security officer

armed security officer

flex officer

site supervisor

security supervisor

Sunstates-Security

I've been with Sunstates for about five years. My experience with the company is similar to what I've heard about the security industry in general, which is that the work environment is completely dependent on the attitude of the management.

Before I go into my experiences, I want to give a summary of what to expect from working with Sunstates:
-flexible scheduling
if you need to change your schedule, I've found a lot of teams are willing to work with you if you want to stay at the same site, or the operations managers will be willing to move you to another site to fit your needs.
-adequate pay
pay is decided site by site, and everyone except the supervisor gets the same pay. The miles you drive on your commute are not reimbursed.
-reasonable duties
At most of the sites I've worked at, the responsibilities you have as a security officer are not very demanding. This is a great place to work if you need to keep in touch with someone during your shift, or if you're a student who needs to study or do homework.
-very little job security
Know that the client can ask for you to be permanently removed from the site at any time, and Sunstates can not defend you.

 I've had the best work experience of my life working here, but I've also had the worst. I've worked at a site where a problematic supervisor mistreated a dozen people to the point they quit or asked to be moved to another site. Despite this, when the remaining officers raised complaints with the higher-ups, the response was always "I'll talk to them."  Nothing ever changed, and it absolutely ruined the workplace culture at that site.
While that experience was absolutely horrible, I have also worked at sites where the supervisor is willing to take the reigns (and not just the higher pay) and work to meet the needs of their team as well as the needs of the client. Those sites are among the most pleasant work environments I've experienced, and as long as you do what is expected of you, you can expect to be treated like a valuable member of the team.

Not really a security job, but a component of Shipping and receiving. Most likely to re-coup security expenses. The post is at an industrial plant that produces building material.

The daily assignment is shipping order data entry of trucks entering the plant, weigh in and out of the trucks and bill of lading shipping documentation.

The plant demonstrates no type of scheduling of truck arrivals or departures. So you are subjected high volumes of trucks. The drivers have little regard for the GUARD and only care about getting in the plant and out in the shortest time possible. This creates a difficult and stressful condition for the GUARD in keeping up with the data entry on a make shift work station where half your keyboard is hanging off a small shelf wandering around as you type on the keyboard. The computer screen is small and then information icons become so small as you add additional trucks you cannot find it in a sea of Trucks, adding to more stress and anxiety tying to keep up.

There was no time for lunch and you had to run to a mosquito infested fuming porta pottie cess pool. One day I didn't make it in time, and when the drivers see you leave the computer terminal they race out of the yard without checking out so they can save time and hit the road early at your expense.

At the end of a year with a 100 pct attendance record, I developed the courage of asking for a pay raise, that was denied. To attract new employees they paid new guards more than me. I found that very discouraging.

The work load continued to increase i suffered from constant anxiety and began to experience runny diaharreria on the way to work my body rejected the position before I did. The post was baseline only 1 officer on duty per shift, but the plant was well staffed they took lunches and breaks while I could not.

No turnip soup for me!

My interview was conducted by the assistant manager and account manager, and it was the lowest level I’ve ever conducted. They didn’t ask any actual questions, just verified that I had an active security license then asked when I could start. 

Onboarding was very disorganized and poorly handled. There were current employees that had worked there for months who still did not have all the tools they needed for the job (I.e. email account, computer access, etc.). There was no official job training manual, I simply shadowed a current officer and learned OJT style.

The communication from supervisors and managers was non-existed. We did not have shift changeover meetings, you simply showed up and started working. This created problems because new information was not passed down from the previous shift leading to confusion and shortcomings. Pay was always an issue, employees were constantly reporting missed hours on paychecks. 

Three weeks into my tenure, both the assistant manager and account manager were fired from the site. A new account manager replaced both of those roles.

 After several weeks, nothing had changed. We still had poor communication and poor leadership. The new account manager did not introduce any new policies to better the account, they simply reinforced our current policies. Even with new leadership, employee moral was still low and turnover was very high.

After 8 weeks I had seen enough. Sunstates is truly the worst security company I’ve ever worked for. They’re disorganized, poorly run, and poorly managed. 

The work itself is effortless BUT here are the cons of this job. The major cons that I have concluded from working here are standing for 8 hours, the potential of being unsafe, and poor training.  Standing for 8 hours is just completely insane in my opinion. The way I would break it down is you do your job about 2 hours out of the 8-hour shift, which means you are standing around for about 6 hours of the job doing nothing LITERALLY NOTHING. I think chairs should be implemented at least when we are not doing anything. I think that chairs would have significantly improved my performance. The manager/supervisor was allowed to sit down while everyone else stood around. To address the topic that it has the potential to be unsafe, I won't go into details about the specific things due to respect for the people on site but just know if you work there it is a safety hazard THAT THE COMPANY KNOWS WHAT IS GOING ON. Lastly, I will talk about the extremely terrible training. I was never properly trained I got skipped through the whole process and then put on sight the following week. I was essentially a walking LIABILITY for close to a month at this sight due to no one having any idea of what was going on. The company needed bodies, I was a body so they hired me without proper training. To conclude, the pay is great for the difficulty of the job (about a 4/10 difficulty) but do have the listed things in mind if you apply to this company and come to the location listed in my review. 

