|
There are no commonly adopted
standards for pet grooming education. Hairstylists
(for people) enter their field knowing
requirements for education, examinations and experience. Not so for pet grooming career
seekers. They can enter the grooming industry
without clocking a single hour of training or
passing exams. Now isn't that a precarious prospect
for pet owners? Some career seekers take the
easiest path. They need a job quickly and
accept
minimal education. That's understandable.
It's important they don't forget continuing
education opportunities online, onsite at
seminars and workshops and home study
material such as DVDs. Other career seekers secure
the best educational opportunities beforehand
and plan on more continuing
education. Most career seekers fall somewhere
between these two extremes.
What's important for you to know now is
this, every career seeker requires
continuing education for years ahead.
Therefore you have immediate need for
educational opportunities to get started,
and several years of continuing to achieve
the level of excellence you demand for
yourself and the owners and pets you serve.
Cost is a large factor when choosing an
educational path. Unfortunately, inadequate
funds leads many career seekers to acquire
extensive, quality education. It often
shows.
Experienced pet groomers watching you groom
can easily decipher how much education and
experience you have behind you.
Pet grooming schools may sound expensive,
and without cash or credit, seem all the
more expensive. However, are they really
"expensive?"
Most programs cost about $8 to $20 an hour. A 4 year college
education costs substantially more, even
tens of thousands of dollars more. Do you
know that many 4 year
college graduates earns lower incomes than pet groomers
with experience and productivity skills?
It's true.
We've talked with veterinarians
hiring groomers for the first time. Their
alarm was obvious. How do they explain to
new vets graduating from veterinary schools
that their income may be less than the hired
groomers?
Are pet grooming schools really
"expensive?" No. To spend $4,000 to $8,000
for career education leading to $40,000 or
more annual incomes with experience, and
perhaps $1,000,000 or more in 20 year career
is rather cheap in comparison to 4 year
college. Think of the time too! Four years
in college versus weeks in a grooming
school! What a small investment to earn a million dollars in a 20
year career. "Expensive" is
not the correct word.
If you accept an apprenticeship your
biggest investment is time. There are risks
with apprenticeships. Just as there no
commonly adopted formats for educating pet
groomers by state licensed schools, there is
even less formalization with
apprenticeships. Your apprenticeship is
only as good as the groomer teaching you.
We've known hundreds of groomers that did
enter with rare apprenticeships and most
needed plenty of continuing education. It's
a viable route, but there are no guarantees
what you will learn. Keep that in mind.
We suggest you write an educational plan
now. In fact, we're going to help you write
one in the next section of this chapter.
Click the Next bone to
start your educational plan.
|