Greetings,

Thank you in advance for any of your valuable input and advice on this matter...

Spoke with a friend of mine yesterday who attended TSI (Trojan Securities Intl.) PSD and Hostage courses and successfully completed them in 09'. He said that upon completion of training (which he was very satisfied with), you are given a "Letter Of Recommendation" stating that you are suitable for employment in a position relative to the training.

His and I's question is, do these LORs hold any more weight than just a standard completion certificate?

If so, does anyone know if HDSOC or CRI provide the same thing?

No training company or, more specifically an instructor, should ever consider placing a recommendation on your "suitability" for a position related to the job based on even an extended period of time. As a hiring manager, I would give little credence to anyone who did. Such a limited exposure in a controlled environment would be applicable only to evaluating how you responded to training and the learning objectives.

I agree not a good Idea to recommend someone for a position that carries so much liability with only limited class time and controlled situations as your basis .

Thank you gentlemen for the sound logic!

I did not see my friend's letter, so I am not completely certain how it was worded. Maybe he embellished a bit. I've e-mailed the company about these letters to find out for myself. I'll post there reply soon.

Okay so TSI e-mailed me back stating that they no longer give a letter of recommendation.

Probably because of the same reasons that you guys mentioned.

Have a friend who attended trojan PSD and HRT classes a couple of years ago, the Letters went from this person has completed training and upon further training, on up to top candidate letter. I realize its not in use anymore but for the sake of yer curiosity.

The whole idea is sillier than , IMHO.

The LOR sounds stupid and it may very well be in the United States. In Europe especially Britain you need to have some certification that I forget the name of to be able to work in EP or PSD.
Anyway lets take AEGIS for an example, if you fill out their on line application it will ask if you have attended any courses? In the drop down bar there is a selection for Trojan Security. So, is it stupid or silly? Who knows but someone somewhere holds value to it.
Its not like your going to kit up and head down to the local SWAT/HRT team and try to get in their stack as your throwing your cert in their face. Though I think it would cut down on the cost of our our judicial system if they let us.