Resume template · Updated October 2026
Hair stylist resume template
Short answer
Leslie works well for hair stylists: it prints salon experience before skills, so your client book, rebooking and color work lead, and its single touch of blue keeps the page polished without competing with your photos. The fictional sample is a licensed cosmetologist doing color and cutting at a busy salon, after an assistant stint where she learned toning, foils and blowouts.
Download the hair stylist sample
Sofia is a fictional hair stylist. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Leslie suits a hair stylist resume
Leslie prints Work Experience directly after the summary and only then the skills rows, which suits a stylist whose proof is chair time: services a week, rebooking and retail. The centred blue header and short blue underlines add one note of colour, enough to look considered when a salon owner opens it on the front desk tablet.
Second choice: Meridian. Meridian puts the skills rows above the salon jobs; better for a recent graduate whose techniques matter more than a client book.
What goes in each section, in Leslie's order
Leslie prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Professional Summary. License type and state, years behind the chair, what you are booked for (lived-in color, curly cuts, extensions, men's grooming) and a rebooking figure. The license prints again at the bottom, but owners look for it here and in the headline.
- Work Experience. Size of your book, services a week, rebooking at checkout, retail as a share of service sales, average ticket if the salon tracked it. Add what you teach or who you train, since that is how stylists move up a level.
- Skills. Technical lists the services you are actually booked for. Tools covers the color lines you formulate with, extension methods and the booking software. Soft Skills: consultations and retail recommendations, the two that show up in your numbers.
- Education. Name the cosmetology school, the program and its hours. Hours matter because state boards count them toward the exam, and an owner from another state may want to see them.
- Certifications. The license first (type, state, year issued), then advanced education with the provider and year. Brand classes count for more when you can show the services they led to.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Sofia Marchetti
Hair Stylist, Licensed Cosmetologist (CA), Color Specialist
San Diego, CA | sofia.marchetti@example.com | (619) 555-0172 | portfolio.example.com/sofia-marchetti
Licensed cosmetologist with six years in salons, four as a full stylist. Books about 32 services a week, mostly lived-in color, gray blending and precision cuts, keeps a 78% rebooking rate and trains the salon's assistants.
Experience
Senior Hair Stylist, Harbor and Pine Salon, San Diego, CA (04/2022 to Present)
- Keep a book of about 210 active clients; rebooking at checkout averaged 78% over the last 12 months in the salon's booking reports.
- Specialise in balayage, color correction and gray blending, which make up about 60% of my service sales.
- Raised retail to 18% of service sales in 2025, from 9% in my first year, by recommending one product per guest.
- Train two assistants a year on blow-dry finishing, toner mixing and foil placement.
- Run a quarterly evening class for newer stylists on color consultations and keeping formula cards.
Assistant, then Junior Stylist, Coastline Hair Studio, Oceanside, CA (03/2020 to 03/2022)
- Shampooed, toned and blow-dried for three senior stylists, about 45 guests a week.
- Moved to junior stylist in ten months and built a book of 70 clients through walk-ins and model nights.
- Mixed color to formula cards and counted the dispensary stock every week.
Education
Certificate, Cosmetology (1,600-hour program), Mission Valley Beauty Academy (12/2019)
Certifications
- Cosmetologist License, California, California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (2020)
- Advanced color correction course, Westshore Color Academy (2024)
Skills
Balayage and foilayage, Color correction, Gray blending, Precision and curly cuts, Formal styling, Demi- and permanent color lines, Tape-in extensions, Salon booking software, Color consultations, Training assistants, Retail recommendations
How to make the sample yours
Put the license in the headline
Write "Licensed Cosmetologist (CA)" or the equivalent next to your title. In California the board created a 600-hour Hairstylist license that it describes as non-chemical, so a stylist who colors should make clear which license they hold.
Quote rebooking and retail
Pull both from the salon's booking software for a named period, such as the last 12 months. They tell an owner you keep guests coming back and add to the ticket.
Use salon language for services
Balayage, foilayage, gray blending, color correction, dry cutting, curly cuts, tape-in or hand-tied extensions. A posting for a color specialist is looking for those exact words.
Be careful about your book
Say how many active clients you serve, but check any non-solicitation clause in your current agreement before promising to bring them with you.
Link a portfolio of your own work
Before-and-after photos you took, of clients who agreed to be shown. Put the link in the contact line; none of these templates prints photos on the page.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- balayage
- color correction
- gray blending
- precision cutting
- curly cuts
- blowouts
- extensions
- client consultation
- rebooking rate
- retail sales
- client retention
- sanitation and disinfection
- formal styling
- licensed cosmetologist
Mistakes to avoid
- Leaving the license type and state off the page.
- Promising to bring your clients when your agreement includes a non-solicitation clause.
- Copying the whole salon menu into skills instead of the services you are booked for.
- "Passionate about hair" with no number from the booking system behind it.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 5 of 5 | 8 of 8 |
Frequently asked questions
Do hair stylists need a license in California?
Yes. The California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology requires school hours before the exam (1,000 for a cosmetologist, 600 for a hairstylist) and says you cannot work while you wait for your exam date. Name the license you hold, since the newer Hairstylist license is non-chemical.
Should my license number go on my resume?
Type, state and the year issued are enough on the page; give the number on the application, where it can be looked up. California cosmetology licenses renew every two years, so make sure the one you list is current.
How do I write a stylist resume with no clients yet?
Lead with what you did on the floor at school or as an assistant: services performed under supervision, model nights, competitions, the techniques you practised most. Add facts that show reliability, such as opening the salon or running the dispensary.
Should I include my average ticket or commission?
Average ticket, rebooking and retail percentage are useful to an owner. Leave out your pay rate or commission split; that conversation belongs in the interview.
How do I describe booth rental years?
As running your own chair: clients served, rebooking, the retail you stocked, how guests booked you. It shows business habits a commission salon values, and it explains the gap between salon employers.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Leslie PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 5 section headings and all 8 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.
Guides and templates for this resume
Sources, checked 29 October 2026
We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.
- California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology: Frequently Asked Questions (SB 803 (effective January 1, 2022) reduced cosmetology to 1,000 hours (from 1,600) and created a 600-hour non-chemical hairstylist license; cosmetologists can prep, style, cut and color hair; you cannot work while waiting for the exam (working unlicensed is subject to a $1,000 fine))
- California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology: License Renewals (cosmetologist and hairstylist licenses have a two-year license period; renewals can be submitted up to 83 days before expiry)
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