Clair is the founder and owner of Salon 101 in Tewantin. The salon was opened by the former Mayor of Noosa Bob Abbot 23 years ago. Not long after, Clair found a sustainable way to recruit trainees and bring further value to her business and community.
Now, Clair has built up a strong reputation through recruiting and training Community Solutions trainees.
Clair is focused on finding and training quality hairdressers as part of her business strategy. As such, this allows her to share her skills and experience with young trainees and develop a good reputation within the industry.
Also, Clair knows she can fulfill her business needs by working closely with her Community Solutions Field Services Officer Jess.
‘I know I’m going to get quality trainees. They work with me to make sure the trainees have the right motivation,’ said Clair.
In fact, Jess explains that her relationship and understanding of Clair’s business needs are vital to the process.
‘Building good relationships with our host employers makes all the difference,’ said Jess.
For a small business, finding the time and the resources to recruit trainees can be difficult. However, by hiring trainees through Community Solutions Clair can access a large candidate pool, recruitment and post-placement support. As a result, she has more time to focus on the salon.
‘When I take on a trainee, I know that I have back up from Community Solutions which is the main thing,’ says Clair.
Over the years, Clair has hired around 20 hairdressing trainees through Community Solutions.
‘Out of the 20 trainees I’ve had, 14 have gone on to an apprenticeship,’ said Clair. ‘When employers know they’ve been trained through us, they immediately give them a trial.’
In November 2015, Clair was diagnosed with breast cancer which made it hard to manage her treatment, the salon and her trainees. However, Clair was able to keep her trainees on track and focus on her recovery with post-placement support from the Community Solutions team.
‘Community Solutions were very understanding with me having to deal with treatment but also doing my very best for the trainees,’ said Clair.
As part of the post-placement support, Jess and the team regularly visit Clair and her most recent trainee Jade. These visits ensure both Clair and Jade have the best possible outcome from the traineeship.
Clair’s salon and trainees have won numerous awards with Community Solutions including Salon of the Year and Apprentice of the Year.
Discover a sustainable way to grow your business by hiring a Community Solutions apprentice or trainee.
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