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What Kinds of Background Checks Can You Expect When Applying for a Security Guard Job?

A security guard at a 7-Eleven store in Los Angeles doing crowd control during a promotion for The Simpsons Movie which saw the convenience store change its appearance into a Kwik-E-Mart (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When you apply for a security guard job in any state you can expect to have at least some background checks done on you before you are approved for the position. They type of background checks that are run will depend on the type of security guard job that you have applied for.

Some of the normal background checks that are run when you apply for a job as a security guard include finger print checks, background checks, and even a check on your criminal record. At the very least you will be expected to not have a serious police record but some jobs may require that you have no record at all. You’ll also need some good character references and you will need to be in good physical health.

Those who run security businesses and are in charge of making sure that a person or a place is safe need to be very careful about who they hire. People’s lives could be at stake and properties worth a large amount of money are involved. Doing background checks are one of the tools that they have at their disposal to make sure that the right person for the job has been hired. The background checks help them decide how honest the applicant is and whether or not they have the right qualifications for the specific security guard job that they have applied for.

The more responsibility that is involved in a security guard job, the more background checks you can expect. For instance, being a security guard at a night club will not require the same kind of background checks as being a security guard at a bank. When background checks are required, you should take them very seriously.

The majority of security guard jobs will require a criminal record check. Because the security guard company will be liable if one of their employees commits a crime while employed by them and while they are on the job, a criminal record is likely to prevent you from getting the job. Some jobs may overlook certain misdemeanors like minor domestic problems but if you have a record that includes any felony, shoplifting, stealing, or violence it will likely prevent you from getting the job. Even though you might have cleaned up your act security guard employers cannot take the risk of putting the lives of their clients or the property of their client at stake.