I NEED certification

[olwebs]

I'm so sorry for the rant I'm just very tired of this and extremely disappointed

For about 1-1 1/2 years now I've been trying to get into a company paid grooming certification program. i started at petsmart and was on the road to academy in a fair amount of time at my original store, but then I moved at 3-4 months of working there (just months away from being sent to training) and transferred stores. new store had an awful salon lead who hated me and wouldn't send me to academy, even though I was beyond ready and well over the time limit of being there to go. so I got a new job in a smaller corporate salon with the promise of training after the current trainee in about 4-6 months. okay great! get the job and wait. she quits because she's moving so I ask about training again. THEN corporate decided to tell my store manager I had to be there for at least 6 months (despite my at least 1 yr of not more worth of experience) and come October I should be good. a bit disappointed but that's not a long wait, so I hold out. now we are less than a week before October so i asked again if they said they'd do it come October. NOPE, now they won't do the training until at LEAST (if I'm lucky but my doubts are high) January because it's "the end of the year so we need to spend less" WOW OKAY THAT'S AWFUL. so now I'm extremely disheartened after 2 years or more of bathing and absolutely no certification despite good knowledge of grooming, AND experience doing full grooms (with happy customers, no injuries, and loads of compliments from experienced groomers) and regular trims. I'm tempted to say f you to the company and take certification into my own hands so I can FINALLY start doing regular haircuts and make better money. so if anyone has done online certification please help me out on if I should do it myself or just wait for the company to finally give me training. are there any really good affordable ones?

tldr: experience bather with 2 or more yrs of hands on training (bathing, trimming, and full grooms) being promised grooming training, but it keeps getting pushed back. do I get myself certification online or wait for the company to finally train me?

 

[aryehyehudah]

@olwebs If you're in the US there is no 'certification ' needed to be a groomer, that's just a corporate thing. There's no laws for dog groomers like there are for hair stylists

 

[olwebs]

@aryehyehudah I know there's no certification laws, but all salons in my area are looking for experienced or fully trained groomers. I'm well seasoned in bathing and trimming, but not grooms. I've only done maybe 5 full cuts

 

[michael21]

@olwebs Here’s a renowned certified mastergroomer discussing professional associations, trainings and certifications and how memebership will keep you up to date on best practices, new techniques, and new sciences. Whats the better option for education in dog grooming? School or apprenticeship is addressed in the links below.

The fast track to get certified is simply to find a certified groomer to apprentice under where you will learn concepts and principles as well as get on the job experience while possibly making a little cash. Just make sure they belong to ndgs or other respected association in your state. Virtually every highly skilled groomer will recommend joining a professional organization to help with education and even placement and internships.

I would think that would trump any blow and go grooming school diploma or certificate from big box, high volume groomers. She states that a lot of these schools are a waste of money and are not good sources of learning the latest highly skilled methods, only the fastest, easiest ways.

But, you’d have to take into account who your target market is, high end or low end. Where do you live?

It’s an insanely informative grooming blog / magazine all authored by renowned certified mastergroomers.

https://www.groomertogroomer.com/certificates-and-licensing-getting-prepared/

https://www.groomertogroomer.com/the-voices-of-experience-invaluable-advice-for-greenhorn-groomers/

https://www.groomertogroomer.com/finding-the-right-mentor/

https://www.groomertogroomer.com/subscribe/

https://www.groomertogroomer.com/employee-vs-independent-contractor/

https://www.animalbehaviorcollege.c...ied-master-groomer-for-further-education/amp/

https://www.dailypuppy.com/become-pet-groomer-1074.html

Learning grooming from places like pet o will teach you that shaving double coat dogs are ok, essentially whatever will generate the most grooms/hour and revenue. I wouldn’t take my dog to one of those places if my dog was one giant mat.

I have a terrier mix with a terrier coat, and the first thing the groomers at every consultation at big box stores suggested shaving it and then bringing it in every other month after destroying the coat.

