Management Material

In just over a year with Georgia Cleaning Pros, Oliver Figueroa has quickly worked his way through a succession of promotions, moving from Translator to Foreman to Project Manager to District Manager. Oliver (pictured here with Construction Ready’s Cortland Good, who presented him with a Challenge Coin marking one year of service at his company) previously worked as a kitchen manager for an Atlanta restaurant. Eager for a career change, he enrolled in Construction Ready Pre-Apprenticeship training at Westside Works, graduating with Group 45 in April 2024. Read on as Oliver shares his story.

I just wanted a change from the previous line of work I was in. The biggest reason was because I didn’t see myself growing anymore. I wanted to switch it up and see what I could do in construction.

My wife was searching online, and she saw there was this course I could take so I could be ready to work in construction. And I was like, ‘Sure, sign me up.’ I started doing interviews, I went and took a test, and I was accepted to the program.

I thought construction was just building houses, doing everything quick, but there’s so many codes, so many safety procedures that have to be learned. I didn’t know that, and now that I’m here, I see it firsthand, and it really does help out a lot to have the knowledge that Construction Ready gave us. When I came in to work, I already knew what to expect, and I didn’t feel lost. My experience with Construction Ready has really helped me out, coming into [the industry] with some knowledge.

At his training group’s hiring fair, Oliver matched with Georgia Cleaning Pros, which provides job site cleaning and material handling services for subcontractors. He was initially hired as a Translator to help bridge the language barrier for new hires as they go through orientation and ARC Flash training. The company began to call on him to lead morning meetings, “Stretch & Flex” sessions and “Toolbox Talks.” Impressed with his work in that realm, his supervisors then promoted him to Project Manager over the Concourse D expansion at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. In May 2025, he moved up again, accepting his current District Manager role. His long-term goal is to become a Safety Manager.

Personally, I like to grow in the company, so I ask a lot of questions. That way I know and I understand who I’m working for and why I’m doing this. My favorite thing is the people I get to meet – people from all over the place, different backgrounds, different states, people who are older, younger than me.

I’m overseeing more projects, doing training and going from project to project to make sure the foremen and the project managers have everything they need.

I talk with people from other trades, and hopefully they see what Georgia Cleaning Pros is doing and we can get hired by them as well. We’re trying to look good in front of everybody.

I’ve talked to a few young guys about Construction Ready. I was like, ‘Hey, you want to do something, go to Construction Ready, and they can help you out. You go in with some knowledge and it’s a good [opportunity] for you since you’re young.