Graduation often comes much quicker than we are expecting, so an important question to think about is what is going to differentiate you when you finish school and begin looking for a place to start your career.

Nowadays most students complete some form of post-secondary education, so you need something more than academics and extra-curricular activities to help you stand out from your peers.  At College Pro, we believe that one of the best things you can do to really help you stand out is get experience.  As you’re thinking about where you want to work for the summer, don’t just look for any old job where you can make some money.  Look for a summer internship that will give you some real experience that future employers will value.

Unfortunately, most summer internships available to students are not all that challenging and do not give students an opportunity to really learn, develop, and grow.  In College Pro, we provide students the opportunity to learn skills and do things in their summer that many may never get the opportunity to do in their lifetime.  In our summer internship, students learn how to lead and get the opportunity to hire and manage their own employees.  They get the opportunity to deal with the financial side of a business and build and manage a budget.  They get the opportunity to learn how to market a business and how to take care of a customer.  The skills that you learn at College Pro while running a business are endless.  They are skills that are not just important for someone who wants to go on to a career in business, but are skills that can be applied to many different fields and will show up in many facets of your life.  At College Pro you not only get to learn about these skills, but you get to actually execute them and gain real hands on experience.  This hands-on experience is what will really give you the competitive edge over your peers.  Imagine being able to say to a future employer, “I had my own business.  I hired my own employees.  I acquired and took care of my own customers. I was in charge of the financials…..”  The experience you gain and could speak about is endless.

So, if you are looking for a summer internship that will really differentiate you from the rest of your peers, I would recommend looking into running a business with College Pro.  You’ll gain experience that will give you that competitive edge and be a great launching pad for your future career.

It’s true, one summer can change your life forever; perhaps as profoundly as this first statement sounds, and maybe just as littler ripples throughout your future career.

The College Pro Painters Program is like the competitive sport of business as far as summer jobs are concerned.  Take what you know about athletics:  discipline, goals, training, coaching, leadership, team, and focus.  Now, roll this into a short-term, high yield summer job opportunity in business, and you have some characteristics of the College Pro Painters program.  It is a forum for young entrepreneurs to get into real business and see what they’re built for.

In the College Pro Painters program you enter a world of deep learning and accountability – which leads to development at a young age for most.  When you’re responsible for making the sales, selecting your team, delivering what you promise to customers AND making payroll, suddenly you’ve got the makings of a highly marketable skill set.  One year in the College Pro Painters program will set you apart from your peers; two or more years in the program and you’re looking at a summer job along the lines of a ‘real world MBA’.

Why this is so impactful is because it provides a broad skill set, at a young age.  In turn, this opens the door to significant opportunities.  Employers want skilled people who have had unique and challenging experiences.  Going through the College Pro Painters program is the proof that they have had some road testing.   The experience itself trumps results in the eyes of many recruiters.  I’ve heard recruiters say a number of times, ‘if they did College Pro, I know they can do this”.

Personally, my first summer in the College Pro Program turned into a decade of employment (to date) and development in over 5 different roles.  It was my first University summer job, and while it taught me some tough lessons along the way, it also helped me to understand what I was best suited for, which unfortunately wasn’t what I had picked to study in school.  What better lesson to learn in your early twenties than what you like, and what you are best at!

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Real life, right now. That’s a bold, challenging statement. But that’s what College Pro is all about, boldly challenging people to start living a meaningful life, right the heck now. My name is Chris O’Keeffe, and I’d like to tell you about my College Pro experience. It’s definitely been the biggest challenge of my entire life, but it’s also been the engine for the biggest positive change I’ve ever seen in myself.

Let me start at the beginning. In the spring of 2010, I didn’t have a lot going for me. I was midway through my college education, but I couldn’t afford to finish it at the time. So I was back home again, living with my parents. No job, no car, no real direction. That’s when I first found College Pro. I applied for a summer job as a painter, and little did I know that would be the first step towards changing my life. While working out in the sun for decent money was a good start, I knew I wanted more. That’s when I got the chance to interview for the Franchise Manager position. “Now THERE’S a summer job,” I told myself. Being a Franchise Manager seemed like such a great job; being able to make your own schedule, hire your own crews, and be the leader of your own team. I was really scared though, I’ll be honest. Deep down, I wasn’t sure I had what it took to achieve the level of success that I wanted. What I did know was that I needed to do something to move up from where I was, and College Pro was giving me an opportunity that I might never catch again.

