armed security officer

field investigator

law enforcement officer

security officer

trainer

Paragon-Systems,-Inc.

This review is for Protective Security Officer Positions in Vermont.

As a Protective Security Officer, you are responsible for the physical security and access control at federal offices. The job is 24/7, 365 and is boring and uneventful most of the time.

Many sites are publicly accessible. You will interact with people from every walk of life at these locations. At most locations you will perform "TSA type screening" of all visitors and items coming onto site. You will become proficient in use of an X-ray Scanner, Walkthrough Metal Detector and Handheld Metal Detector. You will have to be comfortable with this equipment as well as hands-on screening of people of all genders.

At times you may have to deal with demonstrators, protesters and "auditors".
You will very rarely have to take authoritative action. If you do, and if done justifiably and properly, you will be backed up by the company and the government. Most of the time is uneventful.

This is an armed position. You will need to qualify on the gun range twice a year. You need to be comfortable carrying and using a handgun. 2 years of prior Armed Security, Law Enforcement or Military experience is necessary. The first week of training is on the range. The instructors will get you to where you need to be to qualify. Qualifying is generally the most stressful part of the job. Unless you are a poor shot you will be able to pass. The range is outdoors, so your training week and biannual qualifications will be in the weather regardless of conditions. You will be required to bring your sidearm home with you.

The pay is decent with a great healthcare plan. The Health/Vision/Dental plans are among the best in the country. The Vision and Dental provider options are a bit limited but with excellent coverage. You will receive a fixed amount hourly of “Health and Welfare Funds” for your benefits that first go toward healthcare and then to your 401K. Most of the premiums will be covered by the H&W Funds with a small amount out of pocket. The Health Plans are offered through the union and not the company. You will be required to take the health plain unless you document that you have approved healthcare coverage. The waiver process is very difficult and legitimate waivers are often not approved. Once enrolled in the health plan it is near impossible to get out of. The 401K plans offered are also limited.

The H&W funds are not wages. They are to pay for your benefits. Often Paragon will include the H&W amount in the advertised wage. You should make sure you understand how much you are being offered for wage and H&W before accepting an offer.

The senior PSOs are few, but knowledgeable and will help you learn the ropes if you are cooperative, willing to learn (and forget what you may have previously known about security work) and put in the effort.

This is a union shop in a “At Will Employment State”, which means you have to join the union or pay Service Fees to be employed. The union has negotiated a much higher wage than is required by the government. Other than that, the union has no teeth and is practically useless. Much of which is due to lack of interest from the members. Dues are equal to 2.5 Hours wage monthly or 86.66% of the dues amount for Non-Member Service Fees.

The Background Check process performed by the government can take 6 months or more. Paragon will encourage you to take the first available training class, which may be out of state. You will also be required to take a test in Boston after your clearance is granted.

You will be required to take a physical examination, vision, hearing and drug test prior to training and throughout your career at Paragon. The Concentra facilities they use do not have the equipment to measure all the metrics being tested. They estimate the metrics based on the tests they can perform which results in a lot of false failures. You will be able to contest a false failure by receiving a test at your own expense from a facility with the proper equipment and certifications. Cannabis is still federally illegal. Use of any cannabis product, prescription or otherwise can result in a failed drug test. Prescribed use of any controlled substance must be disclosed and can result in a disqualifying drug test.

The training is 2.5 weeks, paid at a lower rate. You may also have to attend Weekend training. It will be up to you to insist on Paragon providing you with a hotel if you are sent out of state to train and the test. Paragon will not provide Travel Pay or Per Diem. You cannot begin work until your background check is completed and you pass the Boston test. This means you will need to take time off from your current job and then potentially wait 6 or more months before you begin work. It is up to you to insist that you will not begin training until you are cleared by the government.

If you live in NY or MA, you will need all required licenses to carry in that state at your own expense, in addition to the Vermont Armed License. The Loads and Mags you will be required to carry on duty are not compliant with NY and MA Laws. You will be at your own risk carrying them to and from your home.

