Career profile: saks head of education tina rook

Saks Head of Education, Tina Rook, started out her career in Beauty Therapy. From offering hair and make-up packages in her first role to developing apprenticeships with HABIA, Tina gives us valuable insight into work-based learning and what it takes to be a successful educator. Tell me about where and when you trained. I trained as a beauty therapist in 1989 at the Yorkshire College of Beauty Therapy in Leeds. It was a really good education and gave me lots of passion and enthusiasm for the hair and beauty industry. What was your first full-time role in the beauty industry? My first full time role was in a small salon in Halifax; it was mainly a hairdressing salon and had two beauty rooms at the side. This is where my interest in hairdressing started. The staff were great and gave me training in hairdressing which meant I had a good rounded view of hair and beauty. This enabled me to expand my offering to clients by creating hair-up and make-up packages. Why did you decide you wanted to get in to education? I worked on cruise liners for a couple of contracts and when I came back I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I had such a good time working at sea I knew I needed a job to keep me motivated and engaged.  I saw a job advertised locally for a Beauty Therapy Educator at a local training provider in Bradford and worked there for a couple of years before I moved onto a role at HABIA.  My position at HABIA involved developing an Apprenticeship in Beauty Therapy, and this is when I really began to understand education and the impact it has on our industry as a whole. Tell me about what your role today comprises. No day is the same!  As Head of Education my role spreads across the whole organisation. One day I might be in the office working closely with the administration team and office manager, the next I could be out on the road doing a quality visit on one of the education team, or meeting and supporting employers and learners. And of course meetings, there are lots of meetings! What do you enjoy about educating young people? It’s incredibly hard work, but when we have learners that have progressed from apprentice to advanced apprentice to owning their own salon or that become art team members, work abroad or in top hotels and spas, even film and television work, then you realise you've done a good job and it's really rewarding. I have learners from 10 to 15 years ago who still message me saying how well they're doing and how I've inspired them. That’s always good to hear. What are some of the challenges involved with educating young people today? One of our main challenges, and I’m sure all training providers will have the same problem, is getting learners into an apprenticeship. With the school leaving age increasing to 18, learners aren't always clear that they have an option of an apprenticeship instead of staying on at school when they don’t always want to. Some learners also think that the hair and beauty industry is an easy option too. This can be challenging when the reality hits that the industry is tough. You have to work incredibly hard to succeed and you won’t be given a pair of scissors to cut hair in the first week! What advice would you give to someone thinking about getting in to education? Don’t! (Only kidding). Working in education is not for everyone, you have to be extremely organised, patient, and have a willingness to go that extra mile for your employers and learners, but it does have its rewards, when a learner that you never thought would achieve finally completes and is so grateful, it’s incredibly satisfying to know it was all worth it. What are the key skills you need to be an educator for a brand and how does it differ from working in say, a college? As I’ve said, work-based learning is very hard, it’s a balancing and juggling act. It’s not only about educating the learner about hair and beauty, which is hard enough in its own right, it’s about educating them about being and staying in employment. It’s also about working with employers, making sure they are upholding their end of the apprenticeship, and that employers are supporting the apprentice and understand their needs.  When you're involved in work-based learning you have to wear many hats including, councillor, tutor assessor, career advisor and that's just a few!