Top 12 Hairdresser Skills to Put on Your Resume

Crafting a standout hairdresser resume isn’t just a list of cuts and colors. It’s proof you can blend technique, trend sense, and bedside manner into work that keeps clients coming back. Put your strongest skills up front—show range, show precision, show you understand client care—and you’ll jump the queue fast.

1. Haircutting

Haircutting is shaping hair—length, weight, and movement—using shears, clippers, razors, and smart sectioning to create a look that suits the client’s head shape, hair type, and lifestyle.

Why It's Important

Great cutting underpins everything. Healthier ends, cleaner shape, easier styling, and a client who feels seen. It’s the backbone of your craft and the fastest way to build trust.

How to Improve Haircutting Skills

Sharpen the fundamentals, then push the details:

Map the head: Work with elevation, over-direction, and tension. Cross-check horizontal and vertical. Adjust approach for curl patterns and density zones.
Refine sectioning: Smaller, cleaner sections mean cleaner results. Use guides religiously; reset if they drift.
Tool care: Keep shears sharp, clippers clean, guards intact. Dull tools lie to your hands.
Dry work: Detail dry to see true fall, especially for waves, curls, and cowlicks.
Consult like a pro: Face shape, maintenance level, styling time, growth patterns. Translate inspiration photos into realistic plans.
Reps: Mannequins, models, timeboxing. One focus per session—fringes today, internal layers tomorrow.

Consistency plus curiosity moves the needle fast.

How to Display Haircutting Skills on Your Resume

2. Coloring

Coloring changes the hair’s pigment—permanent, demi, semi, lightening, toning—to create depth, blend grays, shift tone, or transform completely.

Why It's Important

Color personalizes a cut and amplifies style. It showcases technical control and taste, while driving repeat services and add-ons.

How to Improve Coloring Skills

Make science and artistry shake hands:

Know your theory: Underlying pigments, level systems, tone families, porosity, and pH. Strand and patch test when in doubt.
Pre-plan: Map placements, choose developers by desired lift and hair condition, and pre-treat porous zones.
Saturation and timing: Generous product for even lift. Monitor visually; adjust with heat only when safe and necessary.
Corrective confidence: Fill before going darker, remove warmth strategically, and avoid over-toning.
Finish strong: Tone in zones, lock with pH-balancing care, send clients home with maintenance guidance.
Keep learning: New lighteners, bond-builders, and gloss systems arrive constantly. Test, compare, document.

How to Display Coloring Skills on Your Resume

3. Styling

Styling is the craft of finishing—blow-dry, set, thermal work, product layering—to create shape, shine, texture, and hold that suits the cut and the moment.

Why It's Important

Finishing sells the haircut. It photographs, it lasts, it teaches clients how to live in the look. It’s your signature on the service.

How to Improve Styling Skills

Dial in control and longevity:

Prep is everything: Match products to fabric—fine hair loves lightweight lift, coarse hair needs moisture and control.
Tension + direction: Root direction sets the silhouette; brush choice sets polish vs movement.
Heat discipline: Work in sections no wider than your tool. Cool-shot to lock. Avoid re-heating the same pass.
Pinning that holds: Anchor pins back-to-back, hide bases, use padding when needed for shape without strain.
Weather-proof: Humidity-resistant finishers, anti-static tricks, and flexible holds that don’t crack.
Practice with purpose: Editorial shapes, lived-in textures, glassy blowouts—rotate drills.

How to Display Styling Skills on Your Resume

4. Balayage

Balayage is a hand-painted lightening approach that creates soft, sun-shifted gradients with low-maintenance grow-out. Open air or wrapped—your call based on lift needed.

Why It's Important

It’s bespoke and forgiving. Clients love the lived-in vibe and fewer salon visits; you get room to design.

