How to get a raise as a Security Guard

How to get a raise as a Security Guard?

Getting a raise is not easy; you need to be able to establish your worth and your value to your employer. You need to be able to convince your employer that you’re worth the extra bucks, and also that you deserve them!

Your employer should be convinced that your pay has to be higher, even if the amount he’s getting from his client hasn’t increased. There are many ways to go about asking for a raise, and get it.

Get your facts in order

Try and gather information on the criterion the company uses for deciding on wages and increments. Highlight why you stand apart from the crowd. For example, you can say that you haven’t missed a single shift in the last one year or the fact that you never took a sick day. Or you can say you have taken extra shifts to cover your colleagues when they didn’t show up.

You can also highlight scenarios where you have trained newly joined security guards when the company got a new security contract.

Essentially you need to give specific examples of the positive things you did over and above the regular responsibilities as a security guard, which helped the company to make more money or to get new contracts or to expand their business.

Learn to talk factually and in a dispassionate tone so that your arguments are heard, and the facts acknowledged. You’re more likely to be taken seriously if you stick to a professional approach and tone.

Have your goals in sight

Identify what you want and set your goals to achieve them.  Identify whether your future goal is to get promoted within the company or to start your own security guard company, or to become a security specialist or consultant. You might even want to get into private armed security for high profile persons, as this is a very lucrative field. When your goals are clear-cut, your employer can easily understand your ambition, and even help you in reaching that goal.

Practice before you speak

Practice makes perfect – so practice your argument with a friend and fix any missteps or gaps in your logic. You can even carry hard copies of reports filed during any security issues or breaches that you detected and resolved, to support your case. This display of confidence and your value to the company and your willingness and ability to do more than just your job will go a long way in convincing your boss that you deserve a raise.

Have realistic expectations

If your company is a small time security company, then expecting a huge raise or even a significant raise might be unrealistic. However, if you’re ready to take on more responsibilities for a relatively lesser hike in salary, the experience you gain might help you in the longer run, when you’re looking for job openings elsewhere.

If you’re already working on a large security company then there is more opportunity to move up the chain. In your job, if you always do extra tasks, and assume a leadership role to help junior staff members, you can easily move up higher. So be prepared to work and get noticed before asking for a raise; this will help to get what you want.

Be prepared to hear ‘No’, and never burn your bridges

Even if you’ve done everything described above, sometimes your employer might simply not be in a position to offer more for your services. There might be extenuating circumstances; so be prepared to be turned down.

If all else fails and you decide to seek employment in another security company, wait and check to see how the other companies are paying. Check with your friends and contacts in the field to find out who’s getting what before taking any irreversible decisions you might live to regret.

Always remember, your current employer can close many of your future doors by giving a bad reference.