Security Officer and Security Guard Interview Questions

I worked in retail for four years, and the part of the job I was best at was dealing with the difficult moments: the customer shouting at the till, the group trying to walk out with a trolley, the person who'd collapsed in an aisle. I noticed I stayed calm when others didn't, and our store's security officer encouraged me to do my SIA training. What I like about security is that most of the job is prevention. If you're visible, you know the site and you talk to people, a lot of problems never start. I also like the responsibility: on a night shift you might be the only person looking after a whole building, and I want to be someone a client can trust with that. I've got my SIA Security Guarding licence, and I'm keen to build experience on a site like yours before working towards supervisor level.

My aim is always to bring the temperature down. I'd approach calmly, keep a safe distance and an open stance, and make sure I had an exit and a colleague or the control room aware of where I was. I'd introduce myself, use a calm, steady voice and listen to what the person was angry about, because often they want to be heard more than anything. I'd avoid arguing, pointing or standing over them, and I'd give them options rather than orders, like "let's step over here where it's quieter so I can help." If they became violent or a threat to others, my priority would be the safety of people around me and myself, and I'd call the police. Physical intervention would be the very last resort, only if necessary, using reasonable and proportionate force. Afterwards I'd write it up in full in an incident report.

Night shifts are where complacency creeps in, so I build some structure into them. I vary my patrol routes and times so they don't become predictable, both for my own alertness and because anyone watching the site would learn a fixed routine. I keep up the check calls with the control room on time, every time. I eat a proper meal, drink water more than coffee, and I get up and walk regularly instead of sitting at the CCTV desk for hours. Before a run of nights I make sure I sleep properly during the day, which means blackout blinds and my phone on silent. If I ever felt I was too tired to do the job safely, I'd tell my supervisor instead of hoping nothing happens, because a security officer who's half asleep is a risk to the site.

On most sites, I'm the first person a visitor, contractor or member of staff speaks to, so the way I greet people shapes how they feel about the whole building. Good customer service also makes the security side easier. If people find me approachable, they'll tell me when something feels wrong, like a tailgater who followed them through the barrier or a bag left in the lobby. On a reception desk at my last site, I made a point of learning regular visitors' names and how the client liked visitors to be signed in. That meant the badge process ran quickly for genuine visitors, and it made the occasional person who shouldn't be there much easier to spot. Being friendly doesn't mean being lax: I can be polite and still insist that everyone without a pass waits until they're collected.

On a night shift at a business park, I found a fire door on the ground floor of one of the units slightly open during my patrol, with marks around the lock. I didn't go inside alone. I stepped back to a safe position, called the control room to report it and asked them to call the police, then kept watch on the entrance from a distance, noting the time, what I could see and any vehicles nearby. When the police arrived, I gave them access and the details, and they found someone had been inside and left. Afterwards I wrote a detailed incident report, made sure the door was secured, and recorded everything in the daily occurrence book so the day shift knew. I also suggested to the client that the rear car park lighting be fixed, which they did that month.

At a corporate office, a man arrived at reception saying he had a meeting with a director, but he wasn't on the visitor list and didn't know the name of the person he was meeting. He was very confident and started to get irritated when I asked him to wait. I stayed polite and explained that I couldn't let anyone through without confirmation, for everyone's safety, and that I'd try to help. I called the director's assistant, who had no meeting booked. I told the man I couldn't give him access and offered to pass on a message. He left, and I wrote down his description and the time, then let my supervisor and the client know. A few days later, another site in the area reported someone using the same story to get into an office and steal laptops, so our description helped.

Early in my career, I forgot to log a key handover in the key register at the end of a busy shift, and the next morning a contractor's key was unaccounted for. As soon as I heard, I called my supervisor and told him it was my mistake. I went through the CCTV footage with the day officer, saw which contractor I'd handed the key to and we contacted the company, who still had it and returned it that morning. Nothing had gone wrong, but it could have. Since then I log every key and every handover the moment it happens, never at the end of the shift, and I suggested we add a key check to the shift handover checklist, which the site adopted. I'd much rather own a small error straight away than have a bigger problem come out later.

An incident report needs to be clear enough that someone who wasn't there, including a police officer or a court, can understand exactly what happened. I write it as soon as possible after the incident, while it's fresh. I include the date, time and exact location, who was involved with descriptions or names if known, what I saw and heard in the order it happened, what I did and why, who I called and when, and any witnesses. I stick to facts, so I'd write "the man shouted at the cashier and threw a basket at the counter" instead of "the man was aggressive". If CCTV covers the area I note the camera and the time so the footage can be kept. I also record it in the daily occurrence book and hand it to my supervisor, and I never alter a report after it's submitted.

I'd follow the site's procedure, which is usually based on the HOT principles: is it Hidden, Obviously suspicious, or not Typical of what you'd expect in that place. If I couldn't account for it, I wouldn't touch or move it. I'd move people away from the area, report it to the control room or my supervisor straight away and call the police on 999 if it met the criteria. I wouldn't use my radio or mobile phone right next to it, following the guidance I've been trained on. I'd help set up a cordon at a safe distance, keep people out and wait for the police, giving them a clear description and the time I found it. Most unattended items turn out to be lost property, but the procedure is there because you can't tell the difference by looking.

As a security officer, I have no special legal powers, the same as any member of the public, plus whatever the site owner authorises me to do as their representative, like refusing entry or asking someone to leave private property. I can carry out bag searches only with the person's consent and if it's a condition of entry on that site. Any member of the public can make an arrest in certain circumstances for an indictable offence, but it's a serious step with legal risk, so I'd only consider it if there was no other option and police couldn't attend in time. Any force has to be reasonable, necessary and proportionate, and only as a last resort. In practice, my main tools are observation, communication and reporting. Knowing the limits of my powers protects me, the client and the public.