r/securityguards

There you go I said it. This had to be said after what I witness on the daily at my site. I was on the verge of crashing out yesterday morning

If you are not fluent enough in MS Office applications and send out unprofessional emails, never sign up for corporate security. I get it with old heads, that's acceptable. But young adults around early 20s to late 20s? Absolutely unacceptable!!!

That's exactly what's going on at my workplace. I'm sick and tired of this thing man. They keep sending out these guards who know nothing about computers, these computer illiterate young adults. This is the age of technology, how come you are so terrible at it is beyond me. Like how come you can't fill out an Excel spreadsheet properly? How???? This is surprising because the old heads here are miles and miles better at using these programs. Even better than me. These people don't even know who to email if something happens at the site and they've been working here for a minimum of a year. The emails that they send out on rare occasions, man I tell you, I wish i didn't have to see them

Here's an example where an employee had an access card to pick up "Hello, building security. Ready for pickup at the desk please come when possible" That's it. That's literally what one of them sent out

I've been a PC gamer all my childhood, built several PCs all from scratch (which I still do sometimes these days) and modded many many games so this thing comes naturally to me. I'm also very good at diagnosing problems

Well lucky for me, I use this at my advantage and let them do most of the patrols even though I hate sitting at a desk hrs on end

Just please don't get a corporate security job if you don't know squat about computers. Save yourself the hassle and stop being a PITA to people like me

Thanks for attending my rant!!!!

So, do you feel fulfilled being a security guard?

I as for the obvious reason, I plan to potentially become one.

For a large portion of my life I worked retail, until about 21 I worked as a cashier for a GameStop, then I got a job as a cashier at a gas station (Still here part time), followed by a role as a custodian for a Highschool.

I never hated any of these jobs, in fact I don’t really mind them in a general sense. However, I don’t really feel fulfilled in either of the two that I am still working at. The custodian job is a good job money and benefit wise, but I just feel like I am suffering burnout from it.

So recently I get an alert from Indeed about an unarmed security job from Allied Universal (Yes I’ve heard the horror stories, but I want to get my foot in the door) that is hiring for a site that is right in my very town. So. I took it as a sign to finally pursue this.

(I’ve always wanted to be in some form of law.)

So any stories, advice, or anything would be greatly appreciated. I also thank those of you who have read my post.

I started doing armed stuff and started looking for a ballistic vest. I had to decide, something discreet or an external molle vest? I decided to go discreet so that jobs that require I wear nicer clothes can still have a vest on underneath my clothing. Then I decided to get an external carrier, and I could just swap out the level IIIa "plates". So after looking at a few options, it was down to Safelife or National Body Armor, both NIJ certified. There seemed to be a lot of mixed reviews about Safelife, some saying it was great while others warned against it. Couldn't find much info on National Body Armor, but Chat GPT said it was very good, and because I'm a correctional officer, they give a discount, so I got it. Well, compared to our Safariland stuff I use in corrections, this molle carrier felt like a damn windbreaker. Thin material, the cumberbun is not removable, so I can't add quick releases to it, just the velcro. I should've known. My Safariland carrier cost me $400, while this National Body Armor one cost me $150.

My work is switching to Point Blank vests, so when I'm due for a new vest, I'm gonna ask to get the ballistic+stab vest instead of the stab-only one (use that shit for my side security jobs as well). I do a lot of OT in the transportation unit where we take inmates outside the prison, and the officers permanently assigned all get the dual vests, so crossing my fingers they will issue it to me if I ask. When I looked online at the prices, those setups with external vest and wrap-around panels are in the $2,000 range vs National Body Armors comparable vests are more like $600... even less with LEO discounts.

Now, if you get shot, not sure if the higher-end vests do a better job or not. I would HOPE that being NIJ certified, they would all stop a bullet equally as well. Maybe what the cost difference is for is not how well the panels work, but how comfortable they are, how adjustable the rig is, how heavy-duty the vest material is, etc. Stuff that would have no bearing on safety, but makes a difference in comfort for day-to-day use.

This is just more of a vent for me, but out of curiosity, what do you folks that are armed use, and have you tried other brands, and what are your thoughts about $600 armor vs $2,500 armor?

