My Review of Center Security Guard Training School;
The school is located in the city, down in the basement floor of 225 Broadway. When you head down those steps it's not that pretty of a sight. At first admittedly it looks a bit shady, it's kind of dusty and a bit rough down there, especially when compared to the rest of the building. However when you walk into the actually room it's not bad at all.
You're greeted by the instructor who is also the owner Ms.Daisy. It's nice to know that the instructor is also the owner. She seems to genuinely care about the people that come in, there have been a few times that I've seen her go out of her way to help people with things. Some people that have came to her were scammed by other schools, others just don't know what to do after taking classes. Whatever the case is she was happy to help, even if they took classes elsewhere. I've never seen her try to take advantage of the people that come in....and with classes being 8 hours you get a fair amount of people coming in.
Ms.Daisy is very knowledgeable in her field as from what I understand she's been working in the security industry for quite some time (over 20 years i think). The classes consisted of a mix of videos, followed by lectures as well as a few handouts and in class exercises. She covered topics such as access control, report writing, occupational hazards,a bit of fire guard prep, etc. It's not so bad, considering you'll be in that building for 6-8 hours more or less.
I don't really have anything negative to really say except-
During the course Ms.Daisy gave us (her students) an Estimate of about 3 weeks after mailing their application, after which we would have been able to work.Well, I don't believe she was lying but those most have been some lucky students. It's been about 7 weeks of waiting for me, with multiple calls to NYS licensing.
From my experience with talking with NYSL reps is that it's highly unlikely to have such a turnaround time after your application. I was told it would take 8-14 weeks for me to get my license. Yes you will receive your Unique ID# much sooner (I received mine around 5 weeks after mailing), but your ID# seems useless if your application hasn't been approved yet. I say that because from my understanding your ID# will not appear on the NYS Licensing's website as valid until AFTER everything clears, (background check, fingerprints, etc). So 7 weeks after mailing my own application I have my ID# but I'm still waiting for things to clear.
On a side note job assistance just comes in the form of a list of security companies printed out on a sheet of paper, chances are if you've did your homework then you already know a few of these companies but it's better than nothing a guess. And make sure everything on your application is accurate! I paid an extra $25 dollars to have them assist with my application yet as I later found out though calls to the Division of Licensing there still seemed to be an error on my application. My Social was incorrect. So I now have to mail a correction, hopefully it won't set me back to far.
Overall I'd definitely recommend Center Security Training as a great place to take your classes. I don't think you'll be disappointed at all....just remember don't expect to be working as a security guard 4 weeks later...unless maybe your really lucky.
I'd give Center Security Guard Training School a 4/5. read more
