Esthetician resume examples & templates

With the skin care job market growing exceptionally fast, your esthetician resume must be exceptional to outshine the ordinary. Like the beauty mark that distinguished Marilyn Monroe and Cindy Crawford from the other stunning women of their generation, you’ll need a resume to make you stand out from the crowd. Luckily, you’ve come to the right place.

Resume guide for an esthetician resume

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This resume guide and corresponding esthetician resume example will cover the following:

• How to write an esthetician resume
• Choosing the right resume format for an esthetician
• How to add your contact information
• Using summaries
• Adding your esthetician experience
• Listing education and relevant experience
• Picking the right resume design/layout
• What the esthetician market looks like, and what salary you can expect

How to write an esthetician resume

Before you start working on your esthetician resume, you need to understand what features to highlight. Here are the main sections your resume should include:

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

Standing out from the crowd can be tough. Kick your esthetician resume off by pinpointing your unique selling proposition. This is the foundation of your resume and gives the hiring manager a reason to keep reading. Start with your strongest attribute and go from there. 

Let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can optimize your esthetician resume:

• Highlight accomplishments rather than simply your duties. Show the hiring manager what they can expect by detailing your track record.
• Hiring managers spend just seven seconds reviewing each resume that they receive. To help you perfect it from the start, choose a professional template.
• Always optimize your resume to suit the company. That’s because you have to ensure that it gets past the ATS screening software. You can also use an ATS resume template to help boost your chances of beating the bots.

Choosing the right resume format for an esthetician

Picking the right resume format is a must. The layout you use should align perfectly with your career level and what you want to convey to the hiring manager.

Only if you are a self-employed esthetician, or lack relevant work experience, would we recommend the functional format or the more versatile hybrid format.

Otherwise, the most commonly used reverse chronological order is the best choice for estheticians who have worked mostly as employees. Recruiters prefer the emphasis on work experience, organized in order from most recent to earliest jobs. It’s also the most ATS-friendly resume format.

Take a look at our range of resume templates in our resume builder. Choose one that best suits your situation. It’s also worth looking at our library of resume examples for inspiration.

When it comes to the overall design, keep things simple. You don’t want to end up overcomplicating the look of your resume with flashy images or over-the-top graphics. 

Include your contact information

You should include your basic contact details in your resume header. This resume section works as a business card—sharing the vital information that the hiring manager needs.

Here’s what you need to include in this section.

• Full name & title. Your first name, last name, and the word ‘Esthetician.’
• Professional email address. Use an email address that is professional and suitable for a workplace setting.
• Phone number. Add a number where you can be reached quickly and easily. Make sure that the answer phone message is suitable for the hiring manager.
• Location. Include just your city and state. Don’t bother putting your whole address as this is outdated and can be dangerous.
• LinkedIn. If you have a  LinkedIn profile and it’s up-to-date, add a hyperlink, too.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth: Adding this to your resume can lead to potential age discrimination.
• Personal details: You don’t need to include your marital status, social security number, passport number, etc. on this document.

Make use of a summary

The summary of your esthetician resume is where the brightest spotlight shines on the promise of success your next employer is being offered. As a succinct synopsis of your most impressive qualifications, with overtones of personality, the summary (sometimes called a profile or personal statement) should be relevant and relatable to the person reading it.

Have you ever helped a beauty and wellness business turn a corner from surviving to thriving? Was it your high-quality standards or friendly demeanor that drew new clients and kept loyal ones coming back? Did you cater to any niche clientele such as fashion show participants or wedding parties? What about the impact on the self-esteem of at-risk women, the elderly, and those recovering from illness or injury?

Feature action verbs to add impact to your resume summary. For example, you can include words such as transformed, delivered, excelled, succeeded, and revitalized here.

You can find adaptable esthetician resume examples summary below:

Outline your esthetician work experience

The employment history section of your esthetician resume holds a two-way mirror to your past performance and future potential.

Use descriptive language but don’t merely rattle off a generic job description for each previous job. The hiring manager already knows what duties an esthetician performs. So instead of squandering bullet points on what you were responsible for, talk about what you did in each role. Your language automatically sounds more dynamic if you use action verbs in the active voice to describe accomplishments.

Try to quantify beneficial outcomes with results-based points, whenever possible. Revisit the questions we put forward above when discussing your resume summary. Dig just a bit deeper now to highlight your work experience in measurable terms: dollar amounts to show financial gains or numbers and percentages to show efficiencies and clientele growth. 

If you’re not in a position to pinpoint this data precisely, provide job scope or scale indicators such as salon size, hours worked, number of daily appointments, or frequency of specific treatments.