Very sorry for the essay but would love some input 🙏

I find myself in a difficult position career wise. Well paid job earning well above average for my industry (my workplace has unique concerns let's say that they have historically made up for in salaries). We are going through a restructure currently and while I am not being made redundant, my role is changing and I am expecting a fairly steep salary cut. The salary will be competitive within industry norms, so that in itself isn't the biggest issue, I knew the gravy train would eventually come to an end. The bigger issue is that my new role does not utilise my skills at all, a monkey could do it, and morale is generally in the toilet. And I'm generally just totally burned out and have no real desire to keep going in this industry, it's dying, lots of jobs lost to AI and automation, constantly shrinking budgets and downsizing etc. Every similar job posting I've found just doesn't appeal to me at all. And it is my opinion that in a year or so the company will move to a smaller premises, automate even more aggressively, etc, and eventually I'll be out of a job.

That said, I've only known this industry and have no other experience or qualifications. Security is something I genuinely think I'd quite like doing (some jobs more than others, I'm not thrilled about the prospect of working pub and club doors, but events, corporate etc would suit me), but generally meeting and helping people, being security conscious and looking for what's out of the norm, crowd control, control room ops, getting first aid trained (I'd love to do FREC 3, probably start with FAW), outdoors in all weathers etc all appeals to me. I'm not a fighter haha, but I can hold my own, would have anyone's back if needed, and I'm very good at just talking to people. Problem is it seems like kind of a dead end job/industry with pitiful pay 😅 I don't need to make crazy money, but cost of living is insane and I live around London (I saw a posting for MI5 security officers that pays great, but right now I live too far away for the early shifts sadly)

Can security actually be viable career with progression? I think I could make good supervisor/management material but do these roles just go to ex-forces/police? Will I just be stuck working the doors forever? (at best maybe a corporate concierge or control room type of role full time?). Honest thoughts? Is this something someone with the right attitude and motivation can succeed in or is it a stop gap?

Just out of curiosity I weighed myself out of uniform vs. in uniform and I’m wearing 16 pounds of equipment, all of which is required, around my waist. This is putting a lot of strain on my hips. Unfortunately, I can’t wear a load-bearing vest or suspenders. Is this something that a different duty belt could fix? That’s one of the few things I can substitute, so long as it’s black, nylon, and has a two-point securement system

So one of the hardest things I've noticed about security is I constantly have to deal with the same pain in the ass people all the time.

A bit of backstory I worked at a homeless shelter for a year as security prior to coming to my current job. I still see the same people over and over and over again.

Seems like once a week someone asks if I used to work at the homeless shelter cuz the same assholes I was issuing bans and physically removing from the homeless shelter I now see every day at my current job. I swear I know half the homeless people in my city and it's not a small city. It's now been almost 2 years since I worked at that homeless shelter still get recognized.

Hi fellow guards, I’m new to this industry (about a month in!) I’m loving my job so far at the job site since I’ve been made permanent and no longer have to do flex shifts.

Unfortunately, it’s been a rough day and I did make a mistake today that scared me straight ( I don’t want to get too into details because ultimately nothing happened I.e., no property loss, theft, trespassing, etc. but our jobsite has been CRAZY with construction, supervisors needing coverage, angry vendors trying to argue about exits, etc.)

but the fact I missed a step at my post has just thrown my brain through a cycling ruminating machine and keep worrying about getting fired (even though I’ve been assured otherwise, I can’t help it!)

So my question, ultimately, is what is the biggest mistake you made while at post and did it result in a write up?

Thank you for helping me ease my perfectionist anxious brain tonight

Apparently, this camera man was filming a police training station and this female guard approach the male demanding him to turn off the camera and delete the footage. Does she has the authority to make this idiot on the camera to forcibly delete the video?

I have to train for a new security job and have to do online and in person training.

Does anyone know what ITL means? No one is getting back to me to let me know.

Any I formation would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

How is working for Ranger Guard? I had an interview with them for a position in Las Vegas and it seems like they want to move forward with me, just want to know if they've got a bad rep or not, where their sites/contracts tend to be, that kind of thing.

I also applied to Sec1 Security but they said they won't even look at my application until I get a provisional PLIB card. Same question as for ranger guard, what is their reputation etc etc.

Has anyone worked for them for security ?

AF VET with SFS experience.

had my first interview today and I have a panel interview next week