You may have a great desire to become a stylist. That is a relevant desire as the job is lucrative but the process is a bit challenging. For understanding, read everything about the Pennsylvania barber license described below in detail.
In PA, you must be at least 16 years old to become a stylist. You also have to finish 8th grade and 1,250 hours of education and training. You may gather the latter-mentioned in two main ways. The first is attending a special school.
You accumulate these hours through some courses such as honing and stropping which is 25 hours, shampooing and scalp, facial massaging, again 25. Other courses are shaving with a straight razor (240), sterilization and sanitation (50), hair coloring, waving, curling (25), etc.
After collecting all the necessary papers and the above-mentioned factors, you are ready to apply to the Board. Before submitting, you would better download the handbook of the candidate. There you’ll find everything that you need.
After this, make sure that you have all the demanded papers and their copies. Deliver the affidavit of your training and transcripts from the high school to the submission committee.
Do not forget about the identification. That may be your passport or even your birth certificate.
The next one is the criminal record. That may sound weird but yes, sometimes you are to provide it. You can get the latter from the local police.
If you have lived in different places and regions, you must get records from there. Do not forget about the written and practical exam expenses.
The first is the practical exam that lasts for two hours. It is a procedure that measures your skills and capabilities. You are to show what you can do.
You have to complete tasks that include different areas such as haircutting, infection control and safety, and shaving. Other areas are skin care, hair coloring, waving chemical straightening, and so on.
The written one refers to the theory. It is a test containing multiple-choice questions. The number of the questions is 130. You are given 2 hours and 15 minutes to fill out the test.
Test topics include the areas and fields mentioned above in the previous exam description. Besides these, it also contains questions about styling rules and regulations, scalp structure and care, beard design, skincare, and so on.
There are some approved locations for taking the examinations. They announce the scores after the process on the same day. After receiving them, the Board issues your document.
The fee for the initial licensing is $150, from which $10 is the application fee, $63 is for theory, and $77 is for the practical exam. For reciprocity, you have to pay $55. The renewal cost is $160.
There is a special list of states from which PA accepts reciprocity applications. PA changes that list from time to time. Make sure you have checked whether the name of your region is present on the list.
If there is no name on it, you’ll be lucky for you’ll be able to skip the examinations. In this case, you must submit the demanded documents, i.e. the original certificate, and the expenses to the Board.
In case you do not find the name on it, you have to follow the usual procedure of handling everything from scratch like everyone else.
Like in many states, in PA you are to renew your documents every two years. The expiration date is the 30th of April.
60 to 90 days before this expiration date, they send you a notice reminding you about it. For completing this process, you are to submit the renewal form and costs needed to the Board.