A job as a security officer can be a challenging yet rewarding career. There are many different types of job within the security industry, so you need to make sure you are suited to this type of role. This article takes a look at the steps involved in starting a career within security.

Before fully committing yourself to joining the security industry and beginning your training, you need to fully understand about the varied types of role within the industry and be sure these roles are the right fit for you. Having a mature and responsible outlook on life is a good start, as is the possession of basic common sense and a polite, customer focused attitude. If you possess most of those qualities, then you may make a good security officer.

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Deciding if You Are Suitable

Many security officers work fairly long hours, with anything from forty-eight hours a week upwards being standard. If you think you would not be happy working for that length of time each week, then you will need to reconsider a career within the security sector. Security officers also often work alone, particularly those in nocturnal positions, so people who can work on their own initiative and don’t mind their own company for long periods of time usually make the best officers.

One of the bonuses of embarking on a security career is that particular academic qualifications are not essential, although a good standard of general education often helps. What is required, however, for the majority of roles within the industry, is a security licence. The type of licence varies depending on the role, so this is where you need to decide whether you want to specialise in a particular area. You may want to be a guard responsible for the security of premises or alternatively work within retail security. Door supervision of clubs and pubs requires a different type of security licence, while close protection training is essential if you wish to pursue a career within the specialised close protection sector.

SIA Licence

The most common license required is the SIA, or Security Industry Authority, to give it its full title. After passing a criminal records check, you will be able to undertake a course to gain your license. Today, there are many training centres and colleges with approved SIA courses to choose from. Sometimes, people are offered employed positions before gaining their SIA qualification with the employers happy to either pay for the courses themselves or complete everything in-house.

Many people begin their tenure within the security industry as either a retail security officer or as a static guard. These are excellent opportunities to gain valuable experience within the sector before possibly moving on to something more specialised, such as close protection. Particularly rigorous close protection training is required to embark on a career within this complex sector of security, which involves becoming a bodyguard to VIPs. Whatever your choice of role, whether it be as a guard, a door supervisor or a bodyguard, a career within security is varied and rewarding.