Engineering & Science

Security Guards

Guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules.

Sector: Engineering & Science
Preparation: Zone 2 — some preparation needed
O*NET code: 33-9032.00

What you'll actually do

The activities O*NET rates highest for this occupation, most important first. Numbers are out of 100.

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

central to the job — rated 94/100 for importance.
Getting Information

central to the job — rated 90/100 for importance.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

central to the job — rated 89/100 for importance.
Documenting/Recording Information

central to the job — rated 87/100 for importance.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships

central to the job — rated 86/100 for importance.
Performing for or Working Directly with the Public

a major part of the work — rated 84/100 for importance.

Guard, patrol, or monitor premises to prevent theft, violence, or infractions of rules. May operate x-ray and metal detector equipment.

What it takes

Two numbers per line: the level the work expects, and how important it is to doing the job well. Both are O*NET ratings, already on a 0–100 scale.

Skills

Active Listening

Needed at a basic working level (43/100), and rated 69/100 for importance.
Monitoring

Needed at a basic working level (45/100), and rated 60/100 for importance.
Speaking

Needed at a basic working level (43/100), and rated 56/100 for importance.
Coordination

Needed at a basic working level (43/100), and rated 53/100 for importance.
Critical Thinking

Needed at a basic working level (43/100), and rated 53/100 for importance.

Knowledge

Public Safety and Security

Needed at expert level (83/100), and rated 94/100 for importance.
Customer and Personal Service

Needed at expert level (82/100), and rated 89/100 for importance.
English Language

Needed at expert level (77/100), and rated 83/100 for importance.
Computers and Electronics

Needed at a high level (70/100), and rated 77/100 for importance.

Abilities

Problem Sensitivity

Needed at a solid working level (54/100), and rated 72/100 for importance.
Far Vision

Needed at a solid working level (48/100), and rated 69/100 for importance.
Oral Comprehension

Needed at a solid working level (52/100), and rated 66/100 for importance.
Selective Attention

Needed at a solid working level (55/100), and rated 60/100 for importance.

How people get in

O*NET places this occupation in Zone 2 — some preparation needed. That is a statement about what employers typically require, not a rule about you.

Education

A high-school diploma is the usual starting point.

Experience

Some prior work experience helps but is rarely required.

Training

Expect a few months to a year of on-the-job training.

What it pays

These are typical engineering compensation bands by employer tier — sector-level figures, not a measured salary for Security Guards specifically. Treat them as the shape of the market, then check a real posting for the number.

SpaceX · NVIDIA · Boeing

$120k – $200k+

Manufacturing Corps

$85k – $140k

Local Engineering Firms

$65k – $110k

How the work tends to run

Each line below is read off a single O*NET activity rating for this occupation — named, so you can disagree with it.

Most of the day happens at a screen.From “Working with Computers”
The work is physical — you are on your feet and handling things, not sitting still.From “Performing General Physical Activities”
You are in front of the public, so the job is partly performance.From “Performing for or Working Directly with the Public”
Long-running relationships carry the work; the same people come back.From “Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships”
Part of the job is other people’s output, not only your own.From “Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others”

How FlightWay scores your fit against this

No black box. Here is the whole method, factor by factor.

1. You answer a short quiz: Your answers build a profile across the same 161 O*NET dimensions this page is describing — skills, knowledge, abilities and work activities. Same axes, so the comparison is like-for-like.
2. We correlate the two profiles: Fit is a mean-centered cosine — a correlation between the SHAPE of your profile and the shape of Security Guards. Centering matters: raw similarity between any two occupations sits at 0.70–0.85 because all work shares a common profile, so without it every career would look like a match.
3. The number you see is personality fit only: "Would I want this work" and "am I ready for this work" are different questions, and averaging them answers neither. So readiness — what your résumé, coursework and projects prove — is scored separately and shown next to fit, never blended into it.
4. Every factor is visible: You can open any match and see which dimensions pushed it up and which pulled it down. If you disagree with the number, you can see exactly where it came from.

More in Engineering & Science

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Occupational data on this page comes from the O*NET 30.3 Database, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. FlightWay is not endorsed by, and USDOL/ETA is not responsible for, anything built on that data — see our terms. What is ours is the comparison, the score and the plan.