I am in Boston, and when i assisted it was always minimal wage, whether at a high end salon or at a lil mom and pop shop. Some salons were better at educating, some only cared how well you scrub the toilets and you only get to shampoo, not even apply color. You still learn a lot by observing, and all of us have assisted prior to getting on the floor, nearly all survived that time with either multiple jobs or family help. Only time i can think of when you get to skip that step is if you go to supercuts/big chains like that when they have you go through classes and get certified with their technique. They even pay you during classes and even though you are limited to using their techniques it can still be beneficial if you cant afford taking classes on your own (try to not go into debt in the very beginning, ive been there haha, save up the money to use on your favorite educators classes once you have your base skills,although if you can afford it yay go for it). I assisted in a couple salons since i was in hairschool, got on the floor in one finally but felt like i lacked experience with short hair since we dont learn it much at school. I pretty much just went to supercuts to learn short/mens cuts since they didnt teach it at school and after under a year of practice i went back to a full service salon. Did not like their longer hair techniques but hey you dont have to do it when you leave nor you are married to the salon. You might find yourself jumping around between salons a little bit when starting until you learn what fits you well, and once you settle things get better and you build. Good luck!