Pros
I was a production manager/painter for college pro. This review goes out to anyone who is considering a job in either of those titles for college pro. Kept me busy, learned some valuable skills in managing production, the painters and my boss alike were very chill, friendly and fun. Even though I didn’t run a franchise, doing so could lead to good experience and opportunities in the future. (KEEP IN MIND: from what I’ve seen, corporate will always have one hand holding yours and the other in your pocket).
Cons
This is a long one, but believe me it’s for a reason. I believe the franchise I worked for and the college pro system as a whole is exploitative. College students of minimal experience are often put to work in dangerous conditions for low wages. Jobs were almost always under budgeted, yet plentiful. Work was often rushed and it was quantity over quality (which seems to be what keeps college pro franchises running). Budgets were so tight that the painters were usually making minimum wage on every job. Bi-weekly paychecks were quite low every time for painters when you take rain days+low wages into account. Every worker went through heights safety certification, but it seemed like that was only done for liability reasons due to the fact that we rarely- if ever- followed heights safety guidelines (it was nearly impossible to do so, here’s why). Jobs almost always required tall ladders, and it was never common practice to tie ourselves off because it takes too much time out of our already-too-low budget (also, most ladder placements simply did not have any logical places to tie a harness in the first place). If there was any hope for the painters to get paid more than minimum wage, we needed to rush everything from safety to quality of work. From the beginning of the summer I urged my franchisee to make changes, increase wages, increase budgets, take safer jobs instead of painting 2-3 story tall mansions every week. None of it ever came to fruition and I wasn’t about to stick around and partake in unsafe, unfair work, so I quit midway through the summer along with most of the other painters (the turnover rate for this job is unbelievable). College pro is not worth your time and I advise any college student who wishes to work in trades over the summer to find something better. Working a trade may be tough, tiring and even a little dangerous sometimes; working for college pro is all that, PLUS you get underpaid. P.S: Although the workers get screwed over, your franchisee and ESPECIALLY college pro corporate still end up making some good money, so make sure you at least get a thank you after you end up quitting.