Here’s an example of what not to do in this part of your esthetician resume: 

• “Conducted skin analysis and recommended treatments”
• “Maintained knowledge of skincare products”
• “Greeted customers”

It’s smarter to be more specific about your work experience. Let’s take a quick look at how you can improve the above statements: 

• “Conducted skin analysis and recommended treatments, leading to a 5% sales boost”
• “Maintained knowledge of skincare products by subscribing to industry magazines”
• “Created strong relationships with a 65% repeat customer rate”

Take a look at the esthetician employment history resume sample below:

How to write an esthetician resume with no experience

If you are new to the world of skincare, you won’t have any direct experience on your resume. That doesn’t mean that you should give up. Instead, follow these simple tips: 

• Consider your transferable skills. These are talents that span industries, such as customer service, communication, and time management.
• Show some passion. Use your summary or objective to clearly explain why you are interested in a position within this industry.
• Talk about your product knowledge. It’s important to show that you have an in-depth understanding of the business and an interest in the latest products out there.

Of course, you also need to mention that you have a license in your state. You will not be considered for a role as an esthetician if you do not have the correct qualifications. 

Include the relevant key skills that make you a great esthetician

There’s a good chance you’ll find it more challenging to trim down the skills list on your esthetician CV than to decide what to include. Feature both hard and soft skills here.

Hard skills are job-related abilities and techniques might seem like ones that hiring managers could take for granted. Whatever skills are stipulated as a posted job requirement belong on your resume. They can either appear verbatim on the skills list or be implied in your summary or employment history highlights.

Also, consider game-changing talents that could give you a winning edge. Soft skills—inherent personal qualities and beneficial work habits—are apparent in your interactions with others. Be specific when citing communication and interpersonal skills that are vital for an esthetician, from being a good listener to remaining calm under pressure to effectively counseling clients about at-home follow-up routines.

Our resume builder gives you several pre-written key skills to choose from plus proficiency ranges you can set. You can also write in your skills to tailor your resume.

Here’s what the skills box looks like in our esthetician resume template. 

It’s always smart to give your skills context. While you should mention them in your skills section, include them elsewhere in your resume. For example: 

• Reference your communication skills in your work experience section when talking about building positive customer relations.
• Include any additional training you have, such as Chemical Peel Certificates or Microdermabrasion Qualifications.

If you don’t know where to start, go back to the job posting. The hiring manager may have outlined the core competencies that they expect you to have here.

Detail your education & relevant esthetician certifications

Next up, let’s tackle your education section. Just because estheticians don’t require a university degree doesn’t make your qualifications count any less. 

Follow this reverse chronological listing order in your resume’s education section, indicating each school name, location, and graduation year: degrees, diploma or certificate programs, internships, on-the-job training, and courses you’ve completed as an employee or on your own. Omit high school information if you have a degree. Here are the other points you may include:

• Esthetician License: To land a job in this field, you will need to have the proper NCEA-Certified credentials. Check the requirements based on your state.
• Specialized Certificates: Additionally, you should list any specialized training you have completed. Examples include Chemical Peel Certificates, Microdermabrasion Qualifications, Acne Expert Qualifications, and Facial Qualifications.
• CPR and First Aid Certification: You may also hold relevant CPR and First Aid Certification, such as the National CPR Certification.
• Extra Courses: If you have undertaken any extra courses or on-the-job training, now is the time to let it shine through. Include it in your education section.

Return to the job listing to ensure that you have all of the right qualifications for the role. It’s always best to align your resume with the exact demands of the vacancy. 

Pick the right resume layout and design for an esthetician resume

Appearance always counts, but the bar is set higher for an esthetician resume to be eye-pleasing on all counts. There’s no visual aspect you can afford to get wrong when it comes to document layout, design, and formatting.

The overall look of your esthetician resume should be immaculate, streamlined, and buffed to unblemished perfection. An uncomplicated layout looks inviting to read at first glance, with one clearly labeled section flowing logically into the next. Allow ample white space on the page by sticking to the default one-inch margin widths and easing your line and paragraph spacing.

Even the most understated resume designs leave room for confident creativity. Follow your instincts all the way when it comes to font style, text formatting, and sparing touches of color. 

Take advantage of an easier and faster way by using one of Resume.io’s designed resume templates. You’ll have no trouble finding the right look for your esthetician resume by browsing these four style categories: Modern, Creative, Simple, and Professional.  

Esthetician text-only resume example

Esthetician job market and outlook

The job outlook for estheticians and other skin care specialists is radiant, with the BLS projecting 9% employment growth from 2022 through 2032. There are currently more than 12,000 job vacancies in this sector of skincare across the United States.

What type of salary you can expect as an esthetician

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which classifies estheticians as skin care specialists, reported they were earning a median hourly wage of $20.77 in May 2023. The highest 10% of workers in this sector earn over $39.10 per hour.

Key takeaways for building an esthetician resume

In today’s dynamic job market for skin care specialists, you can’t afford to have a lackluster esthetician resume. Understanding the employer’s specific hiring needs is the key to customizing your resume for each job application. Each resume section should reinforce why your talents are an excellent match to the job requirements and how the employer could benefit.

Want some help along the way? Our online resume builder is the perfect tool to get started.