This contract is perpetually understaffed. Supervisors will continually pressure Part Timers to work more hours than they agreed to. Full Timers will be required to work a lot of overtime and will be ordered to work extra hours and shifts even after working voluntarily overtime. Expect 60-hour work weeks.

You will be asked to cover sites out of your regular geographic area. Paragon will pay reduced rate travel time calculated from your regular site to the temporary site and back. It will be up to you to submit the required paperwork for the Travel Pay and it may take a while to receive it. 

You will have a decent vacation package; however, being allowed to use it is very difficult. There are times of year that are blacked out to time off requests. It is also very difficult to get time off for medical needs. Most of the time, it requires union intervention. Vacation Leave that is not used will be paid out at the end of your year. Sick Leave that is not used will be paid out in June. Used Sick Leave is discounted $2.00 hourly. If you begin work between March and May, you will be allotted only a few Sick Leave hours until the following June. If you begin work the rest of the year you will accrue Sick Leave until June when you receive your annual allotment.

You will be required to work nights, weekends and holidays until you build up some seniority. You may be offered a permanent schedule from the start; these are generally shifts that current PSO don't want. The company may promise you Monday-Friday days, but it is generally not the case.

Moral is very low, and the gossip/rumor mill should not be tolerated but is, even from supervisors.

The local supervisors are thrown into the position without much training. Due to the low staff, they are covering posts as much as the PSO, in addition to their admin duties. They are also highly micromanaged. Middle management is very much hands off and you will never see upper management. You will very rarely interact with supervisors in person, except when they are standing post.

Payroll errors are not uncommon and take a long time to be resolved. They often need union intervention.

There is very little room for advancement, the easiest way to be fired is to become a supervisor. Supervisor positions are only sometimes filled from the rank and file. Those who do accept promotion always regret it. It is a salary position that ends up being a pay cut with the loss of overtime. Supervisors are required to work open shifts in their schedules while also maintaining their admin work with no extra compensation. Not all supervisor positions get filled.

This job is not a steppingstone into law enforcement or federal employment. If you have or are otherwise working on the background and education for these careers this job will not improve on that. Other than already having a security clearance and possibly getting your name and face known by people who may be the ones to hire you into a federal job, working here will not help you at all. Generally, PSO who do go onto federal employment do so by first moving to different lower paying federal contracts. Police departments tend to look down on and not to hire security officers.

If you are a gung-ho cop wannabe, this is not the job for you. If you are looking for "authoritah", this is not the job for you.

I would not recommend Paragon as a long-term career unless you are wanting to get into security management. I am not aware of any middle or upper management coming from the ranks. I do know of some who have taken management positions at other companies.

This used to be not a bad place to work. Now most PSO hold the job for less than one year. The senior PSO who have put up with a lot over the years are leaving. Many for lower paying jobs. The turnover rate is higher than Fast Food Workers.

If you show up on time, every day, properly groomed and uniformed and do your job well, you will get on fine. If you're under 30, this is a good opportunity to start saving and investing if you manage your money responsibly. If you're Military/Vet this is an easy job to get back into civilian workforce. If you're law enforcement and looking for an easy supplemental income or a lower stress career shift this is a good opportunity for you.

This used to be a good company. The contract with the government is in flux. It is possible that a new company will be taking over in the next year. That company will still have the same challenges with the limited labor pool but will hopefully have a better corporate culture. Getting in now will have your foot in the door with the new company. You just need to know what you are getting into.


Let’s be honest. It’s a security job. The work is not that difficult and literally the hardest part is doing your rounds. 

My particular location was actually quite enjoyable to work at before Paragon took over the contract. Sure, like any job, there were issues, but overall it was a pretty outstanding job. You always knew where you stood, always received an answer if you had a question, had a pretty much set schedule, and were paid quite well for the work you did. We had a good team that for the most part had been there for years. Then Paragon came in. This was a job that people were just champing at the bit to get and now they’re dropping like flies.

