Joanna Clarke loves her job working in a hairdressing salon and her intention is to complete her trade exams. She will be able to travel with this qualification, she explains.
Last May, she finished a hair and beauty PLC course at Crumlin College of Further Education in Dublin 12. The course helped her realise that hairdressing is what she loves to do. "I really thought it was good. I especially wanted to do the beauty," she says, explaining that she already knew the basics.
While still at school, she started work experience as part of her Transition Year programme at Vanity Fair, a hairdressing salon in Maynooth, Co Kildare.
"And I've liked it since then," she says. "I kept it on and did part-time on Saturdays and during the summer. I wanted to do my Leaving Certificate."
She heard about the PLC course through her career guidance teacher at school and decided to try it because "I still didn't know what I wanted to do. I wasn't sure. But now I love it. I love where I work. It's really brilliant."
There were about 16 girls in the PLC class. The course was tough enough, she says. "I found it hard but I got through it." As part of their training, they studied social skills, learning, for example, "how to deal with difficult customers and how to talk to them," and they also had to master some computer skills.
There were practicals two days every week and they also learned about hair colour, hair and skin composition as well as technical information about hair and beauty products.
The course involved a period of work experience and she was sent to the Frank Hession salon in Drumcondra village. Joanna sat her Junior Trade exams, completed the NCVA Level 2 and passed the ITEC certification in beauty and facial make-up and manicuring and was offered a job, starting when her exams were over.
She's now into her second year as a trainee hairdresser and from next September, for the rest of the academic year, her Tuesday evenings will be booked up as she plans to return to Crumlin College to study for her Senior Trade Exams.