Fast forward to January 2011. I had been hired to run one of the franchises in Olympia, Washington. There were several of us who all drove up to our first training session together in Seattle. Sitting in the car that morning, I’ll never forget how nervous and excited I was. Here I was, about to start my life as an entrepreneur. Everything in my life had led me to this point, but who knew where the future would take me. The rest of that day, and the next several months, are a bit of a blur for me. That period of time was the most instrumental part of my entire life.

Up until then, I had felt like such a failure. I hadn’t really accomplished anything and I had no idea where I wanted to go in life. Once I started running my franchise, I knew I was on to something. Every day provided me the chance to learn something new, and useful. Every obstacle became another challenge for me to overcome on my way to the next goal. It really was Real Life, Right Now. No more babying myself. No more boring classrooms and useless information. No more waiting around for some grand external factor to change me into the person I wanted to become. College Pro gave me the chance to pour myself into something that I cared about, something where I could see and feel the changes in me every day.

Like I said, those first few months were paramount to me. After that, my business really started to blossom. Driven to work harder and care more than I ever had during my entire life, I rose up the national rankings at a breakneck pace. By the time summer came, I had reached the Top 10 in the entire country. And that’s also when I started painting.

Painting season, or production as we call it, is the make or break portion of our year. Throughout spring, I worked as hard as I could to set my business up for a great summer, but nothing could have prepared me for all the learning I would experience over those three months. I don’t want to get too detailed, but suffice to say that I learned a lot this past summer, through both successes and failures. By the end of summer, and our overall year, I had reached number five in the entire country.

Through all my experiences, all my success and failure, all my learning, all the goals I hit and missed, I can honestly say I have never been happier. College Pro gave me a summer job that has literally changed my life. No more waiting to grow up. No more relying on others. I’m an adult now, and College Pro has shown me how to live my Real Life, Right Now.

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It can be tough nowadays to find student opportunities that really benefit your future.  Not only is the student job market really tough in general, but it is even harder to find a job where you can really gain experience.

College Pro is really the opposite of most jobs out there in the market, providing opportunities to students to take on a challenge, learn a bunch of new skills and to push themselves to excel and perform at a high level.  To run a franchise with College Pro, you don’t need to have experience running a business; you just need to be a hard worker, committed to what you do, and someone who really wants to learn and develop themselves.  Our franchisees come from many different colleges and universities and many different programs, because the skills you develop in College Pro are skills that are applicable to all sorts of future career paths.  Skills such as planning and scheduling, priority and time management, financial skills, selling skills, organization, and leadership amongst many others, are skills that will benefit your future no matter what direction you decide to go.  The skills you develop at College Pro are really “life skills”.  College Pro is a great opportunity for a student to really start to grow in a number of areas and begin to develop a really solid skill base which leads to a greater confidence.

A franchisee is learning and executing skills that most people, let alone students, may never get the opportunity to learn and perform in their lifetime.  By getting the opportunity to develop these skills at such a young age, you really are getting yourself ahead of the majority of your peers.  Nowadays it is not enough to go to college or university and earn a degree; you need something to really differentiate yourself.  Doing something special like running your own business is a great way to really separate yourself from your peers.

Most companies have slowed down or stopped hiring students altogether over the last couple of years, and, those that are still hiring, typically don’t offer students that much in terms of experience.  Most student jobs lack depth.  At College Pro, you can continue to get opportunities where you can really develop yourself and really help you plan for your future.  So, take a hold of your future and do something special – run a business with College Pro.

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As a 19 year old sophomore at the University of Washington, I could hardly imagine myself owning a business that employed 12 other students during the summer and serviced over 40 homeowners.  But when I took on the entrepreneur opportunity of College Pro Painters, that’s exactly where I found myself.

Prior to joining the College Pro Painters team, I had worked in a small camera shop developing film along with a part-time job delivering newspapers.  I came to the University of Washington with a vague idea of starting a small business when I graduated, but I had no idea how to get started.  I also wanted to gain some leadership experience, but each job that offered some seemed to require previous experience.  I stumbled across the company when I received an email advertising an entrepreneur opportunity through the university’s mailing list.  A friend of mine had worked with College Pro Painters the previous summer, so I thought I’d check it out.

I came to an information session and was surprised to find a program that offered students such a wide-range of business training, and it seemed much more interesting then spending a summer working behind a counter.  I applied and made it through a couple interviews, and the next eight months turned out to be some of the most engaging, exciting, and challenging months of my life.  I started realizing that entrepreneur opportunity doesn’t go nearly far enough in explaining what College Pro Painters is.  More fitting would be an opportunity to change your life.

The different things I gained over the summer was an incredible amount of confidence, tangible leadership, marketing, financial, and organizational skills, a place in a pretty awesome company culture, a much improved resume, and finally, great friends, who even now, ten years later, I still stay in touch with.  It’s amazing how ten years later, when I get together with someone who worked with me or for me during that summer, there still seems to be an endless stream of stories.

