Interview Questions to Ask an Esthetician
For a spa, salon or med spa owner or manager about to interview an esthetician for a job or a treatment room. The questions run in the order the meeting usually does: license and skills, consultations and skin safety, clients and retail, the job itself and the hands-on practical, then a last group the esthetician is likely to ask you about pay, targets, product lines and schedule. The note under each says what a strong answer includes, what should give you pause, and where to check your own local rules before relying on it.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
License and skills
What drew you to esthetics, and which treatment would you happily do all day?
Why ask it
The favorite is the useful half. It is often where their hands are best and what they will steer clients toward, so set it beside what your menu sells most. Then ask which treatment they would be glad never to do again, and check how much of it you book.
Which esthetics license do you hold, and when is it up for renewal?
Why ask it
What the license is called and what it lets someone do differ by state and country, so look up your own rules before the interview and ask to see the document. Someone settled in the work gives the school, the hours or exam and the renewal date without hunting for them. Verify it yourself with the body that issued it, whatever you are told.
Take me through the treatments on your book last week.
Why ask it
'Last week' gets you what they did on paying clients, not what is printed on their certificates. Listen for the mix: mostly waxing, mostly facials, or a spread, and compare it with what your own menu sells. A quiet book is no fault of theirs, but it tells you how much practice time to plan for.
Which services on our menu could you perform tomorrow, and which would you want training on first?
Why ask it
Hand over the menu and a pen and let them mark it. An honest 'not yet' beside two or three services is worth more than a yes to all of them. Pick one they marked as confident, ideally the one you sell most, and make it the practical.
How does your facial change for acne-prone skin compared with dry or mature skin?
Why ask it
You are checking that they treat the skin in front of them and do not run one routine on everyone. A strong reply changes specific steps: the cleanse, whether they exfoliate, how long they massage, the mask. If the answer is only a list of product names, ask what they would leave out for each.
Which skin tones and skin types have you had the least practice on?
Why ask it
Everyone has a gap, and it usually reflects who walked through the door at their last job. The good answer names it and says what they do about it: go more cautiously, test a small area, ask a colleague. Be cautious of 'skin is skin', particularly if your menu includes peels or hair removal.
Which machines and devices have you used on clients, and who trained you on each?
Why ask it
Have them separate a manufacturer's training day from watching a colleague once. For each device, ask roughly how many clients they have treated with it. Whether an esthetician may operate a given machine at all depends on where you are and sometimes on your insurer, so check that before you promise it as part of the job.
Which areas do you wax, do you reach for hard or soft wax, and how long do you book for a full leg?
Why ask it
Timing is the useful part, because it is how you will build their schedule. A confident waxer answers in minutes and knows which areas they are slow on. If brows are your biggest seller, ask to see photos of their own work or add a brow to the practical. Skip this one if you do not offer waxing.
What training have you taken since school, and what did you change in the treatment room afterward?
Why ask it
The second half separates learning from collecting certificates. One course with a clear before and after, such as a new way of doing extractions, says more than a folder of them. Asking who paid for it tells you whether they invest in themselves or wait to be sent.
How do you decide whether a new ingredient or treatment is worth offering, or one to let pass?
Why ask it
Clients arrive asking for whatever they saw online last week, so you want someone with a filter. Good answers name where they read or who they ask, and one fashionable thing they chose not to take up and why. If every source is a social feed, ask how they check a claim before repeating it to a client.
What do clients ask you for that is outside what you are licensed to do, and what do you tell them?
Why ask it
Scope differs from place to place, so you are listening less for the exact line than for whether they know there is one. A good answer has a sentence they really say, such as 'that is one for a dermatologist'. In a med spa, ask which treatments they performed under a medical director's supervision and which on their own, then explain how it works with you.
Skin and safety
A new client has booked a facial. What do you ask and look at before you touch their skin?
Why ask it
This is the consultation in miniature. Expect questions about what the client puts on at home, medications, allergies, recent treatments and sun, and what they hope to walk out with, followed by a look at the skin itself. Going straight to the cleanse skips the one step that exists to catch a problem before it starts.
Which answers from a client make you change the treatment, or not do it that day?
Why ask it
Common replies are a prescription retinoid, a recent sunburn, an active cold sore, a recent procedure or a new medication. What matters is that the list comes quickly and ends with an alternative, so the client still leaves with something. Your own protocols and the product makers' instructions set the actual rules, so say what yours are once you have heard theirs.
