Nail Technician gold-medallist and Skills Champion Chloe tell us how competing developed her technical skills and has boosted her career prospects as a Nail Technicain.
Chloe doesn’t have the best memories of school, reporting she was bullied all the way through, but that didn’t put her off learning a skill that would become a career. “I kept asking my nail technician Sarah Thompson of Flossie’s Nails and Beauty, lots of questions about what she was doing and why. Eventually she encouraged me to go to college and study for myself. Sarah is now a dear friend of mine.”
Kelly Barton, tutor at Riverside College, also had a big influence. “Since the start of my level two qualification she would tell us “no frills WorldSkills” when we were working. She had previously put students into WorldSkills UK Competitions and was so passionate, she had us all wanting to compete.”
Not only did Chloe compete in 2018, she achieved a Gold Medal in Nail Technician/Beauty Therapy in the National Finals hosted at WorldSkills UK LIVE, the nation’s largest skills, careers and apprenticeships event.
We asked her what enjoyed most about taking part in WorldSkills UK Competitions, and without hesitation she replied. “The extra training, the support from the college, meeting other people, the organisation needed. All of it really!” There’s much more to competing aside from winning and developing technical skills and Chloe agrees.
I’ve learned about time management, resilience, organisation, and built up my confidence, and self-esteem, and I’ve had countless job offers since competing.
The employability skills which are so highly valued by employers also helped Chloe overcome a major hurdle. “My anxiety meant I didn’t feel like I was good enough to compete at national level. Also a few weeks beforehand the other girl from my college who was due to compete too, dropped out. My client and her’s were friends, and because she dropped out, my client backed out too. I had to find a new one with only a few weeks to competition and readjust my design to suit her nails. At first I really didn’t think I could do it all, but I just put my head down and went along for the ride.”
After winning Gold at the WorldSkills UK National Final, Chloe became a Skills Champion. “I knew that I wanted to share my experience and inspire others to compete. Being part of WorldSkills UK is a great experience. Now my goals are to keep studying and become a tutor.” Asked what she would say to someone thinking about entering a WorldSkills UK Competition Chloe says simply, “what have you got to lose?”