First off, I am very thankful and fortunate to be a part of the Sunstates team. As a prior supervisor in the military, I was able to easily adapt to the corporate procedures/policies of Sunstates. Sunstates holds the same values of those in the Air Force and hold there employees to a high standard, which is very important for upper leadership to be accountable for. From day 1, I was given the trust and tools to succeed, along with the best management and team I could of ever hoped for. Corporate is always there for the employees and are eager to help anyone with any tasks to ensure the mission is accomplished. I am impressed with how much Sunstates truly values and cares about their employees. This makes my job as an Operations Manager an enjoyable career and I am able to make sure that the Security Officers know that we care about them and are thankful for what they do every day. In the short time of working at Sunstates, I have learned a great deal about how much Sunstates values a work/life balance and how they make sure this is achieved. I hope that others can see how great Sunstates is and gives us a chance as their employer, regardless of the very few that have given Sunstates Security a low scoring review. Sunstates Security is truly a family that I hope to be a part of for many many years and I am very excited for the opportunities that the future will bring.

I loved the work and the people that I worked with. I would have never left the job if the management would've had better communication with there security officers. The incompetent lack of communication with the security officers lead to a under equipped officer with spotty designed uniforms that would fall apart at the seams and when the security officer needed a new shirt, pants, or belt. The management was hard to contact and when the officer was able to get in contact with the management. The management would take there sweet time getting the item that the officer needed.
 When I started working at Sunstates Security I was given three long sleeve shirts, three short sleeve shirts, one black belt, one thin jacket, one thick jacket, and one pair of black pants and was told that I would get two more pair of pants with in a week or two. Will the one pair of uniform pants that I had  ripped just after one week and the belt broke just after three days. So I tried to contact my management and when I finally got in contact with management after over several attempts, over a three week time frame to report that I needed a new belt and new pair of uniform pants. It took the management over six months for them to get me two more pairs of  work pants. I got the pants but I did not get the belt. So for those six months I hade only one pair of uniform pants with a hole in them and a broke belt.

ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE MANAGEMENT

What is the best part of working at the company?
The pay is a little better than other Security Companies.  Operations is pretty much the same as other Security Companies.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Paycheck being shorted on occasion was stressful.  
A bug infestation at the work site was stressful and cost individual Officers a good amount of money to have their homes treated by an exterminator.  No help was offered by the company.  The building had a history of infestation problems and the Management of the buidling and Sunstates tried to blame everything on the Security Officers.  This was stressful as it also caused a manpower shortage where Officers had to work overtime or work alone at a two officer post.   

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Communications is not that good.  It feels like decisions are being made from North Carolina and not locally.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Show up to work, get a short pass on, log into the computer system, check the customer communication boards for communication from Loss Prevention.  Check the Learning department to see if there are new badges to be made for new tainees.  Check bags of outgoing employees at Breaks and Lunch.   Conduct Two interior Patrols and a Lot Patrol.  There is also a camera system to monitor.
The job is OK and pretty average for a Security gig.

I started my professional security career with this company, with the New Jersey branch, and had reasonable expectations. At first, this company was one of the finest security firms in New Jersey but as time progressed it seems as if the threads that held this magnificent company together started to unravel. Uniforms were turned over every two weeks, management checked on you weekly, every neccesity to get the job done was provided. But as time progressed management got sloppy, especially after they fired their original manager. I made a lot of personal sacrifices to the company, covering shifts that others had called out on, traveling far distances in hazardous weather conditions to cover unmanned post, etc. All to be called "not a team player" by one of the managers (who will remain nameless). By the time my second year was up I decided that the company was no longer worth it. Its security procedures and practices are acceptable at best and only aim for the minimum, they do not strive for quality, they no longer drug test and they are more of a liability than they are insurance against actual security threats. If you're a business that is looking for a cheap security company, that will get you the discount you desire from your insurance company and are not looking for quality security or actually protecting your assets, then this is the company for you. But if you actually value your materials I would suggest you look elsewhere.

I recently started with Sunstates Security out of Austin, and I have nothing but good to say in my experience with this company so far. I was hired for a site and schedule that exceeds my expectations, and needs. My site manager and Operations Manager treat me well and are very respectful. The company has room for growth or other opportunities to work pretty much all over the United States so you're not just stuck at one place or in one city.  Their new-hire orientations are very thorough and always have training to complete so that you're kept up with doing your job the correct way and keep yourself and security license out of the court room with battling legal issues. I have worked for several security companies over the last 12 years and took a break from it around a year ago thinking I was pretty much done working in this industry however when I found the open position with this company it has very much felt like the best fit out of them all so far. You will get decent benefits for not a lot out of pocket per paycheck, which is hard to find with employers these days.  If you're an officer who is also a part of the LGBT+ Community, the company has protections in place and are very inclusive in their hiring. They're recently also been one of the higher paying companies locally, so that's always a plus!

Sunstates Security is a good company to work for. There are quite a few different sites that they have. They are flexible, and pretty much understanding. Once you learn the facility and all of the posts, you can move up to being a Interim shift supervisor. They also have training classes on Sunstates Academy. I have been deployed through the SMARRT program that they have. It gives you new ways of learning how security is performed in different ways. Also, you get reimbursed for mileage, food, and hotel stay. I went to Aurora,IL to help out at Hello Fresh. It gave me a whole different look at how security teams works together. I really enjoyed the atmosphere there. Also, if you are an EMT, Firefighter, or have experience in Armed security, they offer jobs for those positions as well. Peoria, IL has Firefighters and EMTs offers as well as Decatur, IL. The most enjoyable part of my day is knowing that the client is safe and secure when they are /not at work. I have built a great rapport with the people at the site I am at. I have respect from some of my fellow coworkers but I'm mostly there to protect the workers at Caterpillar. It gives me great joy to know that they trust me when they have their backs turned to do their work. Women, you can also come work for security. We need more women that is for sure in this field. Even if you are an EMT. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Security officer 2183 salaries reported	$19.17 per hour
Armed security officer 373 salaries reported	$23.12 per hour
Flex officer 620 salaries reported	$19.72 per hour
Site supervisor 135 salaries reported	$23.83 per hour
Security supervisor 120 salaries reported	$21.12 per hour

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