A client is on the bed for a peel and mentions they started a prescription cream for their skin last month. What happens next?
Why ask it
You are watching whether they stop and ask more, or carry on because the client is already there and paying. The strong answer changes the plan out loud: explains why, offers something gentler, rebooks the peel. Ask how they handle the client's disappointment, since that is the moment people give in.
What have you seen on a client's skin that made you suggest a doctor instead of a treatment?
Why ask it
A real story is the good sign: something that looked wrong to them, and the words they chose. The right words are modest, along the lines of 'I cannot tell you what that is, and I would have it looked at'. Be wary of a candidate who told the client what the condition was, because naming it is not their call.
How do you decide what to extract, and when do you stop?
Why ask it
The stopping rule matters as much as the technique, because a client judges extractions by their face the next morning. Listen for preparation, what they leave alone, a time limit and checking in with the client. 'I get everything out' sounds thorough and can mean a red, marked face a day later.
When do you patch test, and what do you do when a client does not want to wait for the result?
Why ask it
Tints, some waxes and stronger products are the usual triggers, though the requirement comes from the maker's instructions, your insurer and your own policy. The second half is the real question: an esthetician who skipped the test for an insistent client at the last job will skip it at yours. Tell them what your rule is and watch how they take it.
A client's skin turns hot and red in the middle of a treatment and they say it stings. What do you do in the next five minutes?
Why ask it
Good answers start with stopping and taking the product off, then calming the skin, asking the client what they feel and telling them plainly what happened. Listen for whether they would fetch you and write it down the same day. The worrying reply is 'a little tingling is normal' with no question to the client first.
A client calls two days after a wax or a peel to say the skin has blistered. What do you say, and who do you tell?
Why ask it
They should listen, say they are sorry it happened, avoid diagnosing over the phone and suggest the client is seen, by you or by a doctor depending on how it sounds. Then they tell the manager at once. A candidate whose first move is to ask what the client did wrong at home will handle your complaints the same way.
What goes on a client's record after each visit?
Why ask it
Products and strengths, how long they were left on, how the skin responded, what was recommended and what the client turned down. The test is whether a colleague could treat that client next month from the notes alone. Ask when they write it: 'at the end of the day' means from memory.
What do you do to the room between one client leaving and the next coming in?
Why ask it
The order tells you whether it is habit: linens off, surfaces, implements, bowls, hands, fresh setup. Ask how many minutes it takes, because that number belongs in your booking gaps. Then compare what they describe with what the board or health authority that inspects you asks for.
Which tools do you throw away after one client, and how do you disinfect the ones you keep?
Why ask it
Listen for cleaning first, then a disinfectant left on for the time its label states, then dry storage. The first step and the waiting are the two that get dropped on a busy day, so ask about both. Exactly which items must be single use is set by the rules where you are, so check their answer against those and not against habit.
How do you keep a pot of wax clean from the first client of the day to the last?
Why ask it
What you want to hear is that nothing that has touched skin goes back in the pot. It should come without a pause, along with what they do when they run short of applicators. Hesitation, or 'the heat kills everything', is a reason to watch their waxing closely in the practical.
You draw a little blood during an extraction or a wax. What do you do?
Why ask it
An esthetician who has dealt with this gives the steps without thinking: gloves on if they were not already, stop, clean and cover the spot, bag whatever touched it, tell the client, write it down. The procedure that counts is the one your board or health authority sets, so compare their steps with your written version and hand them a copy.
Clients
How do you settle a client who is nervous about a first wax or a first facial?
Why ask it
Look for the plain things: saying what is about to happen before it does, leaving the room while the client changes, something to cover up with, a warning before anything hot, cold or sharp. Ask how much they talk during a treatment and how they tell when a client would like quiet. Jokes about a client's hair or skin, even kindly meant, are how a first visit becomes the only one.
Describe the last time a client left disappointed with your work. What did you do the next day?
Why ask it
Everyone with a real book has one of these, so 'that has never happened' is either inexperience or a dodge. Listen for who they told, whether they contacted the client, and what they changed. Blaming the client's skin or expectations from start to finish is the pattern to notice.
A client expected one facial to clear their acne and is angry that it did not. What do you say?