Even vets will say don’t shave st all cost unless absolutely medically necessary. of double coated dogs. I can’t tell you how many heated debates Ive had about Whether you should shave a terrier, something these big corps will recommend. It’s very unethical because you’re obviously going to ruin the coat causing a once a year visit to become a bi monthly event. Scandalous. Don’t work for people who teach you to prioritize profisys over the dogs well being.

Good luck. Ndgas will steer you in the right direction for education and even help with job placement. I thinks it’s a hindo a year but there is so much highly skilled wisdom to be had particularly in planning a career in this field.

 

[thankfullness]

@olwebs If you are working for any corporation, stop grooming. Don't let them give you dogs that need a haircut if you haven't completed their training regardless of what has been done in the past. They will throw you under the bus if you accidentally injure a dog. Do what you were hired for. Bathe the dogs. When they ask why, tell them you aren't comfortable working outside your job description without proper training. Start looking for another job. If they haven't sent you by now, they don't plan on it. Why should they invest the time or money? You're already doing the work and making them money.

 

[olwebs]

@thankfullness all locations I can find around here want fully trained groomers that's why I'm at such a loss. I do not want to go to another place to be promised training and never get it

 

[thankfullness]

@olwebs if you have been doing haircuts for a while already, I would still go and talk to some places. Let them know what you can do, offer to show them. Most salons want a working interview. Like another person said, there's no real certification. You could do an online course through Paragon but that's going to run you in the hundreds of dollars with the books and the course. Honestly, I would just keep bugging them about it. Don't do any haircuts and remind them every time they try to book one with you that you would be happy to do it, once you've received the promised training.

 

[preclem]

@olwebs Work somewhere with haircuts wherever that’s how you learn.

 

[stephenb]

@olwebs If you're already grooming - leave and go to another salon.

 

[olwebs]

@stephenb I would love to but I've only done maybe 5 full grooms and everywhere is only looking for fully trained and experienced groomers

 

[lightbringer72]

@olwebs Apply to other salons and be honest about your experience and expectations if they are willing to teach you to master your art then they are worth having around if not then there ya go. Don't quit until you have something lined up for sure.

 

[joyincite]

@olwebs You need certification? Also I left petsmart 5 years ago but do they give out certificates now?

 

[olwebs]

@joyincite I'm not sure if you get a certificate or anything but it does fully certify you as a groomer and you can use it to easily get another job

 

[joyincite]

@olwebs Not sure about that. Pretty much a shop will as I’d you can groom then test you on a dog. If you can groom your hired. Pretty easy to tell of you can groom or not but doing the job. I’d bet you can go to any shop in your area and let them know your skill level and they’ll test you and hire you with in a day.

 

[olwebs]

@joyincite yeah I know, but my issue is I'd have to get ANOTHER job to do that bc I can't groom at my current salon until I have certification (despite having already done grooms there). granted my grooms might not be as perfect as a 3+ year groomer, but I feel like I'm definitely beyond ready to actually do cuts and not just trims based off how surprised my coworkers were based off my ability with no formal training. plus a lot of places in my area are only looking to hire fully trained or certified groomers

 

[stephenb]

@olwebs Another thing you could do is contact your local humane society and ask if you can volunteer to groom their pets. Take lots of pics and go from there.

 

[aryehyehudah]

@olwebs Are you doing grooms as a bather at a Corp salon? That could easily get you fired

 

[olwebs]

@aryehyehudah SMALL corporation. one that I saw a coworker doing grooms before training. they only decided to care when I came

 

[olwebs]

@stephenb I stopped doing full grooms as corporate started actually caring, so unfortunately I'm out of results. I know most places don't care bout certification but they are looking for experience which I don't have much of in terms of full grooms, I've done only maybe 5 or so

 

[stephenb]

@olwebs Check with vet offices. When I trained with Petco I actually got a grooming job with a vet before I even finished the grooming program. I let the vet know I was brand new with no experience and they didn't care and actually helped me learn more while I was there. A lot of vets just need someone to fill a spot and most vet grooms aren't "private salon quality". It's more about working with cases where you do what you can and aren't pressured to be perfect.

It was a great experience.