security officer

armed security officer

security guard

security engineer

receptionist/administrative assistant

SOS Security

Problem these days is that anyone can be a security guard and most of them can't do their jobs right. Worked in SOS for a year.  I have been working 6 years as a security officer and I got to say it is not worth working at these jobs unless your in school. Most security jobs are very boring and can make time very slow and stressful.  If your lucky, you might get a site with computer access and possibly kill time by doing school work while there isn't much to do after completing patrol.   Although SOS have good training sessions on unarmed and armed security classes. They need better management since there are barely any account managers. I was assigned to an "armed site" where we were basically unarmed officers but we are register as armed security officers at my site, which made no sense at all, since my site was a human resources building that had child protected services and customers with mental health issues.  Jobs like that are needed to be armed.  We had guards that were transfer to other sites and management forgot to send replacement for particular shifts at my site. I had to do a double 2 days in a row in the last minute because of management not doing their job like there suppose too. After that they made me trained 3 different guards in one week which was annoying since most of them have strong accents that were hard to communicate.  They never show up again the following week. Then management forgot to send replacements again and try to make me do another double two days in a row, which was my breaking point with this company.  I immediately left when shift ended normally.   They try to lecture me of abandoning my post while I have to lecture them on how they need to do jobs properly for things like this to never happen again. After that I was done with security for good.

The branch office located in San Jose, CA, is below any imaginary expectation! The management’s incompetence, and this apply to all departments, cannot be labeled as there is no definition in Webster Dictionary to describe it. Contact and communication with the management team is close to zero, no answered phone calls, no return calls or response to emails. All employment details discussed during the hiring process are science fiction stories, as none of them are becoming reality and later you will be told that were never conferred. The ineptitude of the security staff under my supervision makes you wonder if there is any IQ requirement to get a Guard Card in California and explains the site turn over and the client’s frustration with the offered service. This explains the multitude of lost contracts and the company’s desperate low bids to stay in business.  Recently SOS Security acquired another dead bet business called First Security Services that still operates in Walnut Creek, CA. This new acquisition, added one more substandard Branch Manager and one more inferior Operations Manager to the original incompetent group. These two, are running this office on favoritism basis, personal preferences and interests.  I will not provide names, all interested parties can do their own research and find the identity of the individuals that MUST be avoided, by all means. The appearance of the First Security Services and SOS Security guards will embarrass any real security professional, as these two companies have no uniform, grooming and hygiene standards. This review can be much longer however, the conclusion is: avoid at all costs SOS Security, Allied Universal and First Security Services; there are much better and decent options out there waiting for you. Good luck!

The supervisor for the Toledo division is by far the worst boss I have ever had and everyone that works for her in this city will agree. She constantly disrespects her employees, talks down on them, will argue and talk bad about other employees. This is nothing professional about this supervisor, I have no idea how she got the position she is in. She will mess up the schedule or forget to add a shift to your schedule then yell and cuss at you when you don’t show up...even though your schedule says you have the day off.  There is zero flexibility with your schedule, you get what you get and you have no choice in the matter. Some of us have worked 7 days a week(12 hours a day) for the past year with absolutely no days off. You will likely never get a holiday off ever, and forget about having weekends off. You literally have no life if you choose to work here so I hope you don’t have children or elderly that you care for because our supervisor will just say “that’s not my problem”   
Oh and most of the job sites, you sit in your own car. We have company vehicles but most of them are broke down or don’t have heat/ac. They won’t compensate your gas used either.   Most of my co-workers are incompetent, they will literally hire anyone that shows up for an interview, very minimal training once you’re hired, sometimes no training depending on how desperate they are. A lot of people do not take this job seriously and will sleep on the job, I would think that would get them fired but it hasn’t because we’re so low on guards that they can’t afford to hire anyone. Which basically lets the lazy workers know that they can get away with anything and not be reprimanded. 
This place is the worst. I love working security and I enjoy being around the clients that we serve but the security company itself needs a lot of improvements.

A typical day at work is normal, what we learn is to stay away from direct supervisors. The hardest problem is dealing with direct supervisors who under mind subordinates. Advancement for supervisor position is not equally distribute by experience, or even giving the opportunity to be a supervisor. This position is choosing by direct supervisors. And they'll usually pick someone who does not have any experience in supervision. All coworkers are experience law enforcement and many retired as supervisors with years of experience, because SOS Security is a respectable company, these position of advancement should be giving to people with experience first. Our uniforms are square badges regular class security guards uniforms, unprofessional for retired law enforcement, we feel unappropriated. The word for us at NYSE is losers, at least give us some decent polo shirts and most of all please have your direct supervisor treat us with the respect we deserve as retired law enforcement. Once office managers came down to talk to the troops,  we though this was very professional and good of SOS Security. But the problem was they were not allow to talk us by themselves, our direct supervisor was standing right there with them. Common sense will tell you your not going to hear anything negative. And this supervisor knows he's not liked at all. This is the reason why many have seek employment else where and many have already left. The current starting rate for retired law enforcement armed is $25.00 an hour.