How to Improve Balayage Skills

Control the blend, control the result:

Section with intent: Diagonal-back for flow, diagonal-forward for face-framing pop. Keep sections thin for saturation.
Mix for grip: A creamy, stay-put lightener avoids bleeding. Adjust consistency for open-air vs wrap.
Feather the root: Soft edges at the top, saturation toward mids/ends. Backcomb for diffusion when needed.
Mind the canvas: Porosity, previous color, curl pattern. Sometimes “foilayage” beats open air for clean lift.
Tone in zones: Shadow root, melt, and glaze with complementary tones—keep dimension alive.
Practice relentlessly: Mannequins, swatches, timed reps. Photograph and compare.

How to Display Balayage Skills on Your Resume

5. Blowouts

A blowout is a wash-and-style service using targeted product, tension, and heat to deliver smoothness, volume, or bend—without cutting or chemical change.

Why It's Important

It proves polish and control. With proper protection, you showcase shine, movement, and shape clients can’t get at home.

How to Improve Blowout Skills

Smoother, faster, longer-lasting:

Prime smart: Heat protectant always. Choose volumizers, creams, or serums based on fabric.
Tools matter: A powerful dryer with nozzle, clean filter, multiple heats; round brushes sized to section width.
Section strategy: Roots first for lift, ends last for polish. Over-direct for volume where needed.
Cool and set: Clip to cool in shape. Finish with flexible hold and a humidity shield.
Speed drills: Time each quadrant; reduce re-passes; keep the nozzle parallel to the cuticle.

How to Display Blowouts Skills on Your Resume

6. Extensions

Extensions add length, density, or color accents using methods like tape-in, keratin tip, sew-in, I-tip, or wefts tailored to the client’s hair and goals.

Why It's Important

Instant transformation. More styling options, confidence boosts, and high-value services that showcase precision.

How to Improve Extensions Skills

Natural-looking and safe wins every time:

Consult deeply: Color match in daylight, map placement around growth patterns, discuss maintenance and budget.
Choose quality: Consistent, ethically sourced hair and reliable adhesives or bonds minimize issues.
Method mastery: Sectioning symmetry, tension control, clean rows, and safe removal techniques.
Blend meticulously: Dry-cut into the client’s shape; dust ends; respect natural density at the perimeter.
Aftercare education: Brushing habits, sleeping routines, washing frequency, move-up schedules.
Certification and practice: Train across systems so you can recommend the right method, not just the one you know.

How to Display Extensions Skills on Your Resume

7. Keratin Treatments

Keratin treatments are smoothing services that seal a protein formula into hair with heat to reduce frizz, add shine, and speed styling for weeks to months.

Why It's Important

They tame humidity, simplify home care, and expand your menu for clients seeking manageability without permanent chemical straightening.

How to Improve Keratin Treatments Skills

Safe, customized, consistent:

Assess first: Texture, prior chemical history, porosity, and client goals. Not every head is a candidate.
Select wisely: Favor low-odor, low-formaldehyde or aldehyde-free options. Ventilation always; PPE when indicated.
Apply evenly: No oversaturation. Comb-throughs for distribution; respect manufacturer timing.
Heat control: Adjust pass count and temperature by hair type—less for fine or compromised hair.
Aftercare plan: Sulfate-free cleansing, gentle brushing, and realistic longevity expectations.
Document results: Photos, formulas, pass counts—so repeats get even better.

How to Display Keratin Treatments Skills on Your Resume

8. Updos

Updos lift and secure hair—braids, twists, knots, chignons, and hybrids—built with structure, padding, and balance for anything from effortless to editorial.

Why It's Important

Events, weddings, proms, red carpets. Updos showcase design sense and technical finesse under pressure.

How to Improve Updos Skills

Architecture meets hair:

Foundation first: Backcomb where needed, anchor with elastics, and build on strong bases, not wishful thinking.
Tools and products: Varied pins, elastics, padding, working sprays, texture powders—choose for the fabric.
Balance and proportion: Consider face shape, neckline, outfit. Step back and assess from all angles.
Practice on variety: Fine, dense, straight, coily—every fabric teaches a new trick.
Trials and timing: For formal events, schedule trials and record steps, products, and timing.
Secure invisibly: Criss-cross pinning and hidden anchors keep styles locked without pain.