Since the take over, which has been over 6 months ago now, it had been absolutely FUBAR. You want examples? I’ve got several, but I’ll just give you some of the “highlights”.

Lets start small here. Over 6 months in now (at the time I’m posting this) and we still haven’t received an employee handbook. You know, that handy little thing that tells you the “do’s and dont’s”. The place we’re supposed to look for contact info if we have any problems, or need speak to HR, or payroll, or… well you get the idea. I honestly can not remember a job that I wasn’t given a handbook immediately upon being hired. This alone is pretty unsat for what is supposedly an “elite” security company.

Example number two is going to be completely mind boggling for anyone that has done security work. Keep in mind that as I am typing this, Paragon has had this contract for over SIX MONTHS, and we still do not have Post Orders, or an SOP for the site. We are talking about a 24/7, 365 days a year government site. Now I have worked a temporary site in the past that was literally an empty lot with a conex box that we were to make sure wasn’t broken into. Pretty straight forward job, but we still had Post Orders and an SOP in case there were any issues.

Let’s keep on going here with #3, and this one’s a good one. This site is one that comes with a “health & comfort” rate in addition to the normal pay. Pretty nice perk that you don’t see everywhere and definitely is a game changer when it comes pay day. Well, Paragon in all their wisdom and glory, decided they were not going to honor the CBA, and without our consent, are putting the money into a 401k. We had no say whatsoever in any part of this 401k. A few things to keep in mind here: 1. I am not talking about a couple thousand dollars a year here. This is somewhere between $13,000-$15,000 a year.  2. I know it’s just starting out, but it has consistently lost money EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK.  3. Paragon was required to honor the CBA for one year, OR until a new CBA is agreed on. They won’t talk with the reps about a new CBA and obviously are not honoring the old one.  4. No one, not one guard wants this 401k. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but 401k’s aren’t exactly making money right now. 

I was going to stop at 3, but I feel that this one (Example #4) is pretty darn important. Probably should’ve made it #2 seeing that is in a way related to #1, and it’s the title of this post, but here we go. The leadership here is the worse I have seen. Not just in security, but overall. I worked fast food jobs as a kid that had better leaders. The response we get for nearly every question we pose to the PM or DPM is, I’ll get back to you”. The problem is that they never do. Is it inability, ignorance, laziness? I have my thoughts on the answer, but the one thing I can tell you is that it is pathetic. There is no excuse for leadership not having an answer for you. If don’t know it, then get it and stop just blowing it off. Want some real examples? No problem…

Q:  Sir, we need Post Orders/SOP?
A: “I’ll get back to you”.

Q: Sir, Officer X didn’t get paid.
A: “I’ll get back to you”.

Q: Sir, Officer X, has an emergency and needs time off, how many hours leave does he have?
A: “I’ll get back to you”.

Q: Sir, SEVERAL guards didn’t get their pay, do you know why?
A: “I’ll get back to you”.

I could keep going with examples, but I believe you dear reader, will get the point I am trying to make. Now you may be thinking, “this person is just a disgruntled former employee that got fired”. The thing is, you’d be wrong, although I am pretty disgruntled, I am a current employee in good standing. Do I want to leave? ABSOLUTELY. Due to several factors that I won’t go into, this is not the right time. 

Truth be told, a few have quit, and I am so envious of them. Several others are in various stages of leaving and I couldn’t be happier (or more jealous) for them. As soon as the right time and opportunity arises, it’ll be my turn to walk away from what is undoubtedly the “Absolute Worse Leadership I’ve Experienced”.

The core function of this job is incredibly simple and easy. And in that capacity alone, the compensation is good. And that's where the positives end.

The scheduling is nonsensical and unpredictable. Morale and trust in supervision is nonexistent and the turn over rates are incredibly high. 

As per union contract we are to have 2 weeks notice of our schedule. At best we are receiving a schedule 4 days prior to the work week. This makes planning impossible and particularly painful for those with families. 

