Security Guard Guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules. May operate x-ray and metal detector equipment.
Security Guard is Also Know as
In different settings, Security Guard is titled as
- Armed Security Officer
- Campus Security Officer (CSO)
- Custom Protection Officer (CPO)
- Customer Service Security Officer
- Hotel Security Officer
- Loss Prevention Officer
- Safety and Security Officer
- Security Agent
- Security Guard
- Security Officer
Education and Training of Security Guard
Security Guard is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Security Guard
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Required for Security Guard
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Degrees Related to Security Guard
- Bachelor in Security and Loss Prevention Services
- Associate Degree Courses in Security and Loss Prevention Services
- Masters Degree Courses in Security and Loss Prevention Services
Training Required for Security Guard
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Security Guard in different industries are
- First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers
- Transportation Security Screeners
- Transit and Railroad Police
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
- Public Safety Telecommunicators
- Crossing Guards and Flaggers
- Parking Enforcement Workers
- First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
- Correctional Officers and Jailers
- Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
- Security Managers
- Security Management Specialists
- First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
- Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance
- Information Security Engineers
- Detectives and Criminal Investigators
- Fire Inspectors and Investigators
- Retail Loss Prevention Specialists
- Airfield Operations Specialists
- Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians
What Do Security Guard do?
- Patrol industrial or commercial premises to prevent and detect signs of intrusion and ensure security of doors, windows, and gates.
- Answer alarms and investigate disturbances.
- Monitor and authorize entrance and departure of employees, visitors, and other persons to guard against theft and maintain security of premises.
- Write reports of daily activities and irregularities, such as equipment or property damage, theft, presence of unauthorized persons, or unusual occurrences.
- Call police or fire departments in cases of emergency, such as fire or presence of unauthorized persons.
- Circulate among visitors, patrons, or employees to preserve order and protect property.
- Answer telephone calls to take messages, answer questions, and provide information during non-business hours or when switchboard is closed.
- Warn persons of rule infractions or violations, and apprehend or evict violators from premises, using force when necessary.
- Operate detecting devices to screen individuals and prevent passage of prohibited articles into restricted areas.
- Escort or drive motor vehicle to transport individuals to specified locations or to provide personal protection.
- Inspect and adjust security systems, equipment, or machinery to ensure operational use and to detect evidence of tampering.
- Monitor and adjust controls that regulate building systems, such as air conditioning, furnace, or boiler.
- Lock doors and gates of entrances and exits to secure buildings.
- Respond to medical emergencies by administering basic first aid or by obtaining assistance from paramedics.
Qualities of Good Security Guard
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Security Guard
- Desktop computers
- Digital video cameras
- First aid kits
- Flashlights
- Laptop computers
- Laser facsimile machines
- Metal handcuffs
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Multipurpose fire extinguishers
- Nightsticks
- Patrol cars
- Patrol golf carts
- Pepper spray
- Personal computers
- Photocopiers
- Pistols
- Plastic handcuffs
- Revolvers
- Security alarm systems
- Security surveillance systems
- Switchboards
- Two way radios
- Vehicle weight scales
Technology Skills required for Security Guard
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- FaceTime
- IBM Lotus 1-2-3
- McAfee
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft SharePoint
- Microsoft Word
- NortonLifeLock cybersecurity software
- Wireshark