To Join TSA, To Not...that is the question

Do not do it!! I worked for them since the beginning and it was the biggest mistake I ever made.

That disqualifies you right there! The TSA has publicly admitted in its Engage! training that customer service is not their priority.

I have to agree, as much as TSA would like to have their TSO's treat passengers with respect, there seem to be some employees who don't grasp the concept. It is pretty much a thankless job, intrusive, demeaning, and boring.
They grasp at a lot of straws, but have yet to find the terrorist needle in the haystack, despite the metal detectors...

Think about what this job entails...

Constant standing for hours while engaging with travelers who basically consider you the obstacle to making their flight...soon you develop an attitude that a lot of people are idiots because they don't follow the "rules" that you are taught are keeping Amerika safe...that attitude soon changes to contempt for the traveling public in general...you become a hardened, bored, drone that is constantly being pressured to find "something", so you toss common sense and find inane objects "dangerous"...you make the elderly, children, and the infirm obey your slightest commands and become perturbed that they fail to respond in the manner you demand...you develop hypertension and a permanent angry attitude that you then take home with you...soon you are beating your kids....life becomes hell...a deep.depression develops...you buy a gun...you contemplate quitting and getting a postal job....

So, you might as well go get a job at the post office now and save yourself all this trouble.

This haystack has no needles. They can look forever and never find what isn't there.

Bruce

As much as the hospitality industry may be a grind and a beatdown, but I would go back to that then work for TSA. I know I did it for 5+ years through college in every position from on the floor, bartending to supervising, but not mgmt after the taste i got, and went back to bartending and was happy. I only left when i changed career paths (EMS), and Im very happy where I'm at, and the public appreciates what I do, you cant exactly say that for most agencies within DHS.

Please do yourself a favor and look for something in the government other the TSA or DHS for that matter. If you have to go back to school for a different career, but with a hospitality degree there are lots of options outside of resturants like Hotels, meeting/convention planning, etc you try as well.

Or put more succinctly: do you want to help people, or do you just want to flex power over the people?

I really like the people at the post offices I frequent regularly. Comparing them to TSA employees is incredibly insulting to all postal workers.

A job with USPS would be infinitely better than collecting Workfare at TSA.

Going Postal...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Going_postal

The day will come when you discover putting an escort service on your resume will be better than admitting you worked for TSA. Do anything else.

LivingPurple, a large portion of what TSA does is to say who gets to travel within the United States and who doesn't, using Homeland Security blacklists. The rest of what they do is largely security theater: security countermeasures intended to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to actually improve security. I'd hope that people only become part of all that out of ignorance or desperation.

Desperation isn't a good enough excuse for me.

I must say I am quite surprised at the amount of responses received for my post about TSA. I havent visited this site since until now, which is 10 months later. However, I have decided to brush the TSA idea of employment under the rug after becoming fustrated with the lengthy waiting process to hear back. Even when I called I was given no answers to any of my questions. So I moved on.

Ive made the decision to pursue a Paramedic license. Currently, im completing the EMT-B program in NYC and I am loving every moment of it. Hopefully this is it for me. But I wont actually know till im out in the field. Hey maybe I'll go for Physician Assistant. Me..a doctor..lol who woulda thought!

Thank you everyone for your input...but I have to say without ever even working for them..screw TSA! But everything happens for a reason right? If they didnt irritate me during the hiring process I probably wouldnt be doing what I am now. ^

Happy Turkey Day folks!

LivingPurple:
Welcome back. They done you a HUGE favor. I hope you stick around here. You are making the right decision & I wish nothing but the best for you, Happy Thanksgiving.