We cover multiple locations throughout the greater Columbus region. There is little consideration given to where employees live and the locations they are scheduled. There are many employees who drive 60+ minutes to work when there are locations less than 20 minutes from their homes. Bare in mind that an employee can work an entire month and not have the same shift twice. The locations and times are not stable.

Supervision has dismissed the notion that morale is important and when questioned, supervision will administer repercussions via scheduling. Because of this, the turn over rate is incredibly high. On average the company will run a new hire class about 4 times a year with usually 10+ prospective employees. It's incredibly rare that a single new hire remains with the company for longer than 6 months. 

Because of the political and social climate we live in, where people can be offended by literally anything, the company applies no logic to how far a complaint will go. I have seen employees banned from working certain locations because words have been taken out of context or manipulated which resulted in a complaint. There is very little recourse available to us for when situations like this occur. 

We are required to perform work related functions while not on the clock. While the tasks are generally small, it is still time we are away from our families for Paragon that we are not getting compensated for.

At the beginning of the coronavirus quarantine when a bulk of our offices closed, Paragon sent a mass email stating they were going to do their best to keep our hours up by the way of training and other methods. That never came to pass and despite many of us working reduced hours, they continue to hire more employees which cuts hours further.

These are only some of the challenges faced at Paragon. The work environment is toxic and has lead to many employees becoming incredibly depressed.

This is securitas security company so dont let this name fool you. 
- Unpaid multi day training
- Onsite training only at $7.25 Per hour
- Local office manager and staff are good folks
- Onsite training is done by an underpaid, overworked officer that doesnt show you much but how to say hi to client employees and literally sit there doing nothing all night which is brutal.
- The uniforms they give you, you have to go have tailored within 1 day of getting them as they are made untailored and crazy lonnnng.
- Local manager tried telling me I was over qualified and might not like job but I tried giving it the benefit of the doubt.
- Client managers didnt give me a radio to communicate with anyone.
- 2Nd night a crazy lady on pcp tried stabbing me twice and a wwe wrestler sized drugged up crazy guy screamed at and chased me into client building.
- Cant do anything to defend yourself except in imminent bodily harm and company policy is you have an expectation to flee at all costs.
- Clients dont even really want you to speak to anyone remotely cross for any reason whatsoever but to radio management ***without being given a radio!!!***
- Was told it was inside only but 2nd night was told by clients due to doors being broken I had to remain outside all night in 90 degree heat with 90 percent humidity to walk up and down front of enormous store to watch doors which is why I was nearly stabbed and chased inside later that night.
- Was told to do whatever clients ask regardless of what it is and to become one of them rather than a securitas employee while you are there or you wont last even if what they ask is not in your job description whatsoever.
- Bottom line- if you are going to be out here in the worst areas of town as an employe with a uniform and badge..... Everyone should be able to have different levels of personal protection on them from pepper spray to batons, tasers or forearms depending on the area and not depending on the client. Your own safety should be first to you and to securitas..... Because facts are there are tons of people nowadays that see a uniform and a badge and automatically get apprehensive and outright violent not caring if you are police or not due to the current atmosphere in the country which isnt going to change.


Paragon has the best pay and working conditions of any security company I've found in my area in 5+ years. A couple of things to know:
• If you have the basic qualifications (military/law enforcement/corrections OR 3+ yrs armed security) you'll pass the interview in minutes. 
• The interviewer will want to put you in the next new hire class, which is probably a few weeks away. It's 1 week of 9mm handgun qualification, then 2 weeks of classroom and testing. This is the tricky part because you'll have to quit or take leave from your current job (unless you work night shifts) with the risk that Paragon might not pan out.
• You NEED to know how to shoot a Pistol (at least basic LEO level) before you show up. If you're already a decent shooter they can get you through the A-9 qualification, but if not, they don't have time to turn you into one. This is  harder than most states' armed security standards. If you don't pass (200 out of 250pts), you're done after the first week... hope you didn't burn your bridges at the last job.
• Then there's the background investigation, which clears you for suitability to work on Federal sites. It's a lot like a S/TS clearance investigation, the difference being this one comes back much quicker, an average of 6-8 weeks.  Mine took about 12 weeks, but luckily I had passed up two new hire cycles and went into the third so I got it on time. You can pass the shooting and the written exam, get your uniforms and be ready to work, but you won't go to work until Paragon gets the "yes" on your clearance.

