Massage therapist to hair removal technician
A massage therapist already meets 45% of what the hair removal technician role asks for. The move turns on 6 required skills not yet in the profile.
54.6/ 100
1 How much of what a hair removal technician is expected to do is already part of a massage therapist’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 hair removal technician role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A hair removal technician role treats 6 of its required skills as things a massage therapist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- cosmetics
- identify customer's needs
- maintain customer service
- maintain equipment
- skin types
- work ergonomically
What stands in the way is 6 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 13 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A hair removal technician role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a massage therapist background worth leading with.
- already held pluck hair assisting and caring
- already held use hair removal lasers assisting and caring
- already held skin types services
- already held cosmetics services
- already held manage a small-to-medium business management skills
- already held maintain professional administration management skills
All 13 carried skills, including the 6 the hair removal technician role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 18 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 cosmetics industry required
- still to learn hair required
- still to learn hair removal techniques required
- still to learn use laser therapy for skin conditions required
- still to learn conform to cosmetics regulatory requirements required
- optional, not held perform electrolysis optional
- optional, not held use intense pulsed light technology optional
- optional, not held use threading techniques optional
- optional, not held wax body parts optional
- optional, not held treat facial hair optional
- optional, not held style hair optional
- still to learn advise customers on usage of cosmetics required
- optional, not held offer cosmetic beauty advice optional
- optional, not held recommend cosmetics to customers optional
- optional, not held sell cosmetics optional
- optional, not held train employees optional
- optional, not held monitor stock level optional
- optional, not held keep personal administration optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a hair removal technician role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 cosmetics industry study this
- 02 hair study this
- 03 use laser therapy for skin conditions 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 13 skills that carry over
- already held cosmetics knowledge
- already held identify customer's needs skill
- already held maintain customer service skill
- already held maintain equipment skill
- already held skin types knowledge
- already held work ergonomically skill
- already held administer appointments skill
- already held maintain professional administration skill
- already held manage a small-to-medium business skill
- already held order supplies skill
- already held pluck hair skill
- already held process payments skill
- already held use hair removal lasers skill
12 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held perform electrolysis optional
- optional, not held use intense pulsed light technology optional
- optional, not held use threading techniques optional
- optional, not held wax body parts optional
- optional, not held monitor stock level optional
- optional, not held offer cosmetic beauty advice optional
- optional, not held recommend cosmetics to customers optional
- optional, not held treat facial hair optional
- optional, not held keep personal administration optional
- optional, not held sell cosmetics optional
- optional, not held style hair optional
- optional, not held train employees optional
53 held skills the hair removal technician role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role accept own accountability skill
- not needed by the target role administer hydrotherapy skill
- not needed by the target role administrative tasks in a medical environment knowledge
- not needed by the target role apply acupuncture skill
- not needed by the target role apply aromatherapy skill
- not needed by the target role apply deep tissue massage skill
- not needed by the target role apply massage therapy skill
- not needed by the target role apply sports massage skill
- not needed by the target role apply thermotherapy skill
- not needed by the target role balneotherapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role carry out preventative internal medicine interventions skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
- not needed by the target role comply with legislation related to health care skill
- not needed by the target role conduct pregnancy massages skill
- not needed by the target role contraindications knowledge
- not needed by the target role cosmetic manicure knowledge
- not needed by the target role cosmetic pedicure knowledge
- not needed by the target role develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship skill
- not needed by the target role develop personalised massage plan skill
- not needed by the target role discuss the medical history of the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role electrotherapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role empathise with the healthcare user skill
- not needed by the target role energy therapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role etiopathy knowledge
- not needed by the target role fasciatherapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role give massages skill
- not needed by the target role health care legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role health care system knowledge
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role human physiology knowledge
- not needed by the target role hydrotherapy knowledge
- not needed by the target role kinetics knowledge
- not needed by the target role liaise with industry experts skill
- not needed by the target role maintain personal hygiene standards skill
- not needed by the target role maintain privacy of service users skill
- not needed by the target role maintain work area cleanliness skill
- not needed by the target role manage healthcare users' data skill
- not needed by the target role manual lymphatic drainage massage knowledge
- not needed by the target role massage theory knowledge
- not needed by the target role massage types knowledge
13 further entries not listed here
3 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 cosmetics industry required
- still to learn hair required
- still to learn hair removal techniques required
Common questions about this move
Can a massage therapist become a hair removal technician?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A massage therapist already covers 45% of what a hair removal technician is expected to do: 13 skills carry over, 6 of which the hair removal technician role treats as required.
What skills does a massage therapist need to become a hair removal technician?
6 required skills are missing, plus 12 optional ones. They fall into 4 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by services. The single most important is cosmetics industry.
How hard is the move from massage therapist to hair removal technician?
Its learning distance is 54.6 out of 100, which is the moderate 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.