Diploma in Beauty Therapy - Jessica Garden
Diploma in Beauty Therapy - Jessica Garden
For recent Diploma in Beauty Therapy graduate Jessica Garden, her career follows in the footsteps of her family. “My aunty and cousin both did beauty therapy and my cousin often used me as a guinea pig. My mum also worked in a clinic”. After returning from London, Jessica chose to undertake the course at SIT Queenstown when she heard about it from a friend.
“Beauty Therapy is definitely something that I’m passionate about – it means I can help others and it’s a growing industry. I chose SIT Queenstown because it was close to my home town, it was convenient for me.”
Jessica enjoyed the facilities at SIT and her tutors too. “The facilities at SIT were top notch. It was basically brand new and we had even newer equipment brought in whilst I was there. It was a perfect location and the teachers were awesome, both very approachable and helpful.”
Facials and pedicures are Jessica’s favourite area of practice. “People don’t often get [pedicures] so I like to do something for people that they don’t get often, because they’re always thankful of the result.”
Whilst studying, Jessica also worked as a beauty therapist, gaining experience and getting paid for it. “I worked hard to get things done in advance and I organised clients in advance. I didn’t have a lot of free time as I worked 20 hours per week.”
As well as completing her SIT exams and being awarded both Top Theory and Top Practical Student for the year, Jessica also opted to sit the ITEC exams. “They are international exams that give the employer the chance to recognise our qualification at an international level. For me it was just like sitting the exams twice. I sat 5 out of the possible 8 exams and gained distinction in all of them.”
Jessica views her future options broadly. “I will be looking around next year – there are options all around. I have already been overseas; now that I’m qualified I can go again but with better wages. Working on a cruise ships in future is a perfect job for me to do and eventually I would like to open up my own clinic.”
With so many options available now, Jessica is thankful of her experience at SIT, “I would definitely recommend the course!”