Once you start work it's just a matter of showing up on time, having all your gear, common sense & courtesy in dealing with the public, and being willing to work the cr*py posts/shifts along with the good ones. (We have a union so the choice of the best posts and shifts is based on seniority) 

If you can do the above four things, you will thrive at Paragon Systems. I get my schedule 2 weeks ahead, drive to my posts, clock in and work my shift. I talk to my supervisor only 1-2 times a week and see them even less often. 


Management is the biggest issue. Corporate does not have your back. From my personal experience I was completely mislead from the start as they do with many new hires. I was living in one region of Florida but was on the outskirts of a neighboring region, or “contract”. I was told I would work locations close to home. They needed me in the Orlando region as they were short of officers. I was told- “sign on to the Orlando region, they need Officers, and the pay rate there is a little more there. We will put you at locations close to your residence”. I was LIVING in the Jacksonville region. Two posts literally 5 and 10 minutes from my house. For almost 2 years I was forced to drive 1.5 to 2 hours one way to work in Orlando. I never got to work locations close to home because it was a separate “contract”. I was about to resign. An officer at a location near my house fell ill for some time. They needed an officer for an extended period in the Jacksonville contract. I switched contracts. Had to restart my seniority from scratch! Luckily was able to get a full time post close to home after a year. Also, as a new hire beware they do not inform you that the clearance process can take months. I’ve seen up to 6 months. People quit their jobs being promised full time work. Only to train for 3 weeks then wait months to be put on contract. I’ve had some terrible Lieutenants. I have some horrible stories of officers being wrongfully terminated. They just want a warm body on post. With that being said. Yes the pay is good. Great job for retired people or perhaps young people building their resume. As long as you don’t do anything stupid you will
be fine. Use common sense.  Just be careful and know exactly what your getting yourself into and ALWAYS have everything documented between you and supervisors/HR. They will try to get one over you 10/10 times if it’s for their benefit. 

Great pay and benefits because the union negotiated them. Some of the people who work there are great people. 

There are a lot of people who will turn you in for the smallest things, all to move up on the seniority list. This place is really full of rats. 

The management and supervisors will talk negatively about you when you leave, especially if you were a union steward. They are all about making sure if they didn't like you, you won't have a chance elsewhere. 

They have purposely targeted Union representatives and supporters. Just check the NLRB's webpage for the countless unfair labor practice charges against them. 

They have management, who had been removed from their positions with a certain sheriffs department for corruption, running government contracts. 

The job itself is a government contract that is robotic in nature. You have no police powers, but they want you to act the part. you are not treated like an adult. If you do you're job well, you're highly criticized. If you're a robot, you'll do fine. No food or drink on post, no cell phones, standing for long hours, bathroom breaks have to be done when their is a relief officer, so if there isn't one, you're kind of stuck holding it until the end of your shift.

They have a really high turnover rate above industry average because of the way they treat their employees. 

Their training is run by guys who have padded resumes that have never served a day in their lives. They yell and scream at you, act like their a paramilitary organization when they are not, so good luck with that. 

If you're in the military reserves, they give you a hard time going back to work after deployments. Get ready to call the DOL VETS section to get your job back. And yes this is a federal government contractor. 

I could keep going on, but all I can say is when Paragon took over the contract, they really ruined a good job.

Job work/life balance- if you are used to having a life now get ready to not have one when working for paragon. They do not care about your personal endeavors nor you or your family's state of health.

Compensation/Benefits- The pay is decent. However, there are no health benefits. Not to mention you will be placed anywhere for work. It is possible until you get a permanent schedule, which is hard to get by the way, you will be scheduled to work any location.