It’s difficult to express how much College Pro Painters and the entrepreneur opportunity it offered means to me, but it absolutely helped me pave the way for my future and was a big part of what made me the person I am today.

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Running a College Pro business was one of the best decisions I made in my young adult life.  Now, looking back in my early thirties, it has allowed me to bypass a lot of mistakes that other young executives my age make, and it has allowed me to get ahead financially.  My College Pro success allowed me to learn some invaluable lessons, travel the world, get out of student loan debt, and make some life-long connections that I still use today.

As a young person, I feel one of the best things you can do is put yourself in situations that challenge you and make you a little uncomfortable.  As a College Pro franchise owner you learn some major lessons that you just cannot find at most jobs or at school.  For example, the value of learning how to hire and select the right people for your organization are skills I still use today to make my business successful.  Also, how to deliver what you say you will do to a customer no matter how hard it is (especially if they have paid for something!) is something that was ingrained in me through my College Pro training and experience.  Finally, just the value of hard work: if you want success in life you have to be smart and work hard.  At College Pro, unless you commit to it 100% and seek advice from your peers and coach, you will have a long and painful summer, and, in my estimation, life in general.

The other cool thing was that my College Pro success allowed me to pay off my student loans and travel Europe after graduation.  After I graduated from university, I was able to pay off my debts in one summer and have enough to go back to England where I was born and then spend 5 more months travelling.  It was like a fast track to financial freedom and fun!

Finally, to this day, I am still really good friends with other successful College Pro franchisees who have gone onto some great things: engineers, business owners, real estate investors, etc., and we still keep in contact and I consider them close friends.  There is a real power to the people you associate yourself with, and the caliber of most College Pro franchise owners is high – they wouldn’t even try something like this unless they had talent and a high focus on success.  I would recommend College Pro to anyone who really likes challenges and wants to get a fast track to lessons in life and business.

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Waking up at 6:30 a.m., accepting 20 phone calls a day, and lifting ladders onto my Dodge Caravan, are my prominent memories of running my own business with College Pro Painters. That’s right folks; I could lift a 40ft ladder over my head and onto my van like nobody’s business. Stepping out of my shell, hiring a crew of eight painters, I became an exterior painting expert in my community of Meadowvale, Mississauga. Beating out the competition with strong word of mouth, I owned the joint. I was 19 and at the top of my game.

Thinking back, the biggest challenge I faced was the management of relationships. My relationships with painters, customers, friends and family were a priority, each requiring a different skill set. As any entrepreneur would know, the best learning comes from making mistakes and, wow, did I make some good ones.

When I measure my success at College Pro Painters, I think of Butt Rhettler’s. It’s a tiny, local, Meadowvale bar, where my painters and I would congregate every Monday night. I purchased appetizers and dinner, and we would talk paint. It was fun. I got to learn the inside and outside of my business, more importantly my painters felt appreciated for their hard work. The bar wasn’t busy those nights and our presence was welcomed. The owner even created a College Pro Painters menu for us. Let’s just say my incentives budget was bloated.

When the summer was over, I asked Butt Rhettler’s if we could have our year end party there. Without hesitation, they agreed, allowing my team to occupy the dance floor and put up a banner entitled “painter prom” on the stage. It was an expensive night, but I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. My painters still talk about it. That evening, I was a proud leader of a functional team. We were celebrating our hard work together. Aside from the phone calls, early mornings and heavy lifting, I had sustained healthy, beneficial relationships with my employees. In the end, that’s what I remember about running my own business with College Pro Painters.

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Are you looking for a great summer college student opportunity?  If the answer is yes, then College Pro Painters is ready to provide you with the tools needed to be a successful entrepreneur.  Since 1971, College Pro has been helping business students and entrepreneurs realize their potentials by offering an exciting, challenging, and rewarding summer experience.  Your experience can be filled with learning, development, and growth that the classroom alone cannot provide.

This summer opportunity can be the bridge to your future in the business world.  College Pro Painters provides you with an extensive staff that has the depth and understanding of business required to build your skills, helping you to realize your potentials and cross the bridge to your future goals.  Not many other college student opportunities can provide you with experiences that teach teamwork, responsibility, tenacity and honesty – some of the fundamentals of good business.

College Pro, and the team behind it, extend far beyond your region and area.  College Pro Painters international and domestic experiences make it like no other organization.  With offices all over the US and Canada, College Pro Painters is able to share entrepreneurial success across all levels of the organization and push the learning.  In addition, College Pro Painters is a champion at giving back to the community in which they serve.

