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? Karen from Bangor in Wales has been hairdressing for two years. She says ‘I really enjoy it. The salon is a fun place to work and you can always have a laugh with colleagues and customers. Most of us are quite young so we all go out together after work’.
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.’
This is echoed by Nic Marks of the New Economics Foundation in Oxford. ‘It is well-known that the most important elements in what makes for a 'happy job' are personal control and social relationships - clearly hairdressers get a lot of both these factors. They also get good (as in immediate) feedback on the quality of their work - another pleasant attribute of work.’
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
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 do something practical or creative that makes you happy?
Top five happiest professions
1.Hairdressers
2.Clergy
3.Chefs/cooks
4.Beauticians
5.Plumbers
Five most unhappy professions
1.Social workers
2.Architects
3.Civil servants
4.Estate Agents
5.Secretaries
Stella
May 2005
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