Make-up and hair designer to performance hairdresser
A make-up and hair designer already meets 79% of what the performance hairdresser role asks for. The move turns on 3 required skills not yet in the profile.
22/ 100
1 How much of what a performance hairdresser is expected to do is already part of a make-up and hair designer’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the performance hairdresser role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A performance hairdresser role treats 10 of its required skills as things a make-up and hair designer already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- adapt to artists' creative demands
- apply hair cutting techniques
- maintain wigs
- meet deadlines
- safeguard artistic quality of performance
- translate artistic concepts to technical designs
What stands in the way is 3 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 21 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A performance hairdresser role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a make-up and hair designer background worth leading with.
- already held draw make-up sketches communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held apply hair cutting techniques assisting and caring
- already held create wigs communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held design make-up effects communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held dye wigs assisting and caring
- already held decide on wig making process management skills
All 21 carried skills, including the 10 the performance hairdresser role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 5 missing skills fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn prepare personal work environment required
- optional, not held manage consumables stock optional
- still to learn perform quick hair changeovers required
- still to learn hair required
- optional, not held advise client on technical possibilities optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a performance hairdresser role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 hair study this
- 02 perform quick hair changeovers practise this
- 03 prepare personal work environment practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 21 skills that carry over
- already held adapt to artists' creative demands skill
- already held apply hair cutting techniques skill
- already held maintain wigs skill
- already held meet deadlines skill
- already held safeguard artistic quality of performance skill
- already held translate artistic concepts to technical designs skill
- already held understand artistic concepts skill
- already held work ergonomically skill
- already held work safely with chemicals skill
- already held work with respect for own safety skill
- already held create wigs skill
- already held decide on wig making process skill
- already held design make-up effects skill
- already held develop professional network skill
- already held document your own practice skill
- already held draw make-up sketches skill
- already held dye wigs skill
- already held keep personal administration skill
- already held manage personal professional development skill
- already held prevent fire in a performance environment skill
- already held work safely with mobile electrical systems under supervision skill
2 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held advise client on technical possibilities optional
- optional, not held manage consumables stock optional
41 held skills the performance hairdresser role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role adapt existing designs to changed circumstances skill
- not needed by the target role analyse a script skill
- not needed by the target role analyse music score skill
- not needed by the target role analyse the artistic concept based on stage actions skill
- not needed by the target role analyse the need for technical resources skill
- not needed by the target role analyse the scenography skill
- not needed by the target role attend rehearsals skill
- not needed by the target role calculate design costs skill
- not needed by the target role coach staff for running the performance skill
- not needed by the target role communicate during show skill
- not needed by the target role conduct costume research skill
- not needed by the target role contextualise artistic work skill
- not needed by the target role copyright legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role create lifecasts skill
- not needed by the target role decide on make-up process skill
- not needed by the target role define artistic approach skill
- not needed by the target role develop design concept skill
- not needed by the target role develop design ideas cooperatively skill
- not needed by the target role develop the look of a production skill
- not needed by the target role draw up artistic production skill
- not needed by the target role keep up with trends skill
- not needed by the target role labour legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role lead a team skill
- not needed by the target role monitor developments in technology used for design skill
- not needed by the target role monitor sociological trends skill
- not needed by the target role organise resources for artistic production skill
- not needed by the target role perform quality control of design during a run skill
- not needed by the target role present artistic design proposals skill
- not needed by the target role propose improvements to artistic production skill
- not needed by the target role prospect new customers skill
- not needed by the target role provide technical documentation skill
- not needed by the target role research new ideas skill
- not needed by the target role test make-up skill
- not needed by the target role update budget skill
- not needed by the target role update design results during rehearsals skill
- not needed by the target role use communication equipment skill
- not needed by the target role use personal protection equipment skill
- not needed by the target role use specialised design software skill
- not needed by the target role use technical documentation skill
- not needed by the target role verify feasibility skill
1 further entry not listed here
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn hair required
Common questions about this move
Can a make-up and hair designer become a performance hairdresser?
Yes, and it is an adjacent move. A make-up and hair designer already covers 79% of what a performance hairdresser is expected to do: 21 skills carry over, 10 of which the performance hairdresser role treats as required.
What skills does a make-up and hair designer need to become a performance hairdresser?
3 required skills are missing, plus 2 optional ones. They fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is hair.
How hard is the move from make-up and hair designer to performance hairdresser?
Its learning distance is 22 out of 100, which is the adjacent band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.