Apprentice starts career of her dreams

Apprentice hairdresser Shanyn Saywell has used a Level 3 hairdressing qualification to springboard into the career of her dreams.

“Not everyone needs to do a degree or multi-year qualification to kickstart their career,” says WITT Te Pūkenga Tutor Kellee French.

From the Trades Academy Hair and Makeup programme she started while she was at Stratford High School, Shanyn zeroed in on hairdressing and completed the New Zealand Certificate in Hairdressing (Level 3) last year.

“I wanted to do something creative building on art, which I enjoyed at school,” says Shanyn.

From the programme, she’s discovered a love for hair colouring and finds that allows her to be the most creative.

The New Zealand Certificate in Hairdressing provides an introduction to working in a professional salon environment, including cutting and colours.

With the help of her tutors she secured work experience, which is part of the programme, and now she has a sought-after apprenticeship at Vivo Hair Salon in Stratford.

“The tutors treat you more as a person, not just another student, and really mentor you.”

She says the learning was easier than at school too.

“It was more hands-on with different teaching methods,” she says.

“She was such an awesome student and all credit to her as she juggled her training and work experience alongside being a mum of a toddler [Juniper, pictured],” says Kellee.

Shanyn is not able to attend this year’s graduation ceremony on Thursday 15 February to receive her certificate and celebrate her achievements with her peers but she says she’ll be back.

“I’ll be coming back to WITT to upskill and do barbering.”