The proliferation of piercing courses: a plea for craftsmanship

This is not an attack, this is a concern.

In recent years, I've noticed something happening in the piercing world that, frankly, troubles me. Advertisements are popping up everywhere for a piercing course in the Netherlands. "Become a piercer in three days." "Start your own studio immediately." "Receive your certificate and start right away."

And every time, I think the same thing: that's not how this profession works.

For me, piercing has never been a quick action. It has never been something you just learn. It's something you understand slowly. By standing next to someone who has been doing it for years. By observing. By listening. By making mistakes under supervision. By gradually gaining responsibility.

That's how a craft is learned, and perhaps that's precisely why this topic affects me.

In the Netherlands, the title "piercer" is not legally protected. There is no nationally recognized diploma and no central exam that tests professional competence. Anyone can, in principle, offer a piercing course and issue a certificate afterwards.

This means that the term "certified piercer" legally says little about experience, quality, or expertise. It only states that someone has completed a course. How long that course lasted, how much practical experience was gained, and under what supervision it happened, varies greatly per provider.

In short, a certificate is not a quality mark.

Nevertheless, we increasingly see "certified piercer" used as proof of expertise. As if it were official recognition. And that's where the problem lies.

Piercing is not an action you simply learn by repeating a technique. It is a craft.

Just like with other crafts, you learn this profession in practice. By shadowing someone. By observing. By assisting first. By working under supervision. By receiving feedback on every placement.

The traditional route to becoming a piercer is through an apprenticeship within an existing studio. You are employed, work under the guidance of experienced professionals, and learn all aspects of the profession step by step. Not only the technique, but also anatomy, hygiene protocols, material selection, client communication, and aftercare. You learn to assess when something is not possible. You learn to take responsibility for someone else's body.

This process does not take a week, but months, sometimes years.

And in many cases, you continue to work at the studio that trained you afterwards. Investment has been made in your development. Trust has been built. There is a shared vision of quality and safety.

That model protects the profession.

Taking a short piercing course and then entering the market independently is something completely different.

It's a question that's rarely asked.

Why would a studio fully train someone in a few days only for them to then go independent? In essence, you'd be creating a competitor.

Within an apprenticeship, training is an investment in a future team member. The knowledge stays within the studio. The guidance doesn't stop after a certificate. The bar remains high.

When training is decoupled from long-term collaboration, the nature of the profession changes. Knowledge then becomes a product you buy. Not a craft you build.

And that's felt in the market.

Piercing is more than just making a hole. Yes, technically, almost anyone can learn how to move a needle through skin or cartilage. That's not the hard part.

The hard part is everything else surrounding it.

You work with living tissue. With tension. With blood flow. With healing that sometimes proceeds differently than expected. You need to be able to assess what you don't see. You need to understand how a body reacts, not only at the moment itself but weeks and months afterwards.

I sometimes compare it to driving. In your first lessons, you can get the car moving forward. You can drive from A to B. But you don't yet have traffic awareness. You don't yet understand the dynamics of the road. You don't yet anticipate what will happen before it does.

You *can* drive, but you haven't mastered traffic yet.

It's exactly the same with piercing. Performing an action is different from understanding the profession. Experience means you recognize complications before they become serious. That you know when to say no. That you understand that not every ear is suitable for every placement, no matter how much someone wants it.

And you don't learn that in a few days; you learn it by years of practical experience. By taking responsibility. By losing sleep when something goes wrong. By taking the profession seriously.

And that's precisely why it affects me when this profession, which entails so much responsibility, is sometimes reduced to a quick course with a certificate.

Because ultimately, this isn't about internal industry discussions. It's about your body.

For someone looking to get a piercing, "certified" sounds safe. It feels official. But there is no official standard behind that word.

Therefore, it's important to look further.

Look at experience. At consistent work over several years. At how someone talks about hygiene and aftercare. At how someone reacts when you want something that might not be wise.

A good piercer will sometimes say no. Not out of convenience. But out of responsibility.

You don't see that difference on paper. You feel it in attitude and knowledge.

Then I mainly want to tell you this.

If you really want to learn this profession, take it seriously. Find a studio where you can shadow. Where you can assist. Where you grow under guidance. Where you are corrected. Where you are given time.

Yes, that takes more time. Yes, it's less glamorous than a certificate after a few days. But it builds a foundation.

Piercing is a craft. And crafts demand humility, patience, and dedication.

A certificate does not automatically make you a skilled professional. You only become one when you truly live and breathe the craft.

This is not an attack on aspiring piercers. Everyone starts somewhere.

But it is a plea for responsibility. For protecting a profession built on trust. For the understanding that you are working with another person's body.

This article is written from years of practical experience within the piercing industry. From working with hundreds of clients, guiding healing processes, and daily bearing responsibility for the bodies of others.

Not to win an argument.
But to protect the craft.

Those who take the body seriously, take the profession seriously.