Airport security jobs: what they require and how the work runs

Greek Law 2518/1997 requires private security staff to hold a work licence, category A or B (art. 3 §1). The licence is personal, valid for five years and renewable (art. 3 §6). How to get it is covered in how to become a security guard in Greece.

At an airport, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1998 applies on top. Recruitment includes at least a written application and an interview (point 11.1.8), and candidates must have the mental and physical abilities the role requires, assessed before probation ends (11.1.9).

This guide does not cover which Greek authority certifies staff, or any national requirements beyond the regulation. Ask the employer or the airport operator.

• Background check: anyone recruited to carry out screening, access control or other security controls in a security restricted area must pass an enhanced background check (11.1.1).
• Training: screeners of passengers and baggage must understand how the checkpoint is set up and run, how prohibited articles can be concealed, how to respond to a detection, what the equipment can and cannot do, and the emergency procedures (11.2.3.1).
• Certification: an initial certification or approval with a theory test or panel interview and a practical test; x-ray and EDS operators also sit a standardised image interpretation test (11.3.2).
• Recertification: at least every 3 years for x-ray and EDS operators, every 5 years for everyone else (11.3.1).
• Recurrent training: x-ray operators train and are tested in image recognition, for example at least 6 hours every 6 months in a classroom or on a computer (11.4.1); others at least every 5 years, or before returning after more than 6 months away (11.4.3).

• Screening: passengers, cabin baggage, items carried and hold baggage. You work with x-ray, detectors and hand searches, at a pace set by the departures board.
• Access control: who and what enters security restricted areas: staff, suppliers, vehicles. See the guide to access control.
• Patrol: routes through areas, the perimeter and facilities, logging what you find. The logic is that of any patrol; see static guarding vs mobile patrols.

Under the regulation, people who only carry out visual checks or hand searches may be exempted from certification for certain tasks (11.3.1). For any other role, ask which training and certification apply before you accept the post.

At an airport the flights set the rhythm: waves of departures with queues at the checkpoint, then quiet spells in between. At interview, ask how long a shift lasts, how the roster is drawn up and how much notice you get, and how breaks work on a post that is never left empty.

Legal limits on hours, rest and shift rotation are explained in security guard shifts and working hours. For nights, see night shift health.

• Focus: thousands of bags look alike; the find hides in the exception.
• Communication: where the role requires it, the regulation lists handling cultural differences and potentially disruptive passengers as a competency (11.2.3.1).
• Consistency: the rule applies to everyone, and you explain it calmly without bending it.
• Languages: English helps with passengers from all over the world.
• Teamwork: a checkpoint only works if everyone knows their position and covers the person next to them.

1. Check the work-licence requirements in how to become a security guard in Greece.
2