Visit http://www.collegepro.com for more information about realizing your potentials.

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I’m on the inside looking out now, after nearly a decade with College Pro Painters, and if there’s any advice I could offer to Young Entrepreneurs – after coaching and working alongside several hundred, it would be get hands-on experience.  Learning the theory while in school certainly has value, but getting your hands dirty brings a whole new reality to what it means to be an Entrepreneur.  Recently I spoke with a former franchisee named Katie Stead, whom I had the pleasure of coaching for several years while she was in college, and she spoke to her experience as follows:

“College Pro Painters is an exceptional franchise that gave me an ‘education outside of school’, helped me to grow as an individual, and provided me with a solid foundation to start out my business career. I began my journey with College Pro Painters as a painter in my second year of University. The work was very physically demanding, and painting was completely new to me, but it opened my eyes to a whole new world where people believed in the leadership potential that students can offer to the community. I loved being in a team environment and the practical skills that I gained will be with me for the rest of my life.”

 “I was super excited to take on the challenge of running a franchise in my hometown for the following two years. College Pro Painters provided the perfect opportunity for me to develop my leadership skills, acquire business experience in ‘the real world’, and push myself to achieve goals that I never thought would be possible! The coaching system provided at College Pro is second to none. I was taught to be a leader amongst my peers, educate those around me, and to take pride in my work and in my business. I learned everything from the technical aspects of preparing and painting a home, to managing employees (hiring, training, evaluating, compensating, etc.), and how to develop strong relationships with clients (building rapport, creating trust, and problem solving). The most important asset that I took away from my experience with College Pro Painters would have to be the skill set, discipline, and inspiration to set big goals (Big Hairy Audacious Ones!), break them down into smaller weekly and daily goals, and then set a plan to actually achieve them!”

 “I now work as a Regional Clinic Director within a leading franchise of health clinics in Ontario. I use the skills and knowledge that I gained over my three years with College Pro Painters on a daily basis. I constantly find myself thinking back to what I learned while working in my first franchise, how I problem solved through different situations, and the reward that I felt when I reached my goals. A large amount of the coaching system that I have set up within the clinics that I currently manage, is modelled after the techniques and guidance that was given to me by my mentors and coaches when I was with College Pro Painters.”

 “Being given an opportunity as a student to own a franchise and grow with such a high quality organization as a student was certainly an experience of a lifetime!”

 So if you believe you’ve got the entrepreneurial spirit, I highly recommend getting your feet wet – and if it’s your first try, look for an environment where there is coaching and support.

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College Pro Painters prides itself on the support they provide to college students. Year after year, the forty-year-old painting company offers young people a unique opportunity to own and operate their own painting business; and although helping to build the futures these students is a main purpose for College Pro Painters, so is providing quality paint jobs to the customers who trust them.

Young people can get a bad reputation. Because they are college students, they’re often not expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, be responsible and on time, and attend to detail and quality. College Pro Painters however takes steps to ensure superior service is delivered, starting with the selection process of its franchise managers. Each year College Pro receives nearly 25,000 applications, while only 700 are chosen for the program. College Pro makes sure that these 700 students are the most dedicated, committed, and serious of the bunch. Because of their ambition, they are determined to provide the best service possible, and it shows.

“My dealings with College Pro have always been professional and ordered,” says Mr. Devlin, a College Pro Painters customer. “College Pro makes it very clear and detailed what they are doing, leaving nothing to question. The managers and painters are simply nice people, people who I feel comfortable with working around my house.”

Aside from choosing responsible young adults to professionally interact with customers, College Pro Painters ensures quality service is delivered based on required training. In fact, student managers spend an entire semester learning about the painting industry and the many responsibilities involved in running a franchise. The sessions follow the top processes and procedures in exterior painting, which contribute to customer satisfaction like Mr. Meekin experienced.

“Thank you for giving my house the TLC it needed. You turned it from a weathered house that was once a gem into its original elegant beauty!” he said. “People keep complimenting us on how pretty everything looks.”

Complete satisfaction comes from the details, too. College Pro Painters are trained to cover every base, from beginning to end.

“The delight in watching how each evening the team worked to clean up the yard and used a shop vacuum in my yard for any paint chips… was extraordinary and I commend them,” said College Pro customer Mr. Stenger. “Everything was spotless.  The quality of painting was excellent.”

While College Pro Painters takes great pride in providing growth and business opportunities to students, they also strive to provide the best quality of service possible. Through dedicated students and the extensive training, they are able to deliver customer satisfaction that reaches far beyond expectations.

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