That “the wave of the future often crashes on the beach of reality”; is an old truism that it‘s worth keeping in mind when thinking about long-term opportunities in work, career, and vocation.

In choosing a job’s path, it’s therefore sometimes best not to be too strategic or worry about where current trends are supposedly going. To use another old proverb: “They who knows not their destination, travels furthest”.

Barbering is one of those ancient trades that, for decades, was viewed as slowly dying; servicing dwindling numbers of old men in fusty arcades with barber’s poles out the front, among the smell of brilliantine and the soft clap of hand clippers and scissors.

Yet for Sanjiv Ahuja, owner of the Big Barber Delux in the Orana Mall and a dozen other similar stores (including a new one opening soon in Dubbo), there’s simply not enough good clippers to fulfill demand.

“There are 30 or 32 ‘Big Barber’ franchises in Australia, I’ve got about 10 of them, and am opening another in the new mall in town here,” Sanjiv said.

“But it’s very hard to get good barbers, there’s not that many of them around, we just keep looking for more, it’s a growing industry, absolutely,” he added.

This was not always the case. From the 1970s to the 1990s, young men after a stylish cut, invariably dropped-into women’s-themed hairdressing salons where they could get just what they wanted.

However, far from being a symbol of Australia’s past, the old barber shop has had a flashy remake over recent years, with many young trimmers and stylists coming from cultures where pride in personal appearance and looking good is as important for men as it is for women.

So popular and highly regarded is barbering for many from non-English speaking backgrounds, one all-boys school in Sydney’s west – with 99 per cent of its student body from Lebanese, North African, Polynesian, and Asian backgrounds – has actually built a barbering shop (the “Groom Room”) on-site for pupils to learn this honourable old trade for themselves.

This trend has also seen a revolution in cuts, styling, one-off designs, and other trimming options available. The result is that the old bog-standard “short, back, and sides” option that was good-enough for most Aussie men for decades, has now been replaced with so-called “Hybrid Barbering and Technical Blending”.

These skills combine clipper work with advanced scissor techniques (point cutting, thinning) to create a “seamless transition between lengths”.

Other new techniques include “Advanced Fading”, “Textured Crops and Styling”, and “Personalised Beard Sculpting” by utilising razors and trimmers for sharp, tailored lines, along with hydrating treatments to maintain healthy facial hair, and hairstyling products.

For Sanjiv, this boom in barbering – while also showcasing that you never know how social trends are going to pan-out – means there are currently plenty of opportunities for men and women who love to cut, trim, fade, and sculpt!

“I’m also opening three more stores in June, so I’m definitely looking for more staff,” Sanjiv said.

“The thing is, the more stores I open, the more barbers I need, that’s the simple reality of it,” he concluded.