There was no way in the world I would want to be a stylist and now very content working in IT.’
Jacqueline, Welwyn Garden City

Some happy alternatives
So maybe there are a few downsides to being a hairdresser, even if the job does make some happy – long hours and a lot of standing may not make everyone happy. If hairdressing isn’t your thing then you’ll be glad to hear that the same survey found that, as well as hairdressers, clergy, chefs, beauticians, plumbers and mechanics were also happy jobs to have. However, to save yourself from unhappiness in your job avoid social work, architecture and estate agency! Maybe it’s about being able to something practical or creative that makes you happy?

Stella
May 2005