To get a good overview of SIA Licence holders, who do different jobs in the security industry, we interviewed two team members who both work at a well known hospital in Central London, to protect their anonymity we’ll call them ‘M’ and ‘R’. Both the interviewees used get-licenced.co.uk to kick start their new careers.
Q. What initially drew you to SIA Licence training?
M. I already worked at the hospital as a porter, but with so many cuts being made in the NHS I decided to jump the gun and look around for something a bit more secure and financially rewarding.
R. By the time I reached my twenties I’d done a whole bunch of jobs that I never got any satisfaction from. I hated the nine to five routine in offices; I knew I was in a dead end so in New Year 2010 my resolution was to do something about it.
Q. How did you go about finding your training?
M. I needed the training to be flexible because I didn’t want to give up working; also I wanted a focussed program that meant I had to attend a course. I knew if I were left to my own devices with distance learning or something like that I’d give up. The instruction centre was local and meant I could fit the training around my job.
R. It was a quick fix I needed and I was willing to take a chance, so I packed in my receptionist job and just went for the training in one hit. That sounds a bit radical, but I’d done my homework and I knew there were loads of jobs around in the industry. It doesn’t take that long to train compared to some schemes, you just have to be determined. We didn’t know at the time but we both used get-licensed to find our training.
Q. What choices did you both make and why?
M. I didn’t want to be tied down to a desk so I went for Security Guard Training. The shifts didn’t bother me because I was used to them being a porter, I wanted to work on a team as well because it’s a good way to make friends and get to know different people.
R. Working on a busy reception meant I’d had to juggle answering phones and keeping an eye on a basic CCTV system, but that was only to check how many parking spaces there were available. I enjoyed that bit of the work so that’s why I went for CCTV training.
Q. Did the training meet your expectations?
M. It was weird being in a classroom again at my age but everyone’s in the same boat so you don’t feel isolated. I was amazed at how much a security guard needed to know, it’s not as easy as you think and when it came to the exams I was nervous. The whole course was spread over 27 hours then you need to prove that you’ve taken it all in. Having been a porter meant I knew a lot about emergency procedures and obviously you do get into tricky situations with sick people. On the whole I’d say the training was excellent, well worth the effort.
R. CCTV Training takes longer than most of the courses. You need to get to grips with a lot of legal processes and naturally you have to know the equipment inside out too. I’d say the most important part is observation; you have to be on the ball all the time. You can imagine there are thousands of people visiting the hospital where we work every day, and with so many drugs and expensive equipment in the building all the areas have to be monitored really carefully.
Q. How do you feel now about the career changes you made?
M. It’s great being in a profession you can be proud of, not that porters aren’t important, they are, but there’s scope for some promotion in this job too. I’m aiming for shift supervisor, best of all I found myself a job back at the same hospital where I’d worked as a porter, so that felt like I’d progressed, re-training was the best thing I’ve done for years.
R. I agree with M, the job satisfaction is excellent. Feeling part of a team is really important for me. In my last job I spent most of the day on my own. Now I work in a massive building with a great team of people. I have to keep up my training because the equipment is always being updated, but I like that. Every day’s different in this job, making the effort to re-train has really made a difference to my confidence as well.
SIA Licence Training made a huge difference to these two people, proof that it is possible to make changes in your life that have a lasting effect on your job prospects. We wish M and R lots of luck for their future plans. Why not take their advice and see what options are available to you.