Why ask it
The best answers go back to the consultation, where the expectation should have been set, and then offer a plan with an honest time frame. Note whether they promise a result to calm the client down. A promise made in your treatment room becomes your refund.
A regular asks for a stronger treatment than you think their skin should have. How do you say no and keep the client?
Why ask it
Regulars can push harder than any new client, and they are the ones a new hire least wants to lose. You want a refusal with a reason and an offer attached: what they will do today and what would need to change first. If they would 'just do a lighter version and not mention it', ask how that goes when the client finds out.
A facial has run over and your next client is already in reception. What do you shorten, and what do you never shorten?
Why ask it
Sensible answers take the minutes from the massage or the mask, tell both clients what is happening, and leave the consultation and the room turnover alone. Cutting the clean-down to catch up is the reply to worry about. Ask what usually makes them run late, since talking, slow extractions and late arrivals each need a different fix.
A client who only ever books a brow wax has skin you could help. Do you say anything, and how?
Why ask it
This is how a waxing client becomes a facial client, so a flat 'no, they came for brows' leaves bookings unclaimed. The better answers wait for an opening, such as the client mentioning their skin, then offer one observation and one suggestion and let it rest. Unasked-for remarks about someone's pores are the other way to get it wrong.
A client loves the products you suggested and says they cannot afford them. What do you do?
Why ask it
Look for a ranking: the single product that would make the most difference, and an honest word about what can wait or be bought cheaply elsewhere. That kind of candor is what brings a client back to buy later. Pressure loses the trust, and dropping the subject entirely loses the sale.
At what point in the appointment do you talk about the next visit, and what do you say?
Why ask it
Estheticians who rebook well raise it as part of the skin's plan, during the treatment or the wrap-up: what they would do next time and when. Leaving it to the front desk is the weaker habit. Ask for the actual sentence, since a candidate who has one has said it many times.
What were your rebooking and retail numbers at your last job, and how were they tracked?
Why ask it
A figure with a source, such as the salon's software report, beats 'pretty good'. If the last place did not track anything, ask how many of ten new clients they would expect to see again and why. Do not hold a new graduate to this; ask what they would aim for and how they would know.
Your book is empty on day one. What do you do in the first three months to fill it?
Why ask it
Specifics count: following up with every first-timer, asking happy clients for referrals, time at the front desk meeting hair or nail clients, posting their own work. Anyone who expects the business to supply every booking will be unhappy on commission or in a rented room. Be straight in return about how many new clients you can really send their way.
Are you bringing clients with you, and does anything you signed at your last job limit that?
Why ask it
Treat the number as a hope until the bookings appear, and plan the first months without it. Whether a non-solicitation or non-compete term holds depends on where you are and how it was written, so ask to read it and get advice before counting on those clients. A candidate who offers you their old employer's client list has shown you what they would do with yours.
The job
What made you apply here, and what did you notice on our menu?
Why ask it
Five minutes on your website is the minimum, and it shows. The candidates worth a second look mention a service they would like to learn or a product line they already know. If they could be describing any spa in town, ask what they are looking for that their current place does not give them.
What would have had to change for you to stay at your last job?
Why ask it
It gets a more exact reply than 'why are you leaving': the commission, the hours, the product line, the manager, a move across town. Hold whatever they name against what you offer, and if the thing they left over is the same here, say so before either of you goes further. Reasons that arrive with a former owner's name and clients' details attached will one day be told about you.
Are you looking for a staff position or a room to rent, and which have you worked in before?
Why ask it
The two are different working lives, and someone who thrived in one can flounder in the other. For a rental, ask about their own insurance, how they take bookings and payments, and where they buy product. How each arrangement is treated for tax and employment purposes depends on where you are, so settle that with an accountant or adviser before you offer either.
Which product lines do you know well, and how would you feel about working with ours?
Why ask it
Loyalty to a line is fine; contempt for yours before they have tried it is not. A promising candidate asks about ingredients, training and whether they can take samples home. If they hope to bring a line in with them, say now whether that is possible.
Can you work evenings and Saturdays, and which days are you never available?
Why ask it
Name your busiest slots before they answer, so nobody is guessing. A firm 'not Sundays' today is far easier to plan around than availability that shrinks after the first month. Ask about any other job or private clients on the side, and how they keep the two calendars apart.
