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Security Job Experiences?


Bruce Boudreau

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Hey everyone, 

 

Recently I have been looking into a possible career into security.

 

Does anyone have any experience with security? Is it as dead end as it seems and what opportunities are there if you want to stay only in Vancouver and the lower mainland?

 

Can you get into the hotel industry as security or some other customer service positions or something?

 

I'm really tired of these food and restaurant type/retail kiddie jobs.

 

At the same time I don't want to do something that is gonna be unsafe or requires you to work with your hands if you know what I mean.

 

I need to start making some money so I can save up and go back to school and in the mean time try to figure out what I need to study to get that degree to hopefully get a stable job in the future.

 

I'm tired of this seasonal,contract,temp, type jobs.

 

I need something with a reasonable amount of hours.

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All you need to do is take the security licensing test and any security company will hire you. They're always looking for security guards so you can pretty much dictate which company you want to work for. I'd advise you to do some research as to which security company you want to work for as some companies offer great pay but bad hours while others offer decent pay and flexible/good hours.

 

I had a friend who got his license and the minute he got it, every security company he applied to asked for an interview. He ended up being hired by Concord Security to work at Aberdeen Mall and I think he's still there. Pay is decent but I'm sure if you're in it for the money, there are other companies that pay more than 15 or 16 an hour. Like I said, it will really depend on which security company you apply to and the pay rate so do some research before you go and apply. It may seem great to work for Securiguard or Fusion or Genesis for example but it'd be better off if you look for security companies that suit your needs.

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Avoid the overnight hospital shifts. I did one, what they didn't tell me is there was a patient there known to wander around the halls at night and had threatened people with knives and other sharp objects.

Was the last shift I did, went back to school and got a few tech certs, and the rest is history. Now working a great job making more money than I thought I would be making at this point in my life.

However, your mileage may vary, I've got a certain affinity for software engineering put in effort and sacrifices and got some luck along the way.

If computers isn't your thing, I know places are clamoring for trades people, electricians, plumbers, etc. As an electrical engineer you can make some really good coin, and a lot of places are openly advertising that they will sponsor you for apprenticeship.

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22 minutes ago, Chip Kelly said:

Hey everyone, 

 

Recently I have been looking into a possible career into security.

 

Does anyone have any experience with security? Is it as dead end as it seems and what opportunities are there if you want to stay only in Vancouver and the lower mainland?

 

Can you get into the hotel industry as security or some other customer service positions or something?

 

I'm really tired of these food and restaurant type/retail kiddie jobs.

 

At the same time I don't want to do something that is gonna be unsafe or requires you to work with your hands if you know what I mean.

 

I need to start making some money so I can save up and go back to school and in the mean time try to figure out what I need to study to get that degree to hopefully get a stable job in the future.

 

I'm tired of this seasonal,contract,temp, type jobs.

 

I need something with a reasonable amount of hours.

 

If you have no experience and no certificates... apply to all the Casino's... they are ALWAYS hiring because the pay is $&!#, the hours are $&!# and the job is $&!#...

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29 minutes ago, Chip Kelly said:

Can you get into the hotel industry as security or some other customer service positions or something?

https://frhi.taleo.net/careersection/ext_frhi/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=833484&src=JB-10760

 

As an example, this is from a recent job posting:

 

Qualifications:

 

  • Two years recent experience (in the last five years) as a security officer in a hotel or establishment of comparable size and level of service or one year recent experience (in the last five years) as a member of a recognized police reserve group
  • BST certificate required
  • Security License
  • Must be bondable
  • Advanced (Level II) First Aid and CPR Certificates
  • Completely fluent English language skills; both written and verbal
  • Must be available for all varied shifts including evening and night shifts
  • Clear, precise, professional and helpful telephone manner
  • Proven report writing skills with excellent organizational skills
  • Excellent interpersonal skills; strong leadership and motivational abilities
  • A team player with proven success in relationship building
  • A high level of responsibility and commitment with the ability to work well independently; often unsupervised
  • Commitment to provide excellent service and exceed guests' expectations
  • Comprehensive and current knowledge of local attractions, events, restaurants and transportation information
  • Proven reliability; history of maintaining a good attendance record
  • Impeccable grooming and presentation
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i know i guy that got his security ticket ,he was hired at one of the malls here and then he was approached by safeway which isn't even in the mall and he's become an under cover shopper for them all over northern bc he's not hired by safeway directly since he goes undercover for different large chain companies , they put him up at hotels has a perdium for meals and fuel cost he really likes it because he's single, plus when ever he's back home here he still gets hours being a mall narc. thats what we call him lol. he's making decent money as well. 

