what's Securitas like to work for?

C

colonel45155

Longterm Registered User
Got a phone call yesterday from a Securitas manager regarding work, seemed a really decent bloke, we got on well and talked about half an hour on the phone. He said there may be a position coming up and I'd get to do as many or as few hours as I choose. Some guys do 60hrs a week and some do 10. Sounds good to me.

I'd even forgotten that I'd emailed him about six months ago, can't remember how I got his personal email, friend of a friend I suppose but has anyone worked or is working with them, (I did use the search and have read the 'Securitas good or bad' thread)
 
In my opinion there ok to work for and they have a nice soft shell fleece. I was 0 hrs with them and always got enough work to see me through and also no problems with pay. Only reason I left was my contract I was on got taken over wish id stayed with them now
 
Hi Colonel45155

They are an established company and I have never heard any bad comments about them.

I write CVs and always ask my customers about their former employers and the comments have been positive. However, a couple of guys did say that the promotion prospects were not great 'unless the face fits' but that is the same in any company or sector.

Good luck!

JHD
 
Cheers JHD, it is a supervisor position he was talking about, I don't want to go any higher up. By all accounts they do seem a decent company from what I've read here. He mentioned a couple of contracts coming up from Belfast city council and seemed keen to get me on board. I'm quietly confident, as I said before he was a really decent bloke and the conversation on the phone went well, we talked about everything, I told him I was doing a law degree and he said he'd hire me lol.

I'm just looking some confirmation that they are a good company and so far so good.
 
Colonel45155,

Never worked for them, never met a person who worked for them and I have never had any direct or indirect contact with them.

That said, when I first retired out of the military I took a job with Custer Battles. I only ran 18 men around Iraq on a Defense contract and only reported to corporate HQ in the US and one US General on ground in Iraq. However CB was convicted of using slave labour and contract fruad to the sum of around 50 million USD. When I first saw and heard first hand about the slavery my Teams and I walked within the hour and had a new job within the hour in the Ghan doing the same work.

Not everyone at CB was bad.

I have mates who worked for Blackwater, their Teams where great and they never mixed with the bad apples.

Also had some mates at Jellyfish on the operational side and they never where captured and convicted of spying.

Point is that a company can have a wonderful track record and still have a few twats in it making life hell for some people, just as a bad firm can have a few good Teams that never have any contact with the vast majority making a bad name for them.

If the company can provide (not offer) something that you need at a higher level than you already have then you need to ask your self what it is that you must give into. If the person you spoke with on the phone is going to be your boss and he contacted you after no word for six months then perhaps that new relationship could work out for you. You have already come here and sourced your best on here for the negative, now you can try google just by putting the firm name in and key negative words and phrases just to see what comes up.

Then you put all that you have gathered out in front of you, jist your intel and perhaps even consult with whom ever in your life that also depends on your earnings, present them with all the facts you have gathered and see what they think about it.

But thats just my thoughts on the matter, I hope it works out for you and provides you with what it is you need and desire to make that next step forward in your career.
 
I have quite a few dealings with their mobile response teams as my client is city center based, switched on and a cut above the norm. Apparently very ex mil / plod / HMP orientated, don't think you can go wrong.

Have heard that pay rates are good, I was quoted £13 per hr for a corporate site not to far from me, shift allowances, extra pay for holding FAAW ect.

Hope it works out.
 
Securitas (in Spain) works a little different from place to place, it is a HUGE firm but as said the positions are hard to scale, on my place I got the law degree, some master in logistics(before getting hired), paramedic and almost any security qualification available in Spain, I work as low as manned guarding and no hope to get higher.

Every "district" works as a "small kingdom" for the regional leader in some way of franchise_alike if I understood, recently they got a "paradigm project" launched in Spain seeking for qualified professionals and so, to become the new leaders in the rising markets..., resulted I have not enough english level despite the other things so got some frustration.

They do pay regularly but, as I read you all, the business in UK seems a completely different world, we are hired full time or part time, we get the 12 wages and 3 extra payments (summer and xmas plus the "benefit pay"), we get paid holidays... but the problem is the basic salary is about 900€, we got more money for "dress payment" (uniform provided, you just clean and iron it) than as risk payment (so I assume it is harder to dress as a "grey man" than getting your face punched??).

I am a qualified instructor for SO, CPO, field guarding... (you do not even try to match the badges, it is a nightmare) but who cares, I am a registered lawyer since 2003 but who cares, I got paramedic courses but who cares, I am 37 and already got more badges than 57 men but who cares? I have been more than 10 years in door supervision and public events security (before it got regulated and so got mi badge too) but who cares.

If you get the chance to be hired I would send the CV because it is better to moan about a job than about no job at all ;)

What happens is that many of us (plain "soldiers" in the staff) get second jobs to be able to pay the expenses as also the fantastic labor unions in Spain got us without wage rises again BUT got the compromise to avoid more than 170 h/monthly so you can not make money in one security job...
 
