How to hire first-line supervisors of security workers

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Advise employees in handling problems or resolving complaints from customers, tenants, detainees, or other persons.
• Investigate disturbances on the premises, such as security alarms, altercations, and suspicious activity.
• Monitor and authorize entry of employees, visitors, or other persons.
• Monitor the behavior of security employees to ensure adherence to quality standards, deadlines, or procedures.
• Patrol the premises to prevent or detect intrusion, protect property, or preserve order.
• Recruit, interview, and hire security personnel.
• Secure entrances and exits by locking doors and gates.
• Write reports documenting observations made while on patrol.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: High school diploma or equivalent]
• Strong active listening, critical thinking, reading comprehension, speaking, monitoring and writing skills
• Working knowledge of public safety and security, administration and management, customer and personal service and personnel and human resources
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $26.90 an hour ($55,940 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for first-line supervisors of security workers

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to advise employees in handling problems or resolving complaints from customers, tenants, detainees, or other persons. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to investigate disturbances on the premises, such as security alarms, altercations, and suspicious activity. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to monitor and authorize entry of employees, visitors, or other persons. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to monitor the behavior of security employees to ensure adherence to quality standards, deadlines, or procedures. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
6. Describe a decision at work where the obvious answer was wrong. How did you work out the better choice?
7. Tell me about written instructions, a policy or a manual you had to follow closely. How did you make sure you followed it correctly?
8. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What first-line supervisors of security workers do

• Advise employees in handling problems or resolving complaints from customers, tenants, detainees, or other persons.
• Investigate disturbances on the premises, such as security alarms, altercations, and suspicious activity.
• Monitor and authorize entry of employees, visitors, or other persons.
• Monitor the behavior of security employees to ensure adherence to quality standards, deadlines, or procedures.
• Patrol the premises to prevent or detect intrusion, protect property, or preserve order.
• Recruit, interview, and hire security personnel.
• Secure entrances and exits by locking doors and gates.
• Write reports documenting observations made while on patrol.

Skills that matter most

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingReading ComprehensionSpeakingMonitoringWritingPublic Safety and SecurityAdministration and ManagementCustomer and Personal ServicePersonnel and Human Resources

Education, experience and outlook for first-line supervisors of security workers

• Typical education to start: High school diploma or equivalent (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: 1 to 2 years (O*NET)
• Experience usually needed to start: Less than 5 years (BLS)
• Job outlook: +3.7% over ten years, about as fast as average · about 6,800 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay first-line supervisors of security workers

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See first-line supervisors of security workers pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Facilities Managers
• First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
• Business Operations Specialists, All Other
• First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers
• Security Guards
• First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers
• First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers
• First-Line Supervisors of Non-Retail Sales Workers
• First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
• First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.