Physical security job positions can be challenging to fill. As an HR Professional or Physical Security Manager, you want to ensure that you are hiring the right person for the job, such as someone experienced, honest, and good at working within a team. To make the process of hiring security easier, you should start considering the most under-utilized yet well-trained talent pool — military veterans.
The skills needed by the physical security industry have a lot of overlap with those that veterans already possess, ensuring excellent employees for any security job position. However, out of the 8,338,000 total veterans employed, 22.9% belong to the government-industry, and 12.2% belong to the manufacturing industry. The professional and business services industry, which security is classified under, sits at third place, with 11.4% of the veteran workforce. Ideally, hiring veterans should be more prevalent in the physical security industry. This blog will look at some advantages and opportunities to promote the practice.
Military veterans enter the workforce with a wealth of training and real-world experience already under their belt. Their skills and experience translate well into the physical security industry and hiring veterans might just be the best move for protecting your business. With the help of a veteran-owned training and consulting firm like BufferSprings, creating a military talent program that maximizes the advantages of hiring veterans for your business can be simple and straightforward.
Physical security in the 21st century makes use of highly sophisticated tools and technologies, such as biometric technologies, video analytics, digital cameras, robotics, access control, and more. Unlike the typical civilian, veterans already have experience with handling similar systems and software, giving them an invaluable edge.
When you are hiring a new employee, you want to be assured of their background. Veterans will have already gone through rigorous, extensive background checks for various levels of security clearances, as the military ensures that all their candidates are “reliable, trustworthy, of good conduct and character, and of complete and unswerving loyalty to the United States.” Of course, many companies still follow their own standard operating procedures and conduct their own checks but knowing that veterans have already passed prior checks is reassuring.
One of the characteristics of quality security personnel is their trustworthiness. In relation to the previous point, veterans already have a track record of integrity from their previous background checks and security clearances. In addition, they are dependable — you can rely on them to be on-site, on time, and ready to perform whenever you assign them to a job. Furthermore, you can expect the job to be done excellently, as military personnel have the same commitment to keeping people safe as security personnel.
The rigorous training that military personnel undergo has instilled in them an understanding of its importance. They recognize that continual training and improvement is a key part of success, and they seek opportunities for learning and personal growth. This commitment to improvement also lends itself well to advancement within the industry — the skills needed for site supervisors, district managers, or even vice presidents still overlap with those that veterans possess.
Security personnel should be able to work well in a team and be able to take charge when needed, and veterans can do exactly that. Their time in the military has taught them how to collaborate efficiently with the people around them, as well as how to command authority while maintaining proper protocol.
Adaptability is an important quality for all security job positions, especially in times of unexpected crisis. People look to security personnel for guidance and instruction, and veterans will be able to keep a clear head even in high-stress situations, allowing them to respond quickly to any challenges.
If you have now been convinced of the merits of hiring veterans but are unsure of how to get started, we will show you how.
You can begin learning how to build an effective and sustainable veteran talent program by watching our on-demand webinar for Thinkcurity and BufferSprings’ — “Build & Sustain Your Own Military Talent Machine.”
Watch now and learn about the best practices for hiring and retaining military talent from BufferSprings’ CEO and Founder Rob Arndt, a 14-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps, with 8 of those years focused solely on armed forces recruitment and retention. No matter what stage you are at in developing your military program, the 1-hour session is sure to guide you through your future security hiring decisions.