Job security/Advancement- There is no job security here. You can lose your job for something someone else did and blamed it on you. You can lose your job to not saying "good morning" to a top head. You can lose your job for leaving your post to go to the restroom after holding it in for hours. LOL to advancement.

Management- Or the lack of. Shall I say more? Why not? The management are only organized when they are trying to fight a liability issue against you. There are not on your side and neither are the Lieutenant's. They are all waiting to throw you under the bus if something is thrown against them. 

Job/Culture- The officers are treated like kids yet some actually act like kids. It's like a dog-eat-dog world if you know what I mean. 

Personal opinion- Look, I get it. It looks like a decent job because of the pay that it offers. Seems like it could be the answer to all your problems. I guarantee you that it will not only ruin your health but your mindset. I've been at the job for only a year and I have issues holding my urine outside of work. I forgot to mention. They have a mandatory month off training
that will possibly force you to quit your current job without knowing if you have another one. The training doesn't guarantee that you will get the job either. My advice would be to either pursue something you're absolutely passionate about or work a job that doesn't inconvenience you and has  benefits. 

Good luck people!

Working for Paragon is boring 99% of your days. You’ll be expected to keep up on a multitude of certifications (CPR/AED, Handcuff, Baton, Federal Pistol Qualification, OPOTA, OC Spray, NWDTP) while barely earning more than security jobs elsewhere that require 1-2 certificates. On top of that corporate will continually send out QC Inspectors to ensure we stick strictly to the contract (uniform, equipment, etc.) however the uniforms and equipment you’ll receive are extremely cheap (you’ll go through multiple pairs of pants and shirts and your feet will hurt from the boots), but if you invest in your own pants/boots they will reprimand you for the smallest of things (a hidden zipper pocket or a brand tag on the back pocket). On top of all of this corporate is extremely unwilling to work with PSOs when it comes to negotiating our union contract with them. After the covid inflation hike, they promised a “robust pay raise” yet ended up giving us 85 cent pay bump. When you’re a new hire, you’ll be expected to drive up to two hours to post where you’re typically the only one there with no relief. You’re not allowed to eat on post, but given no lunch break unless you work downtown (even that’s 50/50) and there are no phones allowed on post (but they expect to be able to reach you by personal cell). The captain and lieutenant are great, they’ll do as much as they can for you, but corporate is constantly raining down on them and instituting new policies on PSOs with no benefit to offset the new headache. Your coworkers, though, are fantastic. Most are ex military/law enforcement and if you enjoyed your time in, this is the crowd you will love being around. They make the poor corporate environment bearable most days and you’ll enjoy working with them if you’re placed on a post with other PSOs. 

This is a very strange but well paying company.
Beware of the promises that are made to you during your orientation and 2 week minimum wage pay training. 

You will not receive a permanent post after your 3 month probation period. Most officers receive a "permanent" post sometime between 5-12 months. Bear in mind, "permanent" post is a redundant term used for your post as this post can be changed at any time for any reason, varying from co-worker disagreements, supervisor changes, to post closure. During the months you will be waiting for a permanent post, you will be essentially on call, with a schedule that is issued every Thursday night at 830PM that changes every week with hours varying from 20-37.5. 

Be aware of the Health and Wellness pay that is stated for this position. You are allowed two options, use this pay towards a 401k or if you do not have health insurance, you are required to pay into the company's insurance plans which range from 4-800 dollars for only yourself. Do your best to keep up with this pay as the company uses a union to delegate these earnings and they are very "shady" regarding where this money is. Unfortunately you will rely only on the union representatives who advise that it is safe and in an account that you which you will not have access to. 

After 8 months of being with the company and contributing all my Health and Wellness toward a 401k, I have not seen or received a response regarding these earnings from the union (SFPFA) after multiple attempts at contact via email and phone, dead transfers and 40+ minute holds that end in a dropped call.

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