How to Display Updos Skills on Your Resume

9. Barbering

Barbering centers on short hair design, fades, scissor-over-comb work, clipper control, razor detailing, and beard shaping with a focus on precision and grooming.

Why It's Important

Clean fades, sharp lines, and tailored beards win loyalty. It honors tradition while meeting modern style demands.

How to Improve Barbering Skills

Precision is the game:

Clipper mastery: Guard theory, lever play, and systematic fade ladders. Build muscle memory.
Scissor-over-comb: Control weight where clippers can’t. Keep comb angles consistent.
Razor work: Prep skin, stretch properly, use fresh blades, and follow sanitation protocols.
Beard design: Map growth patterns, line at natural high points, taper into the neckline.
Finish and style: Matte vs shine, texture vs polish—match product to the cut.
Health and safety: Disinfect properly, manage cross-contamination, and follow local board rules.

How to Display Barbering Skills on Your Resume

10. Texturizing

Texturizing tweaks weight and movement—adding airiness or removing bulk—through techniques like point cutting, slide cutting, notching, razor work, and thinning shears.

Why It's Important

It personalizes shape. Releases heaviness, encourages curl, adds swing, or calms puff. The difference between okay and wow.

How to Improve Texturizing Skills

Shape with intention, not habit:

Read the fabric: Density, strand thickness, and curl pattern guide how much you remove and where.
Place internally: Build movement inside the shape; avoid collapsing perimeters unless that’s the plan.
Technique toolbox: Point cut for softness, channel cut for movement corridors, razor for feathering—choose on purpose.
Less on curls: Over-texturizing curls or coils spikes frizz. Use selective internal removal and dry cutting.
Section small, check often: Stop, shake, reassess. It’s easier to take more than to put it back.

How to Display Texturizing Skills on Your Resume

11. Highlights

Highlights lighten select strands to add brightness, contrast, and dimension—babylights, slicing, teasylights, foilayage, money pieces, you choose the effect.

Why It's Important

Strategic light makes cuts pop and skin glow. It’s customizable, photogenic, and highly requested.

How to Improve Highlights Skills

Clean lift, clean blend:

Consult and design: Face frame intensity, parting habits, maintenance level. Plan placements before you mix.
Foil discipline: Consistent weaving, tight foils, proper saturation. No holidays, no slippage.
Manage lift: Choose developer by hair condition and target level. Use incubation wisely; avoid overheating.
Zone toning: Root smudge, mid melt, end gloss—control warmth without dulling dimension.
Restore and protect: Bond support when lifting, finish with pH-balancing care, and give at-home maintenance steps.
Timing logs: Record formulas, processing times, and foil patterns for repeatable results.

How to Display Highlights Skills on Your Resume

12. Customer Service

Customer service is everything around the hair: the greeting, the consult, the honesty, the comfort, the follow-up—delivered with warmth and clarity.

Why It's Important

Trust builds retention. Clear expectations prevent surprises. Happy clients refer, rebook, and rave.

How to Improve Customer Service Skills

Make it feel effortless (because you planned it):

Consult with clarity: Use visuals, set realistic outcomes, get informed consent for chemical services, and discuss maintenance and cost.
Personal notes: Track formulas, preferences, sensitivities, and life events. Refer back; it shows you care.
Transparent policies: Clear pricing, timing, and cancellation rules. Offer text/email reminders and easy online booking.
Comfort and access: Clean space, inclusive language, fragrance-aware options, and accessibility considerations.
Feedback loops: Invite feedback, fix misses fast, and follow up after bigger changes or color corrections.

How to Display Customer Service Skills on Your Resume

Top 12 Hairdresser Skills to Put on Your Resume