When there is a two-hour gap in your book, how do you spend it?
Why ask it
This shows whether they see downtime as theirs or as part of the job. Restocking, following up with last week's clients, practicing on a colleague and helping the front desk are all good answers. Say in return what you expect and whether that time is paid, because how it has to be handled varies by place and it is a common source of resentment.
Is there a specialty you want to grow into, such as acne, brows or advanced treatments, and could you do that here?
Why ask it
The answer tells you which training would keep them and whether your menu has room for it. An esthetician set on device work will not stay long in a spa without devices, however well the interview goes. Having no direction yet is normal for a new graduate; with someone ten years in, ask what they are still curious about.
What would your last manager say you were best at, and what would they say you pushed back on?
Why ask it
It is a reference check asked in advance. Mention that you do call previous managers, which gives the candidate a reason to tell you first what you would hear anyway. The pushback is often about retail targets, schedule changes or cleaning duties; none of those rules a person out, and what matters is whether the same friction is waiting for them with you.
The practical
Before you start on me, what do you want to know?
Why ask it
Open the practical with this and then say nothing. A candidate who asks about your skin, your products, allergies and what you want from the treatment has passed the first test before picking up a cotton pad. Give true answers, including one that should change their plan, and see whether it does.
Now that you have worked on my skin, how would you describe it to me as a client?
Why ask it
You know your own skin, so you can judge both the accuracy and the manner. Good estheticians describe what they found in plain words, without alarm and without flattery. Listen for anything that sounds like a diagnosis, and for whether they noticed the thing you deliberately did not mention.
Why did you pick each product you used on me?
Why ask it
They were working from your shelf, possibly for the first time, so allow for unfamiliarity. What you are after is a reason for every choice that connects to what they saw or what you told them. 'It is what I always reach for' on a stranger's skin is the weak answer.
What would you send me home with today, and what would you do at my next visit?
Why ask it
Here the practical tests retail and rebooking without calling them that. One or two products with a reason, and a next treatment with a time frame, is the standard to look for. If nothing is suggested, ask whether they held back because it was an interview.
If you could do one part of that treatment again, which would it be?
Why ask it
How a candidate judges their own work is a fair guide to how they will take coaching. Compare their answer with your own notes, written before you ask. Someone who spots the same rushed step you did is easier to train than a smoother candidate who thought it was perfect.
Their turn
How is pay worked out here: hourly, commission, or a mix, and what is the commission calculated on?
Why ask it
Expect this from any experienced esthetician, and have it on paper. The detail they are after is whether commission is figured on the full price or on what remains after discounts and product charges, and how tips and retail are treated. What is allowed differs by place, so check your own rules and show a sample week with real figures.
Is there a retail or rebooking target, and what happens in a month when I miss it?
Why ask it
If you have targets, give the number, how it was set and roughly how many of the team reach it. Say plainly whether a missed month means a conversation, a lower commission tier or nothing at all. An esthetician who asks has often worked somewhere the target appeared after the job offer did.
Which product lines do you carry, and who decides what goes on the back bar?
Why ask it
They are finding out whether they will believe in what they are asked to sell. Say honestly how much freedom there is in the treatment room and whether staff have a voice when a line is reviewed. An esthetician who asks why you chose the line is showing interest, not criticizing.
How do new clients and walk-ins get shared among the estheticians?
Why ask it
For someone building a book, this can decide their income more than the commission rate does. Describe the actual system: rotation, the front desk's judgment, online booking by name. If the honest answer is that senior staff get first pick, say so now; they will learn it in the first week anyway.
What would my schedule be, and how much notice do you give when it changes?
Why ask it
A candidate asking this is planning their life around the job, so take it as a good sign. Give the real pattern, including how holidays and late evenings are divided and what happens to hours in the slow season. A vague answer now tends to come back as a hard conversation in month two.
Who would train me on your devices and protocols, and how long before I take my own clients?
Why ask it
The question shows they do not plan to improvise on your clients. Lay out the first two weeks: who they shadow, when they start taking bookings, which devices need a sign-off. Expect a follow-up about whether training hours are paid; the rules on that differ by place, so find out before you answer.
If I leave one day, what happens to the clients I have built here?