•	Assist site manager by oversee 18+ employees including but not limited to creating schedule while reducing overtime, entering payroll, training new staff, calling for availability, ensuring that work is completed in the most efficient manage.
•	Provide support to the PSEG 24/7 emergency operation center, monitoring over 150 facilities throughout New Jersey of which nine of the facilities are listed on the Department of Homeland Security System.
•	Working directly with law enforcements, local management and on duty officer to address security issues by telephone and email while maintaining a high level of excellent customer service.
•	Assist with preparation of investigations by compiling information and videos, many of sensitive and highly confidential nature, using Nice Vision, Pelco and Continuum Systems.
•	Attend to meetings regarding upcoming projects, pending issues and proposal approval
•	Trouble shoot, and grant physical badge access to employees and contractors, while in compliance with PSEG standards of Business Controls.
•	Prepare and maintain documents, work charts, reports for site penetration test and 896 radio test for internal use purposes.
•	Created and tracked company maintenance and incident report using perspective and Service.
•	Conduct monthly inspections of CCTV monitors to ensure all site video is connected and working correctly
•	Coordinate site maintenance repairs ensuring proper safety watcher availability.

I never in my life have been treated so bad at a job !!! some store treats you great. everyone in higher management will conspire against you management does not care for your well being. there has been more multiple time when your schedule will change the day of or the night before. poor communication skills. all management needs to change !! the way they treat their employers is unprofessional and very discouraging. all gossip twist the truth and have pleasure in it. if you have a family/school or commitments they will not work around your schedule. policy changes every other day depending who you're talking too. people are scared to go to HR. depending on if management like you or not will depend on your hours and what store you'll get put at. you are constantly reminded that you are replaceable. management is very petty and rude. they will make SURE they will cover their backs well throwing you under the bus also you can't leave until there is someone to release you and if they don't show up you have to stay for the other shift. if you work here know your worth just find another job and if you are wanting to work here don't keep on looking !!!

SOS is looking to be the largest security company with offices all over the world only to remove competition. They were looking to downsize one of the new divisions and removed key staff who contacted employees to work on new jobs. After those staff members were laid off, SOS needed to fill new jobs but did NOT know they had existing staff they could call nor did they know how to contact them. SOS ended up having to hire an outside contractor to fill those open jobs with their own employees.                                            

SOS would take key client contracts from the new companies they purchased but mismanaged those key client contracts and in the end, the client either downsized the contract or removed  completely. 

SOS is always trying to hire employees from competitors, once those employees are hired SOS will not follow through with the amount of salary or hours they had promised. Those employees were left scrambling. 

SOS is always competing for business and will come in at a low rate to the client but can not pay the employee(from a smaller company SOS purchased) the standard amount, so employees will take the work but in hopes of making more on the next job.

Trust me I was with this company for 3 years and I quit because they are selfish.
1- this job is bad for you body because you have to stand all day in one area without moving.
2- this job is bad for your brain because you are not doing anything fisically. 
3- this job is wasted of time because you don't grow here doesn't matter how good you are and you have to work every weekends so you can't spend some qualities time with your family.
4- the management always lie to you saying that they will give you raise to keep you motivated. I had 3 years and I only got 50¢ raise!!! After I beg them so many time.
5- They send you to another place to get only 1 uniform that never fit properly, only 1 uniform!!! They think the uniform don't get dirty or mess up for using it every day.
6- they try to safe money for the company as much as they can, not giving you benefits and other stuff. I think the manager get a budget for each security they have and they keep the rest. Or bonus. 

Get a job around your neighborhood you will safe the money from the metro card, time, they won't treat differently, is not contract,  you may not buy uniform that fits you properly.

The company as a whole is poorly managed and does not try hard enough to help the current employees that lost their job due to contract loss get another position at another location in the company.  They make a pathetic attempt to do so and then if the nearest job location is 45 minutes away or more, they suggest "looking for other work or file for unemployment until we get something else closer".  The direct supervisors however are very kind and try their best to help with scheduling issues or time off.  The other employees you work with make working there easy due to it being a very team oriented job.  The pay could have been better being that our department (The Control Room) over saw ten different site locations around the country.  The rest of the company would base their decisions off of our reports and conduction of testings.

Overall working at SOS has been fine. On a typical day I come in 15 minutes early, sign in for the day and get my paper work ready for incoming deliveries and vehicle inspection. Mon-Thursday I work the rover shift from 7am to 3pm. On Fridays I work the front desk from 2pm to 9:30pm.
The supervisor I have now is very fair and professional. Unfortunately with supervisors of the past this has not always been the case.
The pay is ok. Benefits package isn't very good. After being with the company for over 5 years I still only have 1 week of vacation time. I also do not have health insurance because I can't afford to have 100$ taken out of every paycheck.
I honestly don't feel as though there is a hard part of this job, there really isn't much of a challenge when signing people in or patrolling the parking lot. The most enjoyable part would have to be my co-workers, they're all very nice and I enjoy talking with them.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Security officer 5 salaries reported	$12.45 per hour
Armed security officer 2 salaries reported	$20.50 per hour
Security guard 1 salary reported	$32,500 per year
Security engineer 3 salaries reported	$38,833 per year
Receptionist/administrative assistant 2 salaries reported	$26,500 per year

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