Painter: What is the cost of hiring?

Why recruit a painter?

By following a brief that you have set for them, painters can make your working environments more pleasing to your employees and clients. They can make your environments look more modern and aesthetically consistent with similar businesses in your industry.

Qualities of a great painter:

• Helps increase the satisfaction of customers and clients
• Increases the satisfaction and well-being of your employees
• Helps keep your business looking modern and professional within your industry

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance painter

You should look to recruit a painter on a contract basis if you only need to carry out a one-off project. They can help you complete your projects to a professional standard, while helping you save time and money in the long term. However, if you are working in the construction or housing industry, you may wish to have a permanent painter as part of your team. You should look at your budget to decide how much you are willing to pay a full-time painter, as recruiting one on this basis may not always be cost effective. This will depend on the number of painting projects you have on a week-by-week basis.

What are the different types of painter?

It is a good idea to choose your painter on the basis of what your project entails or the services that your company is aiming to provide. For example, if you are running a business in the furniture or car industry, you should recruit an industrial painter. If you are looking to improve the appearance of your commercial property interiors and exteriors, seek a freelance painter. If you are looking to hire your services out to people looking to paint their house, you should aim to recruit a residential painter. 

• Residential Painter: Residential painters work with housing, filling in cracks, helping to level surfaces and giving walls fresh coats of paint.
• Commercial Painter: Commercial painters prepare different kinds of surfaces and use industrial spray-painting equipment to paint exteriors and interiors.
• Industrial Painter: Industrial painters varnish, clean and paint different kinds of surfaces, from cars to woodwork. 
• Decorator: Decorators paint and finish rooms with a creative eye.
• Restoration Painter: Restoration painters treat and paint historical buildings in a way that matches the style of the original artist or designer.

Where to find a painter?

To find the right painter for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Advertise locally on a jobs bulletin: You can advertise a painter project in local job centres or on job bulletin boards in shops.
• Contact a painter directly via their website: Contact painters directly via contact details provided on their professional website. 
• Personal recommendations: Your current team may be able to recommend you the right painter for your project.
• Use websites that specialise in local tradespeople: Painters often advertise their services on websites designed for local tradespeople, and you can contact them directly this way.

Post your job online: Try posting your job for a painter on Indeed to find and attract quality painter candidates.

Skills to look for in a great painter

A great candidate for a painter role will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• excellent attention to detail
• creative flair
• communication skills
• ability to adapt in line with feedback
• hard-working attitude

Writing a painter job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified painter candidates. A painter job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your  job description for a painter, consider including some or all of the following keywords to strengthen the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms resulting in clicks on jobs for painters, according to Indeed data:

• painter
• painter decorator
• painter and decorator
• paint sprayer
• painting
• spray painter
• painting and decorating
• decorator

Interviewing painter candidates

Strong candidates for painter positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• previous experience and painter training
• ability to use specialist tools and machinery for industrial painting
• area of specialisation
• customer service experience
• ability to respond to and work with customer feedback

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of painter interview questions for examples (with sample answers).