security officer

low voltage technician

gate attendant

flex officer

territory representative

Per Mar Security Services

My branch only recently began asking interview questions. We typically hire anyone off the street without a criminal record who can pass a drug screening. No experience is necessary, and in that sense, compared to fast food or big box retail, you’re paid well. Compared to other security firms, you’re paid competitively allegedly, although I’ve heard of mediocre officers who were able to find a few $/hr more elsewhere doing about the same work. 

The work is typically slow for most assignments. I’ve worked posts that just want me to stand/sit and observe, and others that involve week-long training programs for software, which is never complicated enough to justify further training. 

Management stresses the basics, which unfortunately for many officers (typically high school or college age), is an issue. Things like proper uniform, showing up on time (or at all), etc. These are the most common issues with officers.

Turnover is rather high, and because of that, poor quality “lemon” officers tend to get relocated rather than fired. High turnover is also why most officers will never see a day of PTO. Only after one full year do you get exactly one paid week off. However management will work with you to get you (unpaid) time off. Other benefits are nil. This job is for the young and healthy.

Management are poor communicators not because of character defect or apathy but because they are so overworked and understaffed themselves. You might get your schedule late or not at all, and rarely do you get consistent hours, especially if you’re at one of the “worse” locations.

There is a strong sense of hierarchy among assignments. Higher quality officers all get assigned one place (ex Prudential), lower quality officers another (ex Menards).

In less than a year I’ve risen several ranks partly because of loyalty and partly because of favoritism. Loyalty is rewarded in this branch because it is so rare. Per Mar loves to hire from within. However managers tend to let first impressions cloud how they promote individuals, and this is what I mean by favoritism.

Because the branch is so small and the other employees sso unreliable, you can become a big fish in a small pond rather quickly if you make the right first impression and pick up extra shifts without complainin—just don’t expect to be paid commensurately until you take your experience to another company.

Expect to start at 1/2 of the regions average wage for electronic service tech jobs, and little to no opportunity for advancement.
Management is WOW,,,, WHAT THE!!!!!!! unbelievable! fill in the rest!
Inconsistant, inconsiderate scheduling of hours.  

YOU ARE PAID $0.44 /hour on call.  WHAT's that? you ask!
 Every 3 weeks you get to be on call 16hrs a day(24hours on weekends and Holidays) for 7 days, on top of working your regular 8 hour day. you get calls all hours of the night and morning 11pm 1am 2am 3am 4 am  5am  mulitiple, 3-10 calls a night or more. these after hour ON-Call Service Calls may take hours, then you have to go to your regular shift and be a happy camper..  THAT RIGHT 44cents per hour for 16 hours a day 7 days you get to be on call, cheerfully servicing their customers for PER MAR PROFIT, at 44 cents per hour.  this really works out to $50 for 7 nights 24 and 16hour shifts=$50.00 (fifty dollars)
The best part of on-call...(NOT)  you don't get paid your $50. when you work it. PerMar holds your pay..! Yep. You could get it on your regular check without taking a big tax bite out the meanial pay, NO... you get it as a lump sum...(GET THIS --- YOU RECEIVE YOUR PAY FOR ON-CALL AS A CHRISTMAS OR ANNUAL BONUS)
Management enjoys spending and WASTING money but can't see it reasonable to compensate the technicians which keep the companies blood flowing.  
A typical day at work could be but isn't self rewarding
I have learned .......... nothing,   and that management bites!
Many of the co-workers are lessor than pleasant to work with.
the hardest part of the job is biting your lip.
the most enjoyable part of the job is getting home at night, when not on call.
This company ranks up high in the top of the SOUR CREAM of the crop.

I worked for Per Mar for over a decade and while I am glad they always kept me going, I really didn't feel as if I was valued or part of much. I would drive all over northern Indiana on my own dime on a moment's notice and still lose positions to people who hardly showed up. So favoritism is a huge flaw with this branch it seems. Don't expect any raises or respect for always being on time and giving up your family time. It's why they've got officers who will call off because of things like snow and make you drive 35 miles in a snow storm to fill in for them. Did I mention they don't compensate reliable guards? Don't expect much and that's the bottom line. They hardly provide enough to do the actual job let alone masks,sanitizer, pens.. Now if your looking for a job that offers plenty of time to think, this is it. I enjoyed most contracts and I even miss working for them a little. But what I don't miss is the feeling of not being valued and the added expense of supplying things like pens that should be provided by an employer. Communication is also very poor within the company. That said if you've already built a career, and you don't mind ho-hum treatment at a job this could be a great after retirement gig. Just don't expect much at all and don't get stuck traveling for them unless you enjoy putting wear and tear on your own stuff at your own dime. Sadly it's a security company with great potential, but management gets all the rewards. My hard work and long hours helped provide the CEO with a new plane and higher bonuses and PTO time to our branch mangers I hear. But pens, sanitizer or masks in a pandemic? Not a chance.

They do not have enough employees to cover their contracts. So you work a lot of over time which i don't mind but when you are a supervisor but they won't allow you to discipline others for not doing their jobs because they know they will quit and then they are out even more employees then there is a problem. No communications between Per Mar and the contract employees and when there is they never relay changes to their own staff. They have different rules for different  employees at the same job site due to employees being lazy and not wanting to do the job. They don't report to the state when they have a mentally unstable employee  due to employee losing their license. Because they interview over the phone they end up hiring people who are not capable of doing the jobs they are hired for. They blame the supervisors and their contracts for not being able to fill their contracts. They do not take responsibility for their services they can not fill. They blame their employees when their is a problem at the job site. They will not look into problems before placing blame on employees. When I would bring things up that would need correction I was told no this is not a good time to talk about it and they would never bring it up again. They bring back employees that quit and walk off the site which according to their own hand book terminates their employment with Per Mar but since they are so desperate for employees they give them a raise and bring them back to work. I would not recommend working for them. 