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Ive done security as one of my 1st jobs.  It's totally fine if you have no experience.   I was able to obtain my bst 1 and 2 for like 75 dollars.  Stable hours, but your looking at crappy hours such as evenings or grave yards if your starting out.   

 

but I warn ya... its a broad industry from, stationary security work, to bike patrol, mobile patrol, it gets lonely if your working grave yards by yourself.  Quite an adventure.

 

 

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I currently do janitorial but I have a security licence for my work place.  I am the go too fill in guy for security staff that take vacation or sick days.  I've only had my licence for under a year but its pretty interesting.  You get too meet some really diverse people and can get a lot of exercise.  I have had offers to work for other companies but I am considering my options at the moment if I wish to pursue further education or continue down my current path for now.  The place I work has a rather modest pay for cleaners in BC but I personally want a more rewarding career long term.  Perhaps that is something I can achieve at my current job site but as it stands there isn't much room for advancement.     

I'm not an expert on security gig options but typically overnight shifts pay the most.  One area that may be worth pursuing is the armed guard program where you collect cash deposits from businesses and banks.  I believe they pay a pretty good rate and often have good benefits.  Casinos, Hospitals, Museums, and other establishments typically pay a pretty good rate.  I would definitely check out whats available but it is a very good certificate too have if you are looking for steady work. There tends too be a lot of security gigs out there the only issue is trying to find one that pays what your worth. A lot of the bigger companies tend to pay considerably less then businesses that hire their own security.  (contracts typically pay considerably less).

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I'd advise against it.  My buddy and I were once at the employment crossroads he chose security and I went into landscaping.  He hated his line of work and complained non stop whenever I did get the chance to see him.  I got to sleep with a couple of hot milfs on the job and got a sweet tan in the process.  Who made the right call?  If you get a job like weed man which is more lawncare you can make a ton of coin by just doing neighbours yards under the table.  I'd show up to aerate a customer lawns and like clockwork all the nosey neighbours come out wondering what I am doing.  Usually charge around $40 for basically 10min of work, of course weedman doesn't like that and they'll fire you but none of us ever got caught.  And don't even get me started on all the lonely wives in Mission...

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10 hours ago, VanGnome said:

Avoid the overnight hospital shifts. I did one, what they didn't tell me is there was a patient there known to wander around the halls at night and had threatened people with knives and other sharp objects.

Was the last shift I did, went back to school and got a few tech certs, and the rest is history. Now working a great job making more money than I thought I would be making at this point in my life.

However, your mileage may vary, I've got a certain affinity for software engineering put in effort and sacrifices and got some luck along the way.

If computers isn't your thing, I know places are clamoring for trades people, electricians, plumbers, etc. As an electrical engineer you can make some really good coin, and a lot of places are openly advertising that they will sponsor you for apprenticeship.

Only $&!#ty part about the trades is your really under appreciated and most of the time the boss will act like you can be replaced at an instant.youll burn out real fast and not want to wake up most days.on the plus side you'll make enough money to do what you truly want to do in life or travel and see cool things.

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49 minutes ago, Violator said:

Only $&!#ty part about the trades is your really under appreciated and most of the time the boss will act like you can be replaced at an instant.youll burn out real fast and not want to wake up most days.on the plus side you'll make enough money to do what you truly want to do in life or travel and see cool things.

 

Which is why if you're good and smart, you bust your ass, take the licks and after 4-5 years branch out as an independent contractor with people working for you, and you get to be the boss. So much work out there if you're motivated.

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7 minutes ago, VanGnome said:

 

Which is why if you're good and smart, you bust your ass, take the licks and after 4-5 years branch out as an independent contractor with people working for you, and you get to be the boss. So much work out there if you're motivated.

I agree most people won't though 40 a week is alot easier.

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Had a friend who did it. He said it was mostly just boring and lonely. You sit there for hours on end and are expected to do night shifts, where there is literally no one around. Depends on your assignment, I suppose. But the major companies all assign via seniority.

 

It sounds like you really want a career in hotel management. They definitely don't typically hire security guards for general management positions. I'd look into getting a diploma in that field. Otherwise, you can look into getting a chef's red seal, if you like the cooking thing but dislike the disposable nature of entry level cooking jobs. Overall, you just need to get a skill that will separate you from the mass of other people looking for cooking/retail jobs.

 

Like others have said, the trades are always hiring. That might be "working with your hands" though.

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20 minutes ago, VanGnome said:

 

That's the problem with society these days, everyone taking the easy way yet still expecting things to be easy. It actually makes things a lot harder!

 

It's much harder to start your own business now than it was for previous generations. The cost of capital is insane and most jobs don't pay enough to allow you to save up enough money to get things started. People work longer hours now than they've ever worked before. Meanwhile inflation adjusted pay for the non-upper class has been steadily falling.

