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You've probably
noticed that professionals advise
the public where they received their
education. Look for their diplomas
and certificates hanging on the
walls of their offices. Isn’t the
same discerning attitude appropriate
for you? Are you not going to be
caring for living animals beloved by
their owners? Are you not going to
be operating advanced tools and
machinery and to be expected to
potentially groom everything tall
and small in the canine world and
perhaps the feline world as well?
Won’t your clients expect expert
styling, safety, humane treatment
and proper handling? Of course, your
educational choice is one of the
most important decisions you will
make in your career.
“Caveat emptor” is Latin for “Let the buyer
beware.” That adage certainly applies. Remember
that in a profession without vocational
licensing in any U.S. state any and every
grooming school owner has the liberty to design
a curriculum for grooming totally “their way.”
Therefore, we assure you that curriculums vary
greatly from school to school, no two are the
same. However we don’t want to scare you. Most
schools are reputable, but not every program
serves the needs of every new career seeker.
That’s where you need to learn just what are
your educational needs.
“Caveat emptor” is Latin for “Let the buyer
beware.” That adage certainly applies.
Remember that in a profession without
vocational licensing in any U.S. state any
and every grooming school owner has the
liberty to design a curriculum for grooming
totally “their way.” Therefore, we assure
you that curriculums vary greatly from
school to school, no two are the same.
However we don’t want to scare you. Most
schools are reputable, but not every program
serves the needs of every new career seeker.
That’s where you need to learn just what are
your educational needs.
If you were to ask us the most common
mistake students make in selecting a school,
we wouldn’t lose a beat and say, “Choosing
to attend a school solely based on the
reason that it is the closest one to where
you live.” The odds that the curriculum
right for you is in your neighborhood
wouldn’t take you far in Las Vegas. Yes we
have heard every excuse why someone cannot
travel outside of their area to attend
school for a few weeks. Fine, it is your
choice and we are just giving you our best
advice. We have all too often heard some
remorse from students that they didn’t
travel to this or that school, so there you
have it. Let’s move on.
CONTINUED BELOW AFTER SCHOOL
BANNERS
Here’s our next best advice.
Ensure that the institution you select is
properly approved to provide pet grooming
vocational education in accordance with the
laws applicable within the jurisdiction
where it exists. Except for a small handful
of U.S. states, "vocational schools" must be
“state approved” or “state licensed” by an
agency of the state in which they reside. It
is your responsibility to ensure your school
is currently state licensed (where required
by law) before you enroll in the
institution. Several U.S. states require
vocational schools to provide all
prospective students with the name and
contact information for the state agency
which licenses them. You can contact that
agency to ensure if the school is in good
standing. Most schools outside the U.S. are
not formally licensed like most U.S.
vocational schools, but sometimes they are
certified. The same rule applies,
investigate your school’s approval where
required.
Your first step is to contact the schools of
your interest and request their brochure
(sometimes called a “catalog”). Thoroughly
review the contents and follow-up with a
site tour and interview with the
institution's administration. Some U.S.
states require a tour before you enroll;
what does that tell you? Make it a point to
tour the institution before you enroll.
Here's another
very important piece of advice.
If several courses are offered, always take
the longest course (whenever possible). As
we have said before you will find that pet
groomers keep learning more and more about
grooming for the first several years. There
are so many breeds and mixed breeds it can
take some time before you had a chance to
groom all the breed groups and the hundreds
of different mixes. The longer your training
period the more likely you will have a broad
variety of experience. That experience will
show down line and you will gain more
confidence.
You should next
click Questions. Here you will find a handy list of questions for
interviewing schools. |
