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4 Qualities Necessary to Become a Night Guard
If you are considering the exciting career of being a security guard, it’s worth assessing what steps to take in moving forward. Before doing that, however, you will want to consider whether you are best fitted as a night guard or day guard.
There are key differences between the two positions. Certain qualities will make you especially suited to the job of night guard.
Internally Motivated Focus
Day guards are focused on people. They watch behavior, interact with the public, and are constantly on the watch to intervene in altercations before small issues become dangerous problems. All of this requires good people skills and attention to detail. The upside to this is that, since people are always coming and going during the day, there’s almost always something to focus on.
If you opt to become a night shift guard, you will not interact with the public much at all. While that means people skills aren’t quite as crucial, it also means there’s less happening around you, moment to moment. In that environment, it’s a lot tougher to maintain concentrated, uninterrupted focus. Things get quiet and most of the world has settled down for the night: but you must have the internal motivation to stay alert.
Honesty and Integrity
Day guards don’t just work with people; they’re also under observation by people. Day security guards must be honest and always behave correctly, and they have an external motivation that helps them. They are being watched all the time, and day security guards know that everyone expects perfection from a person in uniform.
For night shift guards, things can be a little different. While there are often cameras recording patrol officers, there are also plenty of times when they’re making rounds and doing other things mostly unobserved. It’s during those unobserved moments that the true measure of their character is taken. If you want to become a night patrol officer, you have to be conscientious about how you behave when no one is watching.
Stamina
Night shift officers have to stay on the move, even when it’s dark and “nature” is telling them to sit back and relax. Whether you’re patrolling in a vehicle, making rounds in a parking lot, or checking the stairwells of a tall building, you have to be physically fit to be a good patrol officer.
But being fit enough to run after an intruder or handle a physical altercation is great, but it’s of no use if you don’t also have the stamina and stick-to-it-ness to be up and moving around all night long, alert, and ready to go at every moment.
Observant Attention to Detail
Security guard duties will require you to notice little things. We all tend to notice people, but as a night shift guard, you also have to also notice less obvious things. Is something out of place? Have you seen that same vehicle go around a few times? Is a light out in a spot where it wasn’t last night, or has a camera angle in a certain area of the building been subtly adjusted?
If something does happen, you also need to be able to accurately report all details to law enforcement and to event organizers, company owners, or other invested parties. At GoJoe Patrol, we train our Security guards to focus on these skills and will help you develop them. If observance and attention to detail aren’t already part of your personality, training alone may not be enough.
Think you have what it takes to be a night-shift security guard? Contact us at GoJoe Patrol, and we’ll help you get started.