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Beauty & makeup

Body piercer

Body piercers pierce parts of clients' bodies with a needle and then insert different types of jewellery.

Annual Salary

variable

Average UK salary in 2023 was £34,963
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

38 to 40 a week

You could work: evenings / weekends; as customers demand

0.5%
Future employment

There will be 0.5% fewer Body piercer jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

Your daily duties might include:

  • discussing with the client the type of piercing they want and advising on what may be suitable
  • explaining the procedure and pointing out any risks involved
  • advising on suitable types of metal and jewellery
  • sterilising the piece of jewellery and the area which is being pierced
  • disposing of the needle, following health and safety guidelines
  • showing the client how to care for the piercing as it heals, and what to do if there’s a problem

Working environment

You may need to wear protective clothing.

You could work at a store, in a salon or in a creative studio.

You can get into this job through:

  • work towards this role
  • specialist courses run by private training organisations
Work

You can contact registered body piercing studios about being taken on as an assistant. You would then train with them to get the skills and knowledge needed for the job.

Other routes

You could take short training courses and distance learning courses but it's important to be aware that these will not qualify you. You'll still need hands-on, supervised experience in a registered studio.

Requirements and restrictions

You'll need to:

  • You'll need to register both yourself and your premises with the environmental health department of your local council for a piercing licence.
  • You should also be prepared to be vaccinated against hepatitis B.
  • be over 18 years of age

More information

Career tips

Body piercing is unregulated, so choose courses carefully. A background in beauty, art or tattooing may be helpful.

Further information

You can find out more about training with a registered body piercer from the UK Association of Professional Piercers.

You can also find out more about working in creative careers from Discover Creative Careers.

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With experience, you could set up your own business and employ other piercers or tattooists.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • the ability to work well with your hands
  • to be thorough and pay attention to detail
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • active listening skills
  • customer service skills
  • to enjoy working with other people
  • sensitivity and understanding
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • physical skills like movement, coordination, dexterity and grace
  • to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
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