Why ask it
It can feel blunt in an interview, yet it is a fair thing to ask before signing anything. Explain what your agreement says about client records and contact after leaving, and hand over a copy to read at home. If you rent rooms, the answer is likely different from what it is for staff, so be clear about which you mean.
How to interview an esthetician
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
Look up your own rules first
What an esthetics license covers, which devices and peel strengths it allows and what a medical setting adds all depend on where you work. Read the current rules from the body that licenses you, and your insurance policy, before you write the job description. Several notes on this page say 'check how it works where you are', and this is the checking they mean.
Decide whether you are offering a job or a room
An employee and a room renter need different interviews. With an employee you are judging how they will follow your protocols and sell your lines. With a renter you are judging whether their business will be a safe and steady neighbor to yours. Settle which it is, and get advice on how each has to be set up locally, before the first candidate arrives.
Send the menu ahead and say there is a practical
Email your service menu and product lines with the interview time, and tell the candidate they will be asked to perform a short treatment. People who prepare will show it, and nobody can say afterward that they were caught off guard. Mention what to bring, such as their license and anything they prefer to work with.
Choose a dozen questions, safety among them
The full list is a menu, not a script. Take two or three from each group and keep at least four from Skin and safety whatever else you drop. Ask every candidate the same core set so you can compare them afterward on something other than who was easiest to talk to.
Know what you may not ask
Hiring rules limit questions about things such as age, health, family plans and background, and the limits differ from place to place. Check the guidance for employers where you are before the interview. Everything on this page is about the work, which is the safe ground.
Running the practical
Keep it short and within the license
Thirty to forty minutes of a basic facial, a brow wax or whichever service you sell most is enough. Stay with treatments the candidate is licensed for and your insurance covers, and leave strong peels and devices for supervised training after hiring. Whether a working interview has to be paid is a local question, so find out first.
Be a real client
Lie on the bed yourself or use a staff member, and answer the consultation truthfully. Include one detail that ought to change the plan, such as a product you use at home or a patch of sensitivity. The questions under The practical are for before and after; during the treatment, stay quiet and let them lead.
Watch what clients notice
Hand washing before they touch you. Product kept out of your eyes and hairline. Whether they tell you what is coming before a cold or strong-smelling step. Pressure, pace and whether the room stays tidy as they work. Then the cleanup, which candidates often forget they are being judged on.
Write your notes before the debrief
Take two minutes alone to write what you saw before asking the candidate how it went. A likeable debrief can rewrite your memory of a rushed treatment. The notes also give you something specific to say to the people you turn down.
Reading the answers
Ask for the last client, not the philosophy
'How do you handle sensitive skin?' gets a textbook paragraph. 'Tell me about the last sensitive client you treated' gets a person, a decision and a result. Nearly every question under Skin and safety and Clients improves when you follow it with 'when did that last happen?'
Caution is a good sign
The candidate who says 'I would not do that without asking you first' can sound less confident than the one who says yes to everything. In a job where mistakes show on a client's face, that caution is what you are hiring. Give it more weight than charm.
Numbers need a source
Rebooking rates, retail figures and the size of a following are easy to round up. Ask where the number came from and whether a previous manager would give you the same one. A new graduate has no numbers yet, so judge them on the practical and the safety answers.
Notice what they ask you
The questions under Their turn are the ones a serious candidate brings. Someone who asks about training, targets, how new clients are shared and what happens to their clients is thinking about staying. Someone with no questions at all may take any job, including the next one offered.
Mistakes to avoid
Hiring the best hands and skipping the safety answers
A lovely facial in the practical does not tell you what happens when a client's skin reacts or a form mentions a new prescription. Those answers come only from asking. If the hands are good and the safety answers are weak, plan the training before the start date or keep looking.
Taking the license on trust
Photocopies and confident answers are not verification. Check the license with the issuing body yourself, note the renewal date, and do it again for anyone who has been with you a while. It takes minutes, and a lapsed license is a poor thing to learn about from an inspector or an insurer.
Leaving pay vague until the offer
Commission terms, product charges, tips, targets and unbooked time are where early resentment tends to start. Put your structure in writing, walk through a sample week, and let the candidate take it home. Check that the arrangement is allowed where you are before you promise it.
Selling the job harder than you describe it
A quiet weekday book, a required retail target or a shared room are easier to hear in the interview than to discover in week three. Say the unappealing parts plainly. The candidates who stay interested are the ones worth the training time.