Formal Education

• Look for a stylist who holds a certificate or diploma in cosmetology and additional courses in areas such as weaves, braiding, cutting, highlighting, pedicure, make-up and skin care. Your business will have chances of success if you hire a stylist with an associate degree in cosmetology since she will have knowledge of areas such as human anatomy, chemistry, customer care, facial structure, skin treatment and salon management. Most associate degree programs equip the trainees with hair styling and beauty treatment techniques such as manicures, scalp treatments, shampooing and facials.
  
  

Training

• To have a successful business, you need to hire a stylist with training in a cosmetology program from a recognized cosmetology and vocational institution or community college. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, a stylist must have a high school diploma and graduate from a state-approved cosmetology program to be a certified stylist. A stylist will benefit you if she continues informal training while in employment by attending workshops, seminars and beauty shows hosted annually where she can acquire new hair styling tricks and techniques.
  
  

Job Experience

• Your business will benefit from a stylist whose experience begins in college as an apprentice for a certified stylist because she will practically connect her training with her work. You need a stylist who has previous experience working on real clients instead of models and you should test such basic skills as shampooing and blow-drying. Once she has established her own loyal customer network and her work is satisfactory to your expectations, you can let the stylist perform more difficult tasks such as coloring hair.
  
  

Licensure

• Apart from your business requiring a license to operate, your workers must acquire licensure to satisfy requirements for adherence to regulations such as sanitation and salon management. A stylist must pass an oral, written and practical test to get the license as well as attain the 16 years old minimum-age requirement and academic qualifications from a certified school. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics advises that you must have business skills to successfully operate your own beauty salon.
  
  

Other Qualifications

• The beauty salon is a place where many people come in, and some customers can be very demanding on the person working on their appearance. Thus a stylist must have customer care skills to deal with different customers. Sometimes she may have to work more than 40 hours a week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but self-employed workers commonly work extra hours and even weekends.