In the field of beauty, the regulations are constantly changing. This is because technological advances are forever enhancing the treatments and services that can be given. The field of esthetics is currently being affected by advancements, and these changes are creating a need for adjustments to be made in the current regulations.

First and foremost, the beauty industry generated $60 billion in revenue in 2008, and by 2011, this rate rose by 5.3 percent. A portion of this profit was earned by estheticians who are currently employed by medical spas, clinics and even by dermatologists.

The state of Washington currently has laws implemented that require an esthetician to have 600 hours of training from a licensed school. A student must pass an examination given by the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL). Once the 600 hours of training have been completed, a licensed esthetician is able to use lasers under the supervision of a physician, according to the regulations enforced by the Medical Quality Assurance Commission. Seems simple, right? Well, the issue lies with the fact that during the course of a 600-hour training program, it’s not feasible to fit laser training into the curriculum; even basic laser training is difficult to be squeezed into such a short time span.

As of right now, the laser training rests on the shoulders of the business that hires the esthetician, and there are no set standards as to how it is done. In fact, the laser training can consist of a few hours of instruction from the person who sells the company a laser and that person then spreads the word to the rest of the staff. In some instances, an employee may go through private lessons, and who pays for it depends on the company that hires the esthetician. And some estheticians opt to go out of state to well-known facilities for more comprehensive training. One laser clinic has spent more than $25,000 to send her estheticians for out-of-state training.

Originally, the Northwest Aestheticians’ Guild proposed that schools begin offering a 1,200-hour training, but this idea was shot down, since it would cause people to have to learn more than just the traditional practice of esthetics. Not to mention, it would harm schools because it would lead to them being required to double their training, which could possibly put them out of business.

The bill that’s set to go into law will increase the 600-hour training to 750 hours. This will help familiarize students with the new technologies, and it will give the students more opportunities to practice. Laser services will not be part of the 750-hour certification curriculum, and all estheticians will no longer be able to give infections. A new license will be created known as the master esthetician license, which consists of 1,200 hours of training and includes instruction on lasers and medium-depth peels. Skincare professionals who have a 600-hour esthetician license will automatically be grandfathered into the 750-hour license. Anyone who now has an esthetician license will have five different ways to become eligible for the master esthetician license, and it gives current estheticians until January 1, 2015 to qualify for the master esthetician license by being grandfathered in.

Turns out, physical appearance does matter when it comes to your ability to succeed in the work place. (We imagine that’s especially important if you’re trying to get a cosmetology job!) This infographic covers how the public believes physical attractiveness may provide an advantage in getting a job or promotion, and some people even believe that looks matter more than your sense of humor or even education. Wha?! So confidence, experience and a great resume are still important to getting a job, but don’t discount the importance of spending a little time and money on your personal appearance if you’re hitting the pavement to find work.

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<a href="http://www.beautyschool.com/blog/beauty-jobs/looks-matter-when-job-hunting" title="Looks Matter When Applying for Jobs" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.beautyschool.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/looks-affect-job-prospects-infograph-625x1024.png" alt="Appearance Matters When Job Hunting Infographic"/></a><br /><em>Via <a href="http://www.beautyschool.com/articles/how-is-the-cosmetology-industry-really-doing" title="Beauty Jobs Outlook">BeautySchool.com Beauty Jobs Outlook</a></em>

Susanne S. Warfield is the leading expert on the business, legal and liability issues that affect physician and esthetician relationships working in a medical or spa setting. Warfield is a 27-year Licensed Esthetician and is NCEA Certified. Her career started as an Esthetics Instructor at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, where she taught the 2nd year of a two-year degree Esthetics Program. When she moved to the United States, her advanced training was put into use and she spent almost 14 years working with a dermatologist in New York City. See Susanne S. Warfield’s profile on the My Social Beauty.

Embarking on a new career can be frightening at first because the distance between where you are when you get out of one of the many esthetician schools and gaining the experience prospective employers want can seem so vast. The first step on any journey into the unknown is always the most difficult, and the good news is that once you pass your state boards, you’re actually already on your way.

The next step is to define what is a successful career for an esthetician? You’d be amazed at how many people never bother to plan their careers. They plan just about everything else about their lives – vacations, weddings, even grocery shopping – but when it comes to what they spend most of their working lives doing, they just drift. Most people never actually examine where they want to go; they simply follow the crowd and do the obvious. But even if you get offered the greatest job, it won’t really be your choice unless you actively, consciously make it. I certainly don’t think working in a medical setting is the right choice for every esthetician, nor do I think that every esthetician working in a spa should do it to the exclusion of other esthetic work. I know that working in a dermatology practice was the right choice for me because I made it only after spending a great deal of time thinking about what I like, what I’m good at, and what my options are, given my predilections and my training.

And that’s really the key for any important career decision. It’s a cliche, but it’s true, if you fail to plan–you plan to fail. But really knowing what you like is not so easy as it might seem. Many of us took aptitude tests in high school to find out what we were best suited for. Those tests, among other things, were really subtle explorations of what we enjoyed doing. I’m sure your local library can recommend some reference books if you haven’t explored your skills. Even if you don’t have much faith in the specific techniques these books employ, doing the exercises at least forces you to give some conscious thought to the direction you’d like to take, as opposed to what you think you ought to be doing with your life. Whatever exercises you use, they should have one thing in common: they should help you free your mind from the strictures we usually place on it when we think about work. In other words, when you think about what you’d like to be doing with your esthetics career, you shouldn’t be limited to what you traditionally think of as work. The whole point of these exercises, in fact, is to broaden your usual definitions of work. Think of the things you actually choose to do when you’re completely free to spend your time as you like. That includes what you do for entertainment, volunteer activities, hobbies, anything, even cleaning the garage if that gives you pleasure. In fact, it’s those things you wouldn’t think of under ordinary circumstances that can be the most revealing. For example, if you like cleaning out the garage, it may mean you enjoy bringing order out of chaos – you’re a good organizer.

There are other exercises that are useful for helping define what shape you’d like your career to take. Priority lists, where you list the pros and cons of a decision on each side of a piece of paper and give numerical weights to each entry to see which side comes out ahead, decision trees, or any of a host of methods used to clarify decisions can be used. Make lists of goals for your next position – wealth, challenge, interaction with interesting people, creativity, a pleasant environment, adventure, fame, power, leadership opportunities, long lunch hours, anything you want – and try to imagine the ideal position. Pay attention to what turns you on and to what turns you off.

Remember, these exercises are just for you. Be as free as you can because their only purpose is to help you think creatively about your strengths and to become conscious of the forces that help you succeed or prevent you from doing as well as you can.

Above all, the most important thing to take from these exercises, is that the reasons for choosing to work as an esthetician in a medical or spa setting, be conscious reasons, not vague, undefined impulses. Now get to work planning your future!