How to Become a Painter

Have you thought about a new career? Ever thought about how to become a painter?

As of the writing of this article, the trades in general are starving for great people. Painting is a career that you can earn what you want and live where you want while doing it. Have you thought about it? Here is why we think becoming a painter is a great choice for you.

There are many companies that are looking for employees to become painters. We however are looking for more than just painters. Our goal is to find what you are good at, hear your goals, find out how your natural strengths can produce excellent results.

Where to apply to be a painter?

Unless you are going to work for a Union position, one of the downfalls of the painting trade is the difficulty of finding a place to learn properly.  Just like everyone thinks they have a sense of humor, everyone thinks they can paint. So, where do you start?

Like every other job, you start looking online for the ads. Our ads for painters appear on Craigslist, Facebook and Indeed. You should be looking at these ads just like you would dating someone.

• Where are they located?
• How much are they willing to pay?
• What type of benefits are there?
• How far will you have to travel?
• Will you have to purchase your own tools to start?
• What type of training is there?

These are questions we hope potential employees ask us. It shows us their commitment to us. We are not looking for people only to earn a paycheck.

You can expect us to ask you some questions too!

• What are your goals this year, next year, etc.?
• Our job is to provide an experience for customers- can you look past a list of tasks and see how to achieve results?
• There are 3 things we say: What will you do to be on time, on budget and deliver excellence?

Other companies use other hiring sources such as zip recruiter, but they are not in our budget nor have we been fortunate to find the right people.

What does it take to be a painter?

Ask 5 painters what type of paint to use on a wall and you will get 5 answers. What it takes to be a painter is also subjective to whom you are looking to work with. One of the issues is what type of painting are you looking to get into? There are many different types of painting:

• Exterior house painting
• Commercial painting
• Industrial painting
• Automotive painting
• Wood cabinets or wood working paint and finishes
• Decorative painting (used to be called faux finishing)
• Artistic painting such as murals
• Interior house painting

Each of these types of painting can be offered by one painting company. Some Painting companies offer specific, niche type, painting such as mural painting.

Our company, D’franco Painting & Wallpaper, Offers several of the above type of painting. Why? We have found that offering several types of painting keeps us busy especially when certain trends come and go. Take listen to our recent podcast where we interviewed one of our painters to share their experience here – WE ARE HIRING PAINTERS!

Since there are several styles of painting you can get into, training gets more difficult as well. Paint education schools are virtually non existent. It was not that long ago that we did not have a very good training program either. We have changed that due to conventions we’ve attended and the help of the PCA (Paint Contractors Association and Sherwin Williams. With a base outline of what to teach and how, our training has taken big leaps. We are always improving how we train and what we train employees on, because learning new things is fun, keeps us energized and we might just find that God given talent you never knew you had.

How long will it take?

This really depends on you. The basics of painting can be taught very quickly. Mastering how to hold that brush to make straight lines can take years. It is said it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at anything. When you factor in the different types of painting we do, it could take a while for you to feel 100% comfortable to become a good painter. You need practice!

There are other factors that will affect how long it will take you:

• Using different materials – each type of paint is a little different.
• Weather? Yep- temperature, humidity, etc. all affect how paint is applied and how it dries.
• Tools – just like computers and iPhones- paint tools change. Brushes are always being changed and each type of brush is different as well.
• Talent- some techniques are easy to learn, some require talent- such as using your left hand as good as your right.

Where can painting take me?

Being a painter is just one small part of a career in painting. As you will start as an apprentice, you evolve to a painter, then Lead painter. Moving from painting to being in charge of jobs then people is the next step as you become a crew leader. But it doesn’t have to stop there!

• Maybe you are good with people? Then doing sales and estimating may fit your talents better.
• How about Marketing? Social media, design emails, write copy for blogs, develop a flyer for paint stores, or postcards to customers.
• Maybe you can teach? Then turn that skill into training new employees.
• Are you organized? This could lead you to project management!
• Maybe start doing podcasts or YouTube videos?

Where can I learn more about becoming a painter?

It is easy- send an email, give us a resume, call us and start a conversation. Go to Indeed and apply to our ad! You are a Google search away from a paint contractor looking for great people just like you who like to paint!

Email us right here: david@dfrancofinishes.com