The job at Ocean Spray was typically a nine hour shift. The oncoming officer would make rounds on the facility while the present on duty officer would continue and complete his shift. after completely his rounds, the oncoming officer would be debriefed by the officer on duty before he assumed his position. The officer on duty was responsible for checking and admitting all trucks bringing in product and any and all visitors. During this time the officer was responsible for regularly checking the computer with a plant alarm page to monitor all equipment for problems and alarms, and the employee absentee line and notifying their supervisor by cellphone and then sending a e-mail to that end.
One of the more important lessons learned was to prioritize all tasks; alarms being the highest priority.
The management at Per Mar was always ready to assist with any problems and give advice. They were very helpful in maintaining a team environment facilitating an open dialogue with all co workers.
The hardest part of the job was prioritizing tasks when, on rare occasions, there would be a long line of trucks at the gate, an alarm would be showing on the computer plant alarm page, and we would receive a phone call claiming an emergency.

Per Mar took over the security contract where I work and things have gone downhill ever since. Here's a list of just how bad they can be; (least in my area).

1. Terrible hiring practices. Constantly get people who have zero work ethic and never show up for shifts. Basically just have to pass a background check and a drug test to get hired. They don't even do the research to find out what kind of coverage the contract needs.

2. Pay rates are super low compared to the work load at my specific site. Won't give raises but always offers double pay to cover other contracts.

3. Management is useless and treats employees like property. Constantly cause more problems and will strong arm staff to relocate to sites they were not hired for. Complaints and business ethics in general are ignored.

4. Payroll staff are incompetent. Might be missing hours on your checks or short you on your vacation hours.

5. No one is actually held accountable, (see #1). Management will send condescending emails to personal email accounts about following Per Mar policy but never actually enforce it.

Overall, they turned what was a well run account into a hostile mess of ignorance and underpaid / overworked staff. The management seems to care more about flexing their authority than actually taking care of the responsibilities that comes with said authority.

I would NOT recommend applying unless you need a quick job in between jobs and plan on leaving after a couple months.

The work itself is not very hard (security guard) but depending on your supervisor and site manager the work environment can be anywhere from great to extremely poor.

My biggest issue is that corporate and therefore my site manager expected every employee to take THEIR commitment to a client as seriously as they did; meaning when my site was woefully understaffed for several months all of us were working 6-7 days a week for the duration as we couldn't seem to hire enough people (at least not anyone that acutally was good at the job). And when you tried to explain that you needed a day off or had already gotten approval for something and then it was revoked after the fact because of the staffing issue no member of management seemed to care at all. The pay was decent for the difficulty of the work, but the work/life balance was wholly dependent on whether or not your site was fully staffed or not. I ended up leaving my position to attend an EMT training course as there were no combinations of days/times worked that would allow me to work and go to school; and by that point in time I had already become burnt out because of the complete lack of work/life balance.

While working at Per Mar, the culture in the branch was great. The team worked great together and were very successful. The issue is the upper management and corporate. Always asking if they can help but never backing up what they say. The executive level demands, uses inappropriate language, and expects everything so they can sit back and not worry. The support I received was just fluff. When needed guidance, it was very poor and unacceptable. As far as the customers go, they are looking for money, not a relationship. They only want to produce the bare minimum without further training. The best part of my job was when my managers and corporate would stay away from my operation as they did not know how to lead. The toughest was going in each day not knowing if my manger was having a good day or a bad. If you are looking for money while working, there is always enough overtime. If you are a customer, look somewhere else. They are just another warm body provider and local managers hands are tied.

For the first few months Per Mar was a great job. It wasn't until my last three months that the problems with the job started. The office got an OM and that's where my problems started. Despite stating that they were short staffed, they struggled to place me at a new location because everybody's hours were full. I tried to stay with the company, even offering to take part time as long as I was able to stay at one post. They split my schedule between two different contracts regardless.  The second contact I was placed at posed a serious health risk and it was known throughout the office. It is the middle of winter and they have not salted or done anything to remove the ice and snow. I had fallen many times while I was there and the managers blamed me for falling and accused me of not following Per Mar Winter Policies. Myself and my trainer for the post were both wearing ice grippers that were old and falling apart, they needed to be replaced badly. I submitted my two week notice immediately after my first shift at the new contract. Management knows about the health risks at this plant and does nothing about it.

So i am in a location in downtown and i love my location everyone is really nice and when you get to know the right people here they will have your back especially management here in the building i am at. The bad part about this company is lack communication between Aro drivers and flex officer and Management they don't talk with each other until they realize something is wrong. Second thing is they don't give out raises and don't realize the amount of work you have to do in that post they think it is easy and don't want to pay you more even though you do extra from what your job description should be is never that way you are always doing extra without the correct amount you should be pay. No matter what good thing you do in your site and how much the building employees brag about you the company only see's what you did wrong they are never around to see how you doing and what you actually do so they can't say we don't do nothing. But otherwise i love working in my location just terrible communication with management.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Security officer 3624 salaries reported	$18.94 per hour
Low voltage technician 2034 salaries reported	$27.50 per hour
Gate attendant 1607 salaries reported	$19.16 per hour
Flex officer 1024 salaries reported	$19.75 per hour
Territory representative 856 salaries reported	$70,000 per year

Working at Per Mar Security Services: Company Overview and Reviews

Per Mar Security Services

Per Mar Security Services Ratings

Popular jobs at Per Mar Security Services

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected