Questions to Ask a Security Officer in an Interview
Interview questions to ask a security officer candidate, for a security manager, site supervisor or business owner hiring for an officer or guard post. The 54 questions follow the interview: background and licensing, work on post and report writing, conflict and use of force, emergencies, reliability on long and overnight shifts, then judgment calls made with nobody to ask. Each has a note on what a good or a worrying answer sounds like, and where the right answer depends on your state, your policy or your client, the note says to check.
Want questions from the whole vault instead? Try the random question generator.
The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Background
What security work have you done, and what kind of sites were they?
Why ask it
A hospital lobby, a warehouse gate and a concert are three different jobs under one title. Listen for the setting closest to yours and ask what an ordinary shift there involved. With a candidate who has never worked security, ask about any job where they dealt with the public on their own.
Why do you want to work in security?
Why ask it
The worrying answers are about authority: wanting to be in charge, or treating the post as a stand-in for police work. Better ones mention liking routine, being the calm person in a building, or a step toward a related career. Someone who sees it only as a quiet job to sit through will often say so if you leave a pause.
What do you think a security officer is there to do?
Why ask it
The answer you hope for is some version of deter, observe and report, with helping people in there too. One built around catching or confronting suggests an officer who may go further than your post orders allow. Ask where they think the job stops.
What license, guard card or certifications do you hold, and when do they expire?
Why ask it
Requirements differ by state and country, and often by whether the post is armed, so read the licensing body's current rules for your site before the interview. Ask to see the card and write down the expiration date. A candidate who is not sure whether theirs is current has told you something about how they handle paperwork.
What training have you had in first aid, CPR or using an AED, and how recent is it?
Why ask it
Ask for the year and who ran the course, since these certificates usually carry an expiration date. If your officers are expected to respond to medical calls, say so now and ask whether the training has ever been used on a real person. An honest 'only in class' is fine, and it tells you what to arrange before they start.
Which security systems have you worked with: cameras, access control, alarm panels, guard tour software?
Why ask it
Brand names matter less than what they did when the system told them something. Ask about the last alarm that turned out to be false and how they knew. Someone at ease with one system can usually learn another.
Have you worked armed, unarmed or both, and which do you prefer?
Why ask it
Worth asking even for an unarmed post, because the preference is informative. A candidate who is disappointed that the job carries no weapon may want a different role from the one you have. For an armed post, the permits and qualification records required depend on where you are, so confirm those outside the interview.
Why did you leave your last post, or why are you looking to leave it?
Why ask it
Contracts change hands and hours get cut, so a lost site is an ordinary reason. Pay attention to how they speak about the last supervisor and the client. Three posts in a row that ended in a disagreement is a pattern to ask about directly.
Before we run the checks this post requires, is there anything you want to tell us yourself?
Why ask it
Name the checks first, so the question is fair. The rules on asking about a candidate's record, and on when in the process you may do it, differ from place to place, so have the wording confirmed before you use it. A candidate who raises something and explains it has usually helped their case.
On post
Walk me through how you would patrol a building you have never worked in.
Why ask it
Good answers begin with learning: reading the post orders, walking the site with the outgoing officer, finding the exits, the shutoffs and the fire panel. After that comes varying the route and the times so the patrol cannot be predicted. One loop repeated all night is a checklist, not a patrol.
What do you look for on a round that tells you something is wrong?
Why ask it
Experienced officers answer in small things: a door propped that is usually shut, a light off, a vehicle that was not there an hour ago, a smell. The skill is knowing what normal looks like and noticing the change. If you get 'anything suspicious', ask for one example from a real shift.
How do you make a visitor feel welcome and still check them properly?
Why ask it
On a reception post the officer is the client's first impression, and a client notices a cold welcome as quickly as a missed check. Look for a greeting before the request, the check explained as routine for everybody, and the same steps for the courier as for the director. Then have them greet you as if you had just walked in.
A contractor says they are expected, but nobody put them on the list. How do you check them in?
Why ask it
Polite and unmoving is what you want: the visitor waits while the officer calls the host on a number the site already holds, not one the visitor offers. Add that the contractor is late and getting annoyed, and see whether the answer changes. An officer who waves through a confident stranger will do it for anyone with a clipboard.
Someone asks you for help with something outside your duties, like carrying boxes to their car. How do you decide?
Why ask it
Much of the job is being useful to the people in the building, and this shows how they balance that against the post. A sound answer weighs what is left unwatched, helps within limits or finds someone who can. 'Not my job' and leaving the desk for twenty minutes are both wrong.
Without looking back, describe the entrance you came through to get to this room.
Why ask it
A small live test of observation, so say that it is not a trick. Observant people give you the doors, a camera, who was at the desk, where the stairs were. Nerves blunt it, so count a rich answer in their favor and do not hold a thin one against them.
How would you describe a person you saw for ten seconds so that someone else could find them?
Why ask it
A usable description has an order: height and build, clothing from the top down, something that cannot be taken off such as a walk or a tattoo, and which way the person went. A description that is only a guess at age or race is little use to whoever responds and a risk to you. Have them try it on someone you both saw in the building.
What goes into a good incident report?
Why ask it
Who, what, when, where and what was done about it, in the order it happened. Strong candidates also say what they leave out: guesses, opinions about motive, blame. Ask who they imagine reading it; the answer should include someone who was not there, months later.
How do you keep your log on a shift where nothing happens?
Why ask it
On a quiet night the log is the only evidence that the rounds were walked. You want times entered as they happen, not filled in before handover. Anyone who admits to writing it up in one go at the end is being honest about a habit you would need to change.
What do you pass on to the next officer at shift change?
Why ask it
Keys, radios and the log are the easy part. The better answer is the open items: a door alarm that keeps tripping, a contractor still on site, someone who was asked to leave and may come back. Officers who hand over well tend to have been on the wrong end of a bad handover.
Conflict
Tell me about a time you calmed down someone who was angry.
Why ask it
Ask for one incident, told in order: what the person wanted, what the candidate said first, where they were standing. Good stories have listening in them and a choice offered to the other person. Be cautious about a story in which the candidate won and the other person lost.
What do you do with your voice, your hands and your distance when someone starts shouting at you?
Why ask it
This turns a question about attitude into one about the body. The trained answer is a lower and slower voice, open hands in view, a step back or to the side, and a way out left clear for both people. If they mention a de-escalation course, ask which part of it they still use.
When is it right for a security officer to put hands on someone?
Why ask it
There is no universal answer, which is the point: what an officer may do depends on local law, your policy and the client's contract. A sound candidate says so, treats force as a last resort to protect someone from harm, and asks what your policy is. Be wary of a confident list of situations with no mention of policy at all.
Have you ever used force or restrained someone at work, and what happened afterward?
Why ask it
A yes is not a mark against them. The afterward is what you are listening to: who was told, what was written, whether anyone reviewed it. If nothing was reported, or the candidate still sounds pleased about it, take that seriously.
You ask someone to leave the property and they refuse. What are your next steps?
Why ask it
Look for a sequence and not a single move: repeat the request calmly, explain what happens next, call a supervisor or the police as the post orders say, keep watching, write it up. Who may remove a person, and how, varies by place and by property. Judge whether they would follow your procedure, not whether they can quote the law.
How do you deal with someone who seems drunk, high or in a mental health crisis?
Why ask it
Patience is the first thing to listen for, and treating it as a welfare matter before a security one: space, short sentences, calling for medical help when in doubt. A candidate who describes the person only as a nuisance to move along will treat your regulars that way too. Tell them who your site can actually call.
What kind of behavior gets under your skin, and what do you do when you meet it on shift?
Why ask it
Everyone has one, so 'nothing bothers me' is not an answer. A useful reply names it, perhaps being talked down to or having a phone held in their face, and names the habit that goes with it: slowing down, or handing over to a colleague. Self-knowledge here is worth more than toughness.
When would you call the police, and when would you handle something yourself?
Why ask it
Your post orders set the line, so the best answers include 'what are your instructions?' Beyond that, they should have a threshold: a weapon, violence, a crime in progress, a medical emergency. Both extremes cost you, the officer who calls for everything and the one who never calls because it feels like failing.
How do you enforce a rule you personally think is pointless?
Why ask it
Bag checks, sign-in sheets and parking rules are set by the client, not the officer. The good answer is to apply the rule evenly and politely, then raise the objection with a supervisor later. Watch for 'I use my discretion', which can mean the rule only applies to people the officer does not like.
Emergencies
The fire alarm sounds during your shift. What do you do in the first two minutes?
Why ask it
Your site's procedure decides the right answer, so score the thinking: treat it as real, read the panel for the zone, notify whoever the call list says, support the evacuation, meet the fire department with keys and what you know. The answer to worry about is going to look for smoke before telling anyone.
You find someone collapsed in a stairwell. Talk me through it.
Why ask it
Listen for an order: making sure it is safe to approach, checking for a response and breathing, calling emergency services with an exact location, doing what their training covers, sending someone to meet the ambulance. Notice whether they remember to tell their own control room. Judge it against the first aid training your site uses, and do not expect clinical knowledge beyond theirs.
Tell me about a real emergency you were part of. What was your own job in it?
Why ask it
The second half keeps the story honest, because some candidates describe an incident they watched. Listen for what they did while help was on its way and what they would change. If work has never produced one, a car accident or a relative who got sick will show the same instincts.
What do you do if you find an unattended bag or package that looks out of place?
Why ask it
A careful candidate leaves it where it is, asks nearby whether it belongs to anyone, keeps people away and reports where it is and what it looks like. How far to clear the area and how to communicate near the item are matters for your own procedure, so tell the candidate what yours says. Opening it to check is the one thing you do not want to hear.
How do you give clear information over a radio or phone when things are moving fast?
Why ask it
Have them do it: describe a short scene and ask them to call it in to you. Location first, then what is happening, then what they need, with no story wrapped around it. Training fixes this quickly, so a muddled attempt is a note for onboarding and not a reason to reject.
Someone reports a person on site with a weapon. What would you do?
Why ask it
Your emergency plan and training set the answer, and the candidate should want to know what they say. Moving people away, reporting with a location and a description, and not going to confront anyone are the parts that hold at most sites. Tell them plainly what your site expects of an officer in that moment, because some will decide on the job from your answer.
The power goes out at 2 a.m. and you are the only one on site. What are your priorities?
Why ask it
People come first: anyone in an elevator, anyone still in the building. Then the doors and systems that change state when the power drops, then calling it in. Good candidates ask you questions back, such as whether there is a generator and who is on the call list, and the asking is the right instinct.
What would you do in your first week to be ready for an emergency at a site that is new to you?
Why ask it
This separates officers who prepare from those who wait to be trained. A prepared one reads the emergency plan, walks the exits and assembly points, finds the extinguishers, the AED and the shutoffs, and saves the call list. Ask what they did at their last site that nobody told them to do.
Reliability
This post is [nights, weekends, twelve-hour shifts]. Have you worked that pattern before, and how did it go?
Why ask it
Fill in the real schedule, holidays included. Someone who has worked nights knows what it did to their sleep and can say so. With a first-timer, ask whether they hold another job or a course alongside: overnights on top of a day job are hard to keep up for long.
This post means [eight hours on your feet, a round every hour, stairs, a gate in all weather]. Is there any part of that you would not be able to do?
Why ask it
Name the real duties, and ask it of everyone you interview, not only the candidates you have doubts about. What an employer may ask about health or disability, and what adjustments it has to consider, is set by law where you are, so stay on the tasks and have the wording checked. Walking the route with the candidate after the interview settles more than the answer does.
Most of this post is worked alone. How do you make a decision when there is nobody to ask?
Why ask it
Say first how alone it really is: whether there is a control room, a supervisor on call, a check-in every hour. You want someone who knows the post orders well enough to act on the small things, phones the on-call number about the serious ones, and logs what they decided and why. Notice anyone who seems to like the idea that no one will be watching.
How do you stay alert at 4 a.m. when nothing has happened for hours?
Why ask it
Practical habits are the answer: an extra round, standing up, cold water, planning sleep before the shift, eating light. Be skeptical of 'I just don't get tired'. State your rule on phones, headphones and screens at the post while you are here, and watch how it lands.
How many shifts did you miss or arrive late for in the last year?
Why ask it
A number gets you further than asking whether someone is reliable, and one or two is ordinary. Take the reasons they offer without digging into illness or family, which local law may put off limits. A late officer means a colleague held over or a post left empty, so check the figure with a reference.
Can you reliably get to this site for these shift times, including when public transit is not running?
Why ask it
Ask every candidate in the same words and keep it to getting to the post, not their personal circumstances; what you may ask beyond that varies by place. For an overnight post, a backup plan matters as much as the main one. Give the exact start time and address so the answer is about the real journey.
Your relief does not show up at the end of a twelve-hour shift. What do you do?
Why ask it
Staying on post and calling the supervisor is the only acceptable start. Then be fair in return: explain how your company covers a no-show, how long someone can be held over and how that time is paid, since those rules differ by employer and place. A candidate who asks about them is being sensible, not difficult.
Tell me about a mistake you made on a post. Who found it, you or someone else?
Why ask it
Small ones are the useful ones: a missed round, a door left unlocked, a visitor let through without a call. The second half is the point. An officer who wrote their own missed round into the log is one whose logs you can believe, and one who claims a clean record has either worked very few shifts or is not telling you.
You will have keys, codes and access to places most staff never see. How do you treat that?
Why ask it
Listen for specifics: keys signed out and never taken home, codes kept to themselves, not walking into an office because they can, nothing about the site told to friends or posted online. Then ask whether anyone has ever offered them something to bend a rule, such as leaving a door unlocked for a vendor.
How do you take correction from a supervisor, or a complaint from the client?
Why ask it
Officers on a contract answer to two bosses, their employer and the client's manager on site, and the two do not always agree. Ask for the last time they were corrected and what they changed. The tone of the retelling is the tone you would get.
Judgment
Someone has been standing near the staff entrance for twenty minutes and has done nothing wrong. What do you do?
Why ask it
A strong answer opens friendly: walk over and ask whether they need help finding someone. After that comes watching, a note of the time and a description, and a call to the supervisor if the reply does not add up. Be uneasy if the candidate's suspicion rests on how the person looks and not on what they are doing, or if the first step is demanding ID.
A senior executive you recognize has forgotten their badge and tells you to let them through. What do you do?
Why ask it
This tests whether a rule survives rank. You want courtesy and the procedure together, whether that means verifying, issuing a temporary badge or arranging an escort, with no scene made of it. Say afterward whether you would back the officer, because the candidate is weighing that too.
You see someone slip merchandise into a bag and head for the exit. What do you do?
Why ask it
Employers differ sharply here: some forbid any contact or pursuit, and the law on detaining someone is not the same everywhere. So the right answer starts with 'what is your policy?' After that it is watching, noting a description and telling the right person. Chasing someone into the parking lot is the answer that should worry you.
At 3 a.m. you find a back door unlocked that should be locked. What now?
Why ask it
The careful version does not rush in alone: report it first, look for signs that someone came through, go in or wait as the post orders say, then secure the door and log it. Follow up with 'and if it is the third night running?' A good officer turns that from an incident into a pattern the client needs to hear about.
An alarm sounds on the loading dock while a person at the front desk is asking you for help. How do you choose?
Why ask it
Neither choice is clean, so listen to the reasoning: safety of people before property, a quick question to find out how urgent the person's need is, and telling control that you cannot be in two places. Candidates who pick one without asking anything have skipped the step that matters.
A staff member you get along with asks you to pull up camera footage of the parking lot to see who hit their car. What do you say?
Why ask it
The request is reasonable and the person is friendly, which is what makes it a test. Who may view or be given footage is set by your policy and by privacy rules that differ from place to place, so the officer's part is to take the details, note the time and pass it up the proper way. A quick look at the monitor 'just this once' is the slip to listen for.
Someone tells you a staff member has been stealing, and you have seen nothing yourself. What do you do with that?
