Eligibility Criteria, Registration, and Scheduling

and South Carolina, passing both the written and practical exams is required for licensing. Other states accept either the written or the practical exam. These states include Illinois and Alaska. It is important to check the licensing requirements for your state. You can find more information on the official NIC testing website. Be sure to check this information well before you take the exam.

In a little bit, I will give you a brief overview of this course. Before I do, though, I want to tell you about what you can expect as we go through the material together. Thank you, again, for your interest in this course and for your desire to help people with their beauty and styling needs. If you are ready, let's begin.

COURSE CONVENTIONS AND CONTENT

Welcome to the section on the course conventions and content! When I say course conventions, I mean the concepts and methods I will use to present material to you. The course is divided up into thirteen chapters; many of the chapters are split up into smaller sections. Each time I start a new section or chapter, I will give you its name.

Throughout the course, I will present small quizzes to you. You will find the quiz material in the Follow Along PDF Manual I will discuss that a bit later. Take a quiz and consult the answer key to see how well you are retaining the course material. Alternatively, I will discuss the correct answers in the lectures, so you can pause the audio, take the quiz, and then listen for the correct answers. Quizzes are typically found near the end of a chapter and consist of ten questions.

To help you summarize and retain as much information as possible, I will finish every chapter with a list of takeaways the most important points to remember from the chapter. There will typically be ten of these important points; at the end of short chapters, though, I may limit it to five.

I mentioned a Follow Along PDF Manual a bit earlier. Each AudioLearn course comes with a companion study guide a Follow Along PDF Manual. You can print out the material or read the manual in its digital format: the choice is yours. These PDF manuals contain summaries of important material as well as links to supplemental information. They contain the quizzes as well as your final exam. Should you decide to

print out the manual, you can use it to write additional comments and notes as you see fit.

For many learners, repetition is invaluable to effective learning. Soon you will discover that I will repeat many terms and concepts. This is not because I am running out of things to say. When you hear ideas that have been repeated, even multiple times, take note of them. We consider them to be very important concepts.

Speaking of repetition, I whole heartedly recommend you listen to every lecture in this course at least twice, even more. You are about to be given a great deal of information: facts, terminology, techniques, and suggestions for supplemental study. It will be extremely difficult for you to fully grasp everything in just one listen. Depending on where you are listening, you can take notes as well. Many chapters are best absorbed if you can sit and follow along in the PDF manual as I present the material. If, however, you are only able to listen while commuting to work, for example, forget the manual for now. Consult it when the time is more appropriate. You can still get valuable information just by hearing what I have to say.

Now, I want to give you an outline of the material I will present to you. This is just an overview so you know what to expect. I hope that much of what you hear motivates you and excites you about the prospects of a career in cosmetology.

My lectures will begin with the basic profile of a cosmetologist. That will include not only the skills you'll need, but also the key duties and responsibilities you can expect upon being hired.

From there, I will go through the process of applying for and taking the NIC cosmetology exam: the eligibility criteria, how to register, how to prepare, what are the test center regulations, and the policies related to results and retakes.

Once your application to take the written exam and/or the practical exam is accepted, what comes next? Passing one or both of these exams is the first step towards obtaining a position in cosmetology. You must pass if you want to practice as a licensed cosmetologist. So, I will provide you with a basic summary of the written and practical tests.