Assistant Stylist 101: Rules to Live By
When you work a job as an assistant stylist (even as a stylist) it’s like you are getting paid to be on an 10+ hour job interview. You’ve gotta work to impress the key stylist if you ever want he/she to hire you again. If you are terror of an assistant, then you can guarantee that you won’t work with that stylist again. Heck, you may even ruin your rep with other stylist too. No BS.
So here are a couple of rules to live by when you are working as an assistant stylist:
Rule #1- Shut the f%&* up! For real. BE QUIET on set. No one really cares about your opinion, unless of course they ask you for it. Stay quiet and do what you are told. Remember, you are the assistant here.
Rule #2- Stay off your phone. Nothing says “lazy ass” like an assistant who is constantly texting and yacking on their phone. Stay off of it. Whatever your boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend or whoever has to say can wait … you are at work, dang-it!
Rule #3- Be professional. Working a stylist job isn’t like working an office job. You don’t have to dress up all dorky, and unlike an office, the environment is often chaotic and noisy. BUT you can’t let that stuff trick you into thinking its cool to be slack. Its not cool. You are at work, so act like it. Be professional at all times. There is no room for silly flirty, horsing around, and all that other crap.
So there are the rules/SOS Assistant’s heavy dose of tough love! There aren’t many rules but they are all super important if you want to work in this town ;) Learn em, live em, and learn em some more.
Peaces,
SOS Assistant
Those 3 rules to me are common knowledge. #1. Obviously your not the Head Stylist so you are assisting, which means your assisting the Stylist. It doesn’t mean suggestion time, or talk to other people on set. #2. Seriously, what kind of assistant would be on their phone with a friend or who ever it is, or even worse, texting… honey, you’re at work. Unless it’s the person your assisting of coarse. :D #3. Just because you don’t have to wear a suit and a tie doesn’t mean don’t be a professional. Shoots usually cost alot of money, have a short period of time to pull it off, and one chance to shoot. Especially if you’re an assistant, you shouldn’t be slacking in any area, because it will be way obvious you’re not doing your job.
These RULES are super easy and I think they should be common knowledge. There are people out there who really don’t care to take styling serious and do not one but all 3 of these rules badly.
Not Heavy Dose, more like, Reality Check. :D
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I couldn’t agree more!! I had an assistant on my last project who was on her phone CONSTANTLY. Granted, it was 2 weeks of overnight shoots, and the actors were taking naps on set, but it still made her look totally unprofessional, and for that reason I would never hire her again. And the best part was, she would tell me about the conversation as if I cared! I don’t care that your boyfriend is in Vegas right now. And everyone on set was so tired of hearing her text message sound…. if you’re going to be so obviously lazy, at least put it on vibrate!!!