Do you want to become a security guard or bodyguard? Or you are interested in hiring a security guard and you want to know the recruitment process involved? Then read on.
A single mistake by an incompetent security guard could expose lives and property to security risks. For this reason, the process of recruiting and hiring a new guard for personal or business security is always stringent.
This post discusses the stages involved in the recruitment process for security guards as well as why each stage is important. You will find the information here very useful if you are planning to take up a security guard job or you are planning to hire a security guard to protect, you, your home, or your business.
(In other words, the information here would be of great help to those who want to work as security guards as well as those who want to hire security guards.) Now, here are the stages involved in the recruitment of security guards:
The Recruitment Process for Hiring a Security Guard
1. Announcement of the job position
To hire a security guard, you must first announce that there is a vacant job position. This way, interested candidates will be aware.
The more weight you throw behind this publicity, the brighter your chances of hiring a competent security guard (that would discharge his or her duties professionally and ethically) – as you would have a large pool of options to choose from.
So, if you really want a large number of applicants, advertise the position using both offline and online methods – newspaper adverts, radio and TV, social media, online job boards, discussion forums, etc.
2. Application process
All interested candidates are usually instructed to converge at a specified location, on a specified date. The application process involves completion of applicant forms as well as a test to assess applicants’ ability to understand and write in English or any other required language, if required.
Depending on the employer’s choice, the test may include assessments of applicants’ computer, mathematical, and other skills required to assess verify their qualifications and ability to take up the job. But if an employer doesn’t really require applicants to have a particular skill, they are not tested based in that skill.
3. Verification of qualifications
Before proceeding with the next procedures, employers should carry out various background checks to verify the qualifications as well as criminal records of applicants. Since no one wants to hire an ex-convict as security guard, to double check all claims at an early stage in the recruitment process is only a smart move.
Contact the police department in your state for a background criminal check. (This may attract a very cheap fee or may be free). And contact the institutions to verify academic credentials. If any applicant is found to have tendered false or misleading information about their qualifications and past, such applications are weeded off immediately.
4. Interview
After the above-mentioned stages, applicants are interviewed extensively by either the employer(s) or third parties delegated to handle the process. The interview is aimed at testing the confidence and communication skills as well as other qualities that are of interest to the employer.
During the interview, applicants are asked important questions that will help the interviewers make the right choice. Answers given by the applicants during the interview are used to assess various qualities, such as integrity, selflessness, professionalism, respect for others, loyalty, and so on.
5. Medical check
One or more applicants would have already been shortlisted after the interview. These applicants would be requested to submit the results of specified medical tests, such as drug and alcohol screening, urinalysis, blood analysis, etc. A medical check is necessary, as it reveals whether or not an applicant is healthy and fit enough to take up the security guard job, which could be very boring and tiring at times.
6. Final selection
Using the results of the screening test, medical checks, and background investigation, employers or recruiters choose one or more (depending on number of available slots) successful applicants for the position. After the selection, successful applicants are contacted and given further instructions on what to do next.
7. Orientation
No matter how much of previous experience a newly hired security guard may have acquired, he would receive an orientation from the new employer. During the orientation, the newly hired security guards are enlightened about their employer as well as the facilities they would guard. They are given every piece of information that they need for them to play their roles efficiently.
There you have it. You have just been walked through the recruitment process for hiring security guards. If you have been wondering how to choose the best guard, follow these steps, and you will choose right.