GI0VANNI said:
Securitas (in Spain) works a little different from place to place, it is a HUGE firm but as said the positions are hard to scale, on my place I got the law degree, some master in logistics(before getting hired), paramedic and almost any security qualification available in Spain, I work as low as manned guarding and no hope to get higher.

Every "district" works as a "small kingdom" for the regional leader in some way of franchise_alike if I understood, recently they got a "paradigm project" launched in Spain seeking for qualified professionals and so, to become the new leaders in the rising markets..., resulted I have not enough english level despite the other things so got some frustration.

They do pay regularly but, as I read you all, the business in UK seems a completely different world, we are hired full time or part time, we get the 12 wages and 3 extra payments (summer and xmas plus the "benefit pay"), we get paid holidays... but the problem is the basic salary is about 900€, we got more money for "dress payment" (uniform provided, you just clean and iron it) than as risk payment (so I assume it is harder to dress as a "grey man" than getting your face punched??).

I am a qualified instructor for SO, CPO, field guarding... (you do not even try to match the badges, it is a nightmare) but who cares, I am a registered lawyer since 2003 but who cares, I got paramedic courses but who cares, I am 37 and already got more badges than 57 men but who cares? I have been more than 10 years in door supervision and public events security (before it got regulated and so got mi badge too) but who cares.

If you get the chance to be hired I would send the CV because it is better to moan about a job than about no job at all ;)

What happens is that many of us (plain "soldiers" in the staff) get second jobs to be able to pay the expenses as also the fantastic labor unions in Spain got us without wage rises again BUT got the compromise to avoid more than 170 h/monthly so you can not make money in one security job...
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Might have to give you a shout, my law degree is going to take 6yrs with the Open university...
 
about the degree in law keep in mind that We, the almighty people from Spain decided to follow a rule that makes politicians who may or may not have any clue about justice, to make the laws, instead letting the bored lawyers judges and prosecutors to develop a decent way to face each illicit.

My younger brother came to Belfast as an "erasmus" student to finish his degree and to sum up, he got better results, but has no idea about some things (yes, he insisted my way taking the degree in law after me, not he works also in a completely law_non_related career...
 
GI0VANNI said:
he works also in a completely law_non_related career...
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A lot of badged CPOs can't get work in CP also. I made a choice between Open University and CP, (module I'm doing now is 'introduction to law' and cost £915!! and that's just the start) Reading here has taught me a lot and I decided to go Law rather than CP. I'll be 46yrs old by the time its done but I've been talking to a guy on a yachting forum I'm a member of and he finished it when he was 70. Who knows if I'll get a job out it at the end but what the hell... I like to keep my mind busy (what few brain cells I have left that is :) )

Might even help people on here with divorces, or come to think of it I've helped with divorces in the past but that's only when the husband caught me with his wife ;), (I know the reputation lawyers have but I'll be the nice guy - that probably means I won't get far lol)

Good to meet you GIOVANNI
 
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colonel45155 said:
A lot of badged CPOs can't get work in CP also. I made a choice between Open University and CP, (module I'm doing now is 'introduction to law' and cost £915!! and that's just the start) Reading here has taught me a lot and I decided to go Law rather than CP. I'll be 46yrs old by the time its done but I've been talking to a guy on a yachting forum I'm a member of and he finished it when he was 70. Who knows if I'll get a job out it at the end but what the hell... I like to keep my mind busy (what few brain cells I have left that is :) )

Might even help people on here with divorces, or come to think of it I've helped with divorces in the past but that's only when the husband caught me with his wife ;), (I know the reputation lawyers have but I'll be the nice guy - that probably means I won't get far lol)

Good to meet you GIOVANNI
Click to expand...




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Specialise mate, get he law degree jut base your speciality on the knowledge you have accumulated in your previous career, don't know many lawyers who specialise in the security industry, do you!? ;-)


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I and now finishing my post-grade in "international crime" (most about drugs, money laundry, terrorism and illegal immigration), have another one in "mediterranean area security" (includes the great ivan problemas as "mediterranean" includes from the black sea to the Gibraltar (SPANISH!!) strait) and another one about "middle east and far east security affairs" (mainly the ex russian republics and far east extremist problems).


About specialize , I do almost exclusively penal affairs as I really hate "civil" (means marriage, heritage and children custody) not to talk about a "special" law in Spain about more or less "just husbands, ex-husbands, boyfriends and ex-boyfriends harassing women because, you know, hers are in need of a better protection and everyone know men are evil for women".

AS I see it the problem about a degree in law is that it is just useful for your own country as each and every state thinks that "outsiders" law is not so good as their own one. If you choose mechanics the cars are striped and fixed the same way all around the world but security like law changes from state to state.
For example; in Spain I can get a hunting license to use semi-auto 7,62 rifle like say a FAL or G3 (CETME) but for working as CPO or just armed guard I need the company to promote me to obtain a special gun license just for the time I am working armed, no matter if I am already an olympic champion in biathlon or target shooting, weird as it sounds.

By the way I miss the "like" button, I am liking the way this treat is going: real "irish pub talk", just with cider as I am a little pussy and strong ale beats me down easier ;)
 
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