College Works Painting

My wife and I decided a few months ago that we wanted to get our house painted this summer. During the month of July we requested and received quotations from three company representatives, including Andrew De La Bruere from College Works.

We were immediately impressed by Andrew's knowledge of residential painting and his ability to explain it clearly. He was very professional and also very friendly and comfortable to work with. It was an easy decision to go with Andrew and College Works Painting for the job.

The work was done quickly, safely, and expertly. Andrew did an excellent job communicating the issues and changes with us and involving us in the decision-making process. When I had a few minor correction requests, Andrew listened to me patiently, dealt with the items without complaint, and met my needs completely.

The end result is that our house looks fantastic and we have already received compliments from multiple neighbors. We could not be more pleased with the outcome and would gladly recommend Andrew and College Works Painting to anyone who is looking for quality work and a positive experience in getting their home painted.

The College Works Painting Internship was a life changing experience for me. I grew tremendously in my personal communication, time management, and management skills. I have since used my skills and experience to easily get other jobs I wanted, and to even start my own company. I would not be where I am today without this experience, and I highly recommend it for hard working and self motivated people.

I was overall pleased with the quality of the paint job I received. Kyle Chang lead us through the process with the utmost professionalism. During the initial consultation, Kyle patiently worked with me to customize the job to what we wanted to do. After a couple of test paints, we found the color we wanted and the job was set into motion. He was very professional and we would definitely recommend CollegeWorks again.

When Isaac knocked on our door, my wife and I were considering an exterior paint project in the summer. Skeptical of hiring someone else to paint the house, I was a little hesitant to even have the conversation! Right away we could see that Isaac was passionate about his work, highly knowledgeable, and committed to making sure we were happy throughout the entire process.
Prior to starting work, Isaac did an amazing job of guiding us through the paint selection process as well as a handful of other details that we never would have considered. He worked with us to schedule the project during a time that worked for us.
On the job Isaac and his crew were professional, respectful and even made sure that any debris/supplies were cleaned up after they left in the evenings. They finished within the time we agreed on and even navigated around a few rain storms! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Isaac and College Works Painting to anyone!

I became Intern for College Works Painting my 2nd year at OSU, and it was hands down one of the hardest, but most rewarding things I've ever done. Being a Bio-Chem major and wanting to go into the medical field, I felt the skills I gained through this internship were extremely helpful for the career I am wanting to pursue. I learned what it truly means to have good time management, and what it takes to work an actual job. I also thought it was super cool to gain such a high level of management and leadership experience at a young age. More importantly, I was able to take this experience and use it to help me get job I want to get into. Because in reality, no one has a dream of one day opening up there own painting firm. But to me, this internship was never about running a painting firm, it was all the little things I gained along the way, such as being a super good boss to my interns, or making sure that clients got the highest quality I could offer, and ultimately preparing myself for my career. Saying that, to any college student who is thinking about doing this internship, here's what I will tell you. Whatever you put into into it, is what you get out of it. If you are lazy and you like to blame other circumstances for your failures and you aren't ready to have a job that's based off your efforts, then get a job at Burger King. However, if you are that kid who puts care into the things you do in life and you are ready for the biggest challenge of your college life, then this is a good internship for you. I can confidently say that it honestly doesn't matter what major you have, this internship will help you. Just keep in mind it takes people who are hard workers.

Also, to any homeowners that are thinking about hiring a CWP intern to work on one of your biggest investments. The biggest thing I found between a quality paint job and a crappy paint job, regardless of which firm you decide to hire, is it all comes down to the amount of care the supervisor puts into the project and the work ethic of the supervisor. Saying that, the interns that do come into this program mainly do it to the gain that experience of being able to run a respectable business. All the training's that the interns undergo wrap around the idea of offering a quality job to clients. So the biggest thing you should ask yourself when deciding whether you choose to work with CWP is do you see yourself working with the intern that does the estimate for you. I was extremely honored and blessed every time I was given the opportunity to work with the clients I got.

I started College Works as a sophomore at Oregon State University. This program has been both the most challenging and the most rewarding thing I have done while in college. I am an Animal Science major so at first I wasn't sure if a business based internship would be right for me. I gave it a try however, and I am now heading into my third year with College Works. My intern year I learned all about marketing, sales and management. I learned to hire, train and manage 7 employees while also overseeing the other aspects of a business such as managing material costs and following OSHA safety standards. The most beneficial aspect of my intern year was that I was forced to go out of my comfort zone and in that, I overcame my shyness. This year I am a District Manager. In this position, it's my turn to now hire a team of interns who I will train and mentor.
I feel that everything I have learned and experienced through College Works has benefitted me and will continue to do so. The only catch is that it's challenging. This isn't an easy internship but it is simple to be successful as long as you are willing to work hard and go out of your comfort zone. The company is full of amazing people who are excellent mentors and have a passion for helping others reach their potential.

I found out about College Works Internship through my school BSU in Boise when a DM spoke to my class. They said it was a competitive internship and they said you get to do a lot of fun things as well as be challenged in many ways. I was all for it! This internship pushed me outside my comfort zone with every thing that we did and just as soon as you were getting used to one thing they would introduce a new task that is increasingly more challenging than the last. I loved growing and learning through every step in the process. The first thing we did was a 2 day training we learned all the basics and got to meet our teams. The next thing is marketing, now this is the toughest part, once you get through this you start getting to the fun stuff. If you realize right off the bat that marketing is necessary in order to succeed it suddenly becomes less daunting. The best thing you can do with marketing is use your imagination. The more avenues you go down the more fun you can have and more successful you can be. hire marketers to go door to door, post a craigslist ad, put ads in newspapers etc. get creative! One of my favorite parts was estimates, getting to know clients and getting to have conversations and simply build connections in your community! Over the summer I worked with my District Manager on new things as far as buying materials, running a crew, being organized, working out complaints and ended fairly successfully. There were a few bumps in the road and going through them was very challenging but being able to say that I did run a business and being able to tell employers that is great. College Works was one of the most challenging things I've done to date, but its also one of the biggest things I am proud of. I wouldn't change the fun activities we did, the long hours, or the hard work for anything!

College Works is not for average students who want to work hourly and just earn money. College Works is meant for students who wish to achieve more, excel farther, and push themselves to do better! You need a good hard working attitude, perseverance, and be willing to ask for help from your DM.

Best Wishes,

Audri

Remington and his crew was very professional, courteous and paid attention to detail. They were done in 3 days tops, and were great about clearing up. They came on time and left at the end of the day.

-Michelle McKinley

the job went very well. Remington and his crew were all done on time and professional. Very nice paint job.

Awesome Company!!!

Very well; Remington communicated very well, and did all that we asked in a
positive manner. It was a pleasure working with him.

Terrible experience with College Works! No communication, didn't show up for an appointment and informed us one day before our paint job was set to start that they can't find paint to use. College kid who couldn't have cared less about his job, and seemingly no support from College Works staff. Stay away!

They did the walk through quote and took our money (cashed the same check twice, by the way), then basically disappeared. We were originally told there would be a design consultation included with the service, but when the time came our rep told us to pick out a maximum of three colors at the paint store and they would put them on the house to let us choose the color. Not a design consultation. Then he no-showed for the actual "design consultation" appointment, which he scheduled for the day before painting was supposed to start. Day before the paint job was supposed to start, he told us he couldn't locate any paint (not that he knew what color to use, since we'd never done the "design consultation"). Now I'm just hoping the refund my money since no work has been done and they have $3,000 from us!

A few years ago we had a very positive experience with CWP, so called them again when it was time to repaint the house. A young man named Kory Favara came over to bid the job. We have a tall house that has some obstacles like a shed, but nothing out of the ordinary--and again, CWP completed the job successfully a few years ago. He said he could get it to work. We signed the contract and payed the deposit. When he came back to do the "design consultation" he informed us that he didn't include a dormer window in his initial bid, so his mistake became an "add on" for us. I was not impressed with that, but whatever. They came to power wash and start prepping today, they started on the shed wall, took off some paint and then decided it would be too difficult a job to complete. Kory then informed us he would be BACKING OUT OF THE CONTRACT. Not going to get some scaffolding, which we offered to split the cost of. Not completing the rest of job, just packing up all of their stuff and said we were SOL. Our contract doesn't say anything about the contractor being able to back out of it. There are no dangers of toxic chemicals or lead paint, no bad weather, nothing but laziness and ignorance to keep them from completing the job. Maybe they just wanted to go to the beach, who knows, but I am furious. Deplorable customer skills, and bad business practice, which I will tell everyone I know and meet to never use this company.

If you are contacted by someone from College Works Painting about a summer internship, ignore it. They make grandiose claims about how much money you can make and how much experience you can gain. However, their system is very similar to the structure of a pyramid scheme; so much so, in fact, that their website has an entire section dedicated to how they technically don't perfectly fit the definition of a pyramid scheme. They prey on college students desperate for work and experience, and it's despicable. Please practice common sense when dealing with "opportunities" like these.

I can't speak to the quality of the painting done by the interns that fall into their trap, so if you're just looking to have your house painted this review may be of little help to you. Although I'd argue that, from a moral standpoint, you ought to seek a painting company with a little more integrity.

Hope this helps.

I requested a quote a few years ago which seemed very high compared to well established professional painting outfits. Regardless, I've been getting phone calls multiple days over the last couple weeks and they leave no message. Today I blocked my number and called them back. I asked if I could give them my number to delete me from their call list. Before I could tell him my number he said he'll remove my number and quickly hung up on me. VERY unprofessional and that is enough for me to NEVER do business with them. It only takes one time and you're lucky to get second chances when it comes to potential business customers.

Do not use this company if your intern is Austin. They prepped my house for painting and when I was removing stuff from the house, I noticed they didn't pressure wash one side. I texted him with pictures and he says that is was clean when they left. This is an absolute lie. Now I need to rent a power washer to finish the job. Do not hire these people.

Nice guy, but underestimated the time and paint needed. Used the wrong finish of paint on all trim (trim should ALWAYS be semi-gloss or gloss, not eggshell). I had to repaint several walls and all trim.

This is not a comment on the business itself, but you absolutely should not be doing any door-to-door promotion given the state of our current national emergency. We woke up this morning to a door hanger on the handle of our front door; if I have to explain why this is a horrible idea then I fear for the short-term recovery efforts within our communities.