collegiate entrepreneurs review: Employee

I began working with this company at the end of May (2011) because it seemed like a good summer job, I was promised full time work, and when I was interviewed, the "branch manager" seemed to be capable of doing her job. However, as I sit here a month later writing this I can sincerely say that this 3 weeks of employment was by far the worst experience I have had in the job market. I have been working for the last 7 years doing a variety of jobs but nothing compares to this.

After getting hired, I knew that getting paid was based on a piecework estimate budget, meaning that if it's estimated to take 8 hours to paint a deck, I only get paid for 8 hours regardless if it takes 6 hours or 10. I figured that the branch manager would be realistic in her estimates, but began to realize that for me to make any money at all I would be forced to rush through jobs and do the work not nearly up to my own expectations, being a person who prides their work.

The first job I was assigned I was told it was my "powerwash training" that should take about 3 hours (paid). I arrive at the job and wait for my branch manager's higher-up to arrive with the powerwasher and to train me. He gets there and in less than 5 minutes attempts to explain to me how to use the powerwasher and leaves. I do the entire house (I have never powerwashed anything before this) to what I believe is a good quality (picking up all the paint chips around the house and making sure every spot was clean.) The next day I get a call from my branch manager and to my shock and terror she tells me that her boss (the one i met with to get the powerwasher) never told her to have the house checked for lead paint. It turned out that the house I had just powerwashed extensively and handled paint chips with my bare hands, was lead paint. I wasn't told until after I did the job and to my understanding, lead paint is only to be dealt with by certified professionals- and here I am a 20 year old college student being exploited and dealing with a deadly chemical for a minimum wage check.

I continued to work with the company even after this incident (horrible mistake). Over the next 2 weeks I was constantly showing up for a job at the time my branch manager told me to, and waiting around for up to an hour for her to show up with supplies and things we needed to start the job. Throughout the day there would be times when I would have to stop working while she got more supplies which is very frustrating when your time adds up and you're being paid through a budgeted estimate. I would go to job at 8 in the morning and not get done until 7-8 at night, only being paid for 8 hours worth of budgeted work that we accomplished during the day. This was everyday for 2 weeks. There was never a fluid smooth working day where I wasn't forced to stop working and watch as my day was wasted and my pay diminshed. This went on for 2-3 weeks until I was given the one job that pushed me over the edge.

I was told that there was a small deck that needed staining and would only take 6 hours to complete so I could do it on my own. The job was about an hour from my house so my intentions were to get there early (7 or 8 am) and get finished early so that I could enjoy the rest of my day. I was unable to do this because my branch manager failed to order the paint until the morning, meaning I was waiting around for an hour while the paint got ready and didn't even get to the job until 11am. At first glance it seemed like the job would take more than 6 hours to complete, but I wasted no time and worked straight thru from 11am to 3pm. At this time I was sizing up the deck and realized that this job was gonna take at least 8 hours if done properly. I called my manager and she said the best she could do was give me another hour. I worked until 6:20 pm at which point I RAN OUT OF DECK STAIN because my manager failed to order enough to even finish this job. This was the final straw for me, I had worked over 7 hours straight, wasn't getting paid for it, couldn't complete a job because of my manager and was tired of dealing with someone who has zero business capabilities and zero ability to properly manage contracting work. The deck had several small spindles and when I showed everyone I knew the pictures of the deck, everyone agreed that to think this deck would take 6 hours to complete was ludacris.

That night I called my mananger and went over my hours before telling her that I couldn't do this anymore. It had been over 3 weeks since I did that first powerwashing job (with the lead paint) and I hadn't gotten a paycheck yet, the management was horrible, and I was being encouraged to do sloppy painting that looks amateur and rushed or else I wouldn't be paid for it. When I told my manager I couldn't work for them anymore, she retorted with unprofessional comments about how I have effieceny problems (reaching the unrealistic estimated goals) and that I "PAY TOO MUCH ATTENTION TO DETAIL." If there is any aspect of painting that is most appreciated by a homeowner, a person who must look at your work everyday, I would believe it is an attention to detail. Painting is one job that should never be rushed, I couldn't look a homeowner in the eye and lie to them about how good of a job I've done because I sloppily worked through it to make sure I got paid (this didn't seem to be a problem for my manager). This company prides itself on being good BS artists, making people think they are helping college kids when in reality the college kids are expolited, and rushing through painting jobs trying to make the most money possible by doing the minimum work.

The worst aspect of this working experience was cold calling-going door to door trying to get people to buy into our company. On one experence cold calling with my manager, a homeowner asked "What kind of experience do your painters have?" to which she replied "They are all Sherwin-Williams certified." A bold faced lie to this possible customer forced me to turn around or else I would have had to say something. The only training I receieved was showing up at a job and being handed a brush and told to paint. This company does zero training and is honestly a legal scam of sorts. The last thing I would advise anyone to do is get involved with this company whether it be from an employment or customer basis. Absolutely horrible experience and with this complaint I hope to spread the work about how bad this company really is.