 

30 years ago people could not only afford the rent of a commercial space, they could buy the whole property. Even a small dilapidated commercial space will cost 3-5 million in Vancouver.

 

With certain trades, you can go out on your own without capital, sure. Try renting or buying a work space, hiring employees, and then making things work. You'd better have a serious investment from the bank of mom and dad. Even what was possible 10 years ago has now become totally out of touch.   

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3 minutes ago, taxi said:

 

It's much harder to start your own business now than it was for previous generations. The cost of capital is insane and most jobs don't pay enough to allow you to save up enough money to get things started. People work longer hours now than they've ever worked before. Meanwhile inflation adjusted pay for the non-upper class has been steadily falling.

 

30 years ago people could not only afford the rent of a commercial space, they could buy the whole property. Even a small dilapidated commercial space will cost 3-5 million in Vancouver.

 

With certain trades, you can go out on your own without capital, sure. Try renting or buying a work space, hiring employees, and then making things work. You'd better have a serious investment from the bank of mom and dad. Even what was possible 10 years ago has now become totally out of touch.   

 

Generally speaking, yes. The mindset of trades has certainly changed to the point now where you're expected to be mobile more than having a fixed business address (other than your home). Lease a transport van, outfit it with racks to organize your tools, and turn it into a mobile office. It's a business write off. Generally speaking as a ticketed general contractor in something like electrical engineering, plumbing or even carpentry, you can bank pretty good coin being purely mobile for 4-5 years. 10-15 years after starting a trade is when you look to expand the company and hire staff.

By that time, banks should be more than happy to extend you a mortgage for an industrial workspace/office. It's all about doing it in stages and having a long term goal/business plan. Entrepreneurship these days is still more accessible than it was 10 years ago with the rise in technology related assistance. No longer do you need to pay for a dedicated accountant to keep track of records, software is just as smart. No longer do you need to pay exorbitant fees to merchant gateways, use paypal, interac debit and Square instead and pay significantly fewer fees. Need to hire people? Job sites make it ridiculously easy for any industry.

It was easier to 30 years ago to start a business, yes, but today the challenge is differentiating yourself in the market and eeking out enough market share to be profitable, which tells me starting a business is more accessible than ever, it's just harder to keep it alive long enough to break the hump and not have to worry about going out of business. 

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17 minutes ago, VanGnome said:

 

Generally speaking, yes. The mindset of trades has certainly changed to the point now where you're expected to be mobile more than having a fixed business address (other than your home). Lease a transport van, outfit it with racks to organize your tools, and turn it into a mobile office. It's a business write off. Generally speaking as a ticketed general contractor in something like electrical engineering, plumbing or even carpentry, you can bank pretty good coin being purely mobile for 4-5 years. 10-15 years after starting a trade is when you look to expand the company and hire staff.

By that time, banks should be more than happy to extend you a mortgage for an industrial workspace/office. It's all about doing it in stages and having a long term goal/business plan. Entrepreneurship these days is still more accessible than it was 10 years ago with the rise in technology related assistance. No longer do you need to pay for a dedicated accountant to keep track of records, software is just as smart. No longer do you need to pay exorbitant fees to merchant gateways, use paypal, interac debit and Square instead and pay significantly fewer fees. Need to hire people? Job sites make it ridiculously easy for any industry.

It was easier to 30 years ago to start a business, yes, but today the challenge is differentiating yourself in the market and eeking out enough market share to be profitable, which tells me starting a business is more accessible than ever, it's just harder to keep it alive long enough to break the hump and not have to worry about going out of business. 

 

Even getting a market share is more difficult. Not as easy as putting an ad up in the yellow pages. Google is quite corrupt. So businesses that started on it 10 years ago have become quite entrenched. It costs an insane amount of money to be competitive in Google AdWords. 

 

I'd suggest waiting until you have a large network before breaking out on your own. Something that didn't necessarily need to be done a generation ago. Just one more hurdle for this generation.

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2 minutes ago, taxi said:

 

Even getting a market share is more difficult. Not as easy as putting an ad up in the yellow pages. Google is quite corrupt. So businesses that started on it 10 years ago have become quite entrenched. It costs an insane amount of money to be competitive in Google AdWords. 

 

I'd suggest waiting until you have a large network before breaking out on your own. Something that didn't necessarily need to be done a generation ago. Just one more hurdle for this generation.

 

Quote

but today the challenge is differentiating yourself in the market and eeking out enough market share to be profitable, which tells me starting a business is more accessible than ever, it's just harder to keep it alive long enough to break the hump and not have to worry about going out of business.

 

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