Why ask it
A sound answer writes down exactly what was said and by whom, passes it to the supervisor, and stops there. Investigating alone, confronting the person and mentioning it to other staff are the three mistakes. It also shows whether the candidate can hold information without spreading it.
You find a coworker asleep on post, or signing the log for rounds they did not walk. What do you do?
Why ask it
Loyalty runs strong on small teams, so this is harder than it sounds. A realistic answer might wake a colleague once and talk to them, but a falsified log goes to the supervisor. 'I would never report a coworker' tells you how far you could trust your own logs.
How to interview a security officer candidate
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the interview
Write down what the post really is
Armed or unarmed, alone or on a team, a front desk or a patrol route, a busy public space or an empty warehouse, days or overnights. The questions that matter change with each. Pick the two or three from every group that fit your post and leave the others out, so the interview tests the job you are filling.
Check the rules that apply to you first
Licensing, required training, what an officer may do when someone refuses to leave or tries to walk out with goods, and what you may ask a candidate about their record all depend on your state or country. Your client's contract and your insurer may add limits of their own. Find out what applies before the interview, because this page cannot tell you and the candidate's answers have to be judged against it.
Keep the post orders on the table
Most of the scenario questions have no single right answer, only the answer your procedures give. Read the relevant page of the post orders before you ask about a fire alarm, a refused request to leave or an unlocked door. Then you are comparing what the candidate would do with what you would want done.
Ask everyone the same core questions
Choose eight to ten questions that every candidate gets, in the same words, and score each one straight after the interview while you still remember the answer. It is fairer, and it stops the most likeable person in the week from winning by default. Use the remaining time for follow-ups that are specific to the person.
In the room
Open with the ordinary questions
Start with Background. Experience, licensing and the reason for leaving a last post are questions the candidate expects, and answering them settles nerves. Leave Conflict and Judgment until they are talking freely, since a tense candidate gives a stiffer answer about de-escalation than they would give on the job.
Ask for one incident, told in order
'How do you handle angry people?' gets a philosophy. 'Tell me about the last one' gets a place, a person and what was actually said. When the story skips ahead, go back: what did you say first, where were you standing, who did you tell afterward.
Change one fact and ask again
After a good scenario answer, add pressure once: the visitor is the client's director, the door has been open three nights in a row, the person who refuses to leave is a regular. An officer whose answer holds, or changes for a reason they can explain, is showing judgment. One whose answer collapses was reciting.
Add a short practical test
Reports are the part of the job your client reads. Show the candidate a photo or a one-minute video clip, then give them five minutes to write what they saw as an incident report. Or describe a scene and have them call it in to you as they would over a radio. Either one tells you more than a question about writing skills.
Tell the truth about the post
Say what the shift is like: the hours, the standing, the weather at the gate, the long stretches with nothing to do, the rules on phones. Then leave ten minutes for their questions. Someone who accepts the post knowing all of that is more likely to still be there in six months than someone who was sold a quieter version.
Reading the answers
Asking about your policy is a good sign
On force, detaining, calling the police and emergencies, the strongest candidates often answer with a question: what do your post orders say? That is not dodging. It is how the job works, and an officer who checks the procedure in an interview is likely to check it at 3 a.m.
Listen for what happened afterward
In any story about an incident, the ending carries the most information: who was notified, what was written down, what changed. An account that stops at the moment the problem went away, with no report and no call, describes an officer whose work you would never hear about.
Be careful with the hero
Stories of chases, takedowns and standing up to people can be impressive to listen to. For most posts they describe risk: injuries, complaints and claims. Weigh them against the plainer candidate whose best story is about a situation that never became an incident.
Do not mark down inexperience as a bad answer
Many posts are entry-level, and a candidate who has never worked security cannot know your alarm panel or your radio procedure. Judge temperament, honesty and reliability, which training does not supply, and treat gaps in procedure as a list for the first week. 'I do not know, I would ask' is a good answer from a new officer.
Check what can be checked
Confirm the license or guard card with the body that issued it, call a reference who supervised the candidate on a post, and ask that person about attendance and reports. Run the background checks your law and your client require, in the way they allow. An interview shows how someone talks about the work, and the checks show the record.