Students painting a career path this summer

by Tony A. Solano
tsolano@pioneerlocal.com

University of Illinois students Steven Farag and Andrew Cardona are operating a house painting business in the Barrington area this summer, but it’s far from a typical summer job.

The two students are branch managers for College Works Painting, a company that provides hands-on leadership and internship experiences for college students by challenging them to run their own painting business. The two were interviewed and hired by College Works and tasked with assembling a crew of painters, marketing their services, consulting with potential clients, purchasing supplies, payroll, scheduling jobs and dividing up tasks among their crews.

“We’re painting houses and it’s fun, but at the end of the day we’re getting management experience and the experience of being the CEO of a company,” Farag said.

To the average person, Cardona and Farag look like typical college students, casually sporting University of Illinois T-shirts and shorts. But when asked about their schedules or to retrieve a phone number or an email, they immediately consult their Blackberries, much like many business professional would.

Farag is a Barrington High School graduate who is going into his sophomore year at University of Illinois. Cardona, of Arlington Heights, is spending his second summer working for College Works. In 2010 he managed a painting crew in Northbrook that had 30 jobs and earned $65,000.

“(Representatives of College Works) are mentoring us extremely closely, but they’re giving us the freedom to run our own business,” Farag said.

College Works services include exterior painting, including window trims, siding, fences, decks and porches, as well as garage interior painting. Cardona and Farag cover South Barrington, Inverness, Barrington, North Barrington, Tower Lakes, Kildeer and Deer Park.

“It’s all centered around college students having this big business, but a small business at the same time,” Farag said.

The two students drove back home from University of Illinois nearly every weekend this spring to prepare for what they hope will be a busy and lucrative summer. They each assembled marketing teams and executed several marketing strategies to get the word out, including creating fliers, making door-to-door visits and advertising on Craigslist.

“Relationships are everything,” Cardona said. “You build relationships at the door. You show them who you are, what you’re doing there and let them know you’re going to do a good job.”

Cardona said many jobs come from referrals. He added that having the College Works name instead of creating their own painting company connotes that it is an established business that guarantees high quality work.

For Cardona, an advertising and communications major going into his senior year at Illinois, the process of building rapport with clients and being charged with advertising and managing crew members and finances has been extremely valuable.

“I think the coolest part is being able to do interviews and hire people,” he said.

Cardona expects to have between four and six painters in his crew this summer. He interviewed the candidates himself and said the key is to have a mix of painters with professional experience and college students who are looking for a summer job. He said this way the professional painters can provide guidance to the more inexperienced crew members.

“When we mesh them both together we get a little bit of fire from the college student who wants to make some money as well as the experience of professionals who do this for a living,” Farag said.

Farag is an engineering major at Illinois. He said the College Works experience has sharpened his leadership skills and he believes it will give him an edge once he graduates.

Cardona said the profit gleaned from the summer endeavor depends on how much effort the branch managers put into it and their management of time and finances. He said it is typically about 22 percent of the total amount of money earned for the summer.

To set up an appointment for a free estimate, call Farag at (847) 387-0518 or Cardona at (847) 894-4293.