Training/Education Benefits?

[SecTrainer]

I'm wondering how many are working for companies (contract or proprietary security) that provide training or educational benefits - either paying the fees and expenses for courses for you in advance, or reimbursing you on proof of completion of the course.

Or, maybe you work for a company that encourages officers to take "non-required" courses or training sessions in other indirect ways - perhaps an increase in wage, preferred assignments, or giving preference for promotions to officers who have taken additional training voluntarily.

I'm looking for "you gotta be kidding" answers as well as "yes we do that", so I can get a feel for the general lay of the land on this topic. I'm not floating this as a survey poll because I would also like any comments you'd care to make.

Thanks!

[EMTGuard]

I guess I'm gonna have to go with "You have to be kidding". The company does just the minimum hours the state requires to get a guard card. If the contract calls for more then it's up to the guard to pay for it. Good examples are my CPR/EMT certification and the new TWIC card that we are being forced to get. All of that comes out of my pocket.
We are not encouraged to take any additinal training and even if we did it on our own I don't see how it would help me get any extra pay unless I quit and got a job with an entirely different company. (which is what I plan on doing as soon as I have my TWIC card in hand since my company has no plans on reimbursing me or giving me a pay raise for having it).

[T202]

I work proprietary security. For undergraduate and graduate courses the company pays 100% tuition and textbooks if the employee is full time. The programs have to be job skill or future job skill. Reimbursement for part-time employees in prorated. 20 hours a week and the company pays 50%, 24 hours a week 60% and so on. You have to maintain better than 2.0 GPA and you are reimbursed at the completion of the course.

[NRM_Oz]

Most companies as you go up the ranks will offer you something such as partial fees re-imbursement, etc. Working rotational rosters makes it hard for some study time off hence the growth of e-learning, etc. I was fortunate that both my wife to be and I both got full scholarships through an external company (thankfully our fees are nothing like USA colleges) but the text books did hit over $5k US for both of us last year.

Most entry level jobs are just going to expect company training which will not be existant or will wait for any compulsory training to be set out for them but due to costs, will be unable to pay for any external studies. 1 retailer I worked for encouraged study but refused any reimbursement to encourage staff to WANT to study but will gladly take advantage of their new skills and experience without a pay rise or something in return.

Personally, I would look at what E-learning you could do that would work with you and your lifestyle - provided it is legitimate. Oh and for me I hate class room learning so I find E-learning to be 10 times better as I can go at alot faster than the class room scenario and get the studies completed quicker.

[bigdog]

my company owns its own state licensed security school. All employees get free training in oc,taser, D (unarmed security license) baton, handcuffing and use of force. We have to pay for the G(firearms license) course.

[CorpSec]

We have full tuition reimbursement for outside classes and an internal training department that conducts various training that is continuously available to all company employees.

[HospitalOfc.]

Our organization will reimburse tuition expenses for any accredited college courses taken on your own time up to $2,000 a year, all that is required is that you remain employed with the organization for one year afterward or else repay the money if you leave.

My department also has a fairly sizeable training budget, so I am usually able to convince my boss to ship me off to week long training sessions a couple times a year. These are usually either ASIS seminars or vendor training on one or another of the systems that we utilize. For any of these off site training opportunities the department pays my hourly wage while attending training as well as airfare, hotel, and expenses.