10 Tips to Maximize Barber School
You did it! You enrolled in barber school. Next thing you know, you’ll be taking your state board exam. The key to passing your exam is taking barber school seriously. Unfortunately, not everyone does, but you will. Follow these 10 tips to maximize your time in barber school.
Download Free Barber Exam Study Guide
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Download Free Barber Exam Study Guide _
Tip #1 - Stay Organized
Buy a binder and stay organized. You should have sections for: tests, lecture notes, worksheets/handouts and chapter review questions. It should be easy to find what you’re looking for. The more organized you are, the easier it will be to study for your exam. Personally, I had a 3 ring binder and 2 notebooks. This got me through all of barber college. You’d be surprised how many barbers just stuff their papers in a backpack or just throw them away. Don’t be that barber.
Pro Tip: Keep all of your practice tests. During your final month of barber school, take these over and over until you consistently pass with a 75% or higher.
Tip #2 - Answer Chapter Review Questions
Your school will probably make you do this. At the end of every chapter, there are review questions. Answer every single one of them. When you find the answer, write down the page number next to the review question in the textbook and next to your written answer. This will make it easier to find the location of this content in your textbook. It’ll help you study more efficiently for your state board exam.
Tip #3 - Prioritize the CIB
Your state will have a Candidate Information Bulletin for your barber exam. The CIB contains important information for your barber exam. It tells you the topics you will be tested on. Become familiar with this document immediately. As you go through barber college, you should reference the CIB every week. It is your northstar, it will keep you focused on studying necessary information.
Pro Tip: Download my free barber exam study guide to help you best prepare for your exam.
Tip #4 - Start Bookkeeping
This is where you start to become a business owner. Every client that you serve, write down the following information: first name, haircut requested, walk-in or appointment and the amount they tipped. You want to create the habit of bookkeeping. By writing down this information after every service, it forces you to remember. Did you remember their name? Did you remember the haircut they asked for? It forces you to track your walk in vs appointment ratio.
Your appointments will start to reflect your client retention. Can you convert the walk-in client into an appointment? By the end of barber school, ideally you have more appointments than when you started. This is a sign that you are building repeat clientele.
It forces you to write down the money you made. Don’t get me wrong, you won’t get tipped sometimes. Other times maybe $2, maybe $5 or even the huge $10. You want to write this down so you can look back and see where you started.
Pro Tip: Sign up for the 21 Day Barber Challenge to figure out how much money you really make.
Tip #5 - Try different hair cutting systems and techniques
Barber School is a time to try everything. The clientele that comes to a barber school understands that it is a school. They understand that you are in training. Take advantage of this opportunity. Try fading up, try fading down. Try completing your fade on one side and then doing the other. Try doing a haircut with no guards. Try doing a haircut with only guards. Try doing a haircut with no clippers, only shears. Try razor cutting, point cutting, notching.
Talk to your classmates about their fading systems and cutting systems. What is their system? What do they cut first? Why? What techniques do they use? What is their order of operations? Discuss with them. Solve problems with them. Ultimately, you will discover your own system and techniques that work for you. The only way to discover them is to try.
Download Free Barber Exam Study Guide
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Download Free Barber Exam Study Guide _
Tip #6 - Sample the Buffet
It happens at every barber school. A client walks in with long hair and wants a cut. Most students keep their head down and avoid eye contact with their instructor who will assign the haircut. The barber who volunteers is the one who is sampling the buffet. This barber is trying to take as many different services as possible. All shear haircuts, long length, medium length. Fades and tapers. Perms and relaxers. Color and highlights. Shaves and facials. Scalp treatments and shampoo/conditioning.
Your barber license gives you the ability to do many services, not just haircuts. Barber college is the time for you to sample the buffet to figure out what you enjoy doing. Not to mention, the more services you are able to do, the more money you will likely make.
Tip #7 - Ask your instructors for help
Take advantage of your instructors. They are there to help you. Get in the habit of calling over an instructor before you start the haircut. Talk to them about the hair analysis and consultation. Tell them what your plan is for the haircut, what you will do first, where you will set your guide and why. Explain your haircut to them. Ask them for guidance. If you are in the middle of a haircut and feel lost, raise your hand and call them over. They are there to help. Ask them to teach you a new technique.
Pro Tip: I recommend asking for instructor guidance at least two haircuts a day, especially on the ones that you feel least comfortable doing.
Tip #8 - Take photos of your work
No, you don’t have to post them on instagram. The photos are for you. They are to document your journey. Photos help you see progress over time. Take before and after photos of all your haircuts. Create a folder on your phone called ‘barber school clients’. You will literally be able to see the progress you have made by scrolling through that folder.
When you start to get photos that you want to share, then definitely post them on your instagram. This is the beginning of your portfolio and will help you land your first job after school. When I applied for my first job, the shop owner asked me to send him photos of different types of haircuts that I had done. I’m grateful I had photos to send. Make sure you do too.
Tip #9 - Write down your ideas
This is a time to dream. You will be inspired during barber school, write down those dreams. Your notebook is a judgment free zone. Do you want to start a shop? What will you call it? Want to start a product? What type of products are they? What brands do you want to work with? The barber industry is full of opportunities. Personally, I came up with Big Day Barbers while I was in school. It’s literally written down in my notebook. It eventually became a real thing. You never know what idea from barber school will actually become a reality.
Tip #10 - Start looking for a job
You will never have this opportunity ever again. You are entering the draft. Now is the time to do your research on every barbershop in town. Create a spreadsheet and label these columns. Name of the shop, cost of a haircut, walk in or appointment or both, number of barbers, free parking or paid parking. You can figure out all of those things without even talking to the barbershop owner.
Picking a barbershop is a huge decision. You want to do your research. Introduce yourself to the shop owners of your top barber shops. Follow them on IG. Introduce yourself through a DM. Coordinate a time for you to stop by the shop and meet them. Ask them if they will have openings around your graduation date. Figure out how much rent costs/ commission split details. Get the facts about the barbershop before you sign the lease agreement. You don’t want to jump around from shop to shop. Be wise.
Bonus Tip - Download My Free Barber Exam Study Guide
If you are preparing for your state board exam, this guide is for you. Just drop your email and I’ll send you the guide. It’s free, nothing to lose here.
Follow these 10 tips and you’ll maximize your time in barber school.
Written by Matthew Mendoza
Licensed barber, educator and consultant based in California. He is passionate about helping barbers pass their barber exam, develop their business and diversify their income. He hosts a podcast, writes a weekly newsletter and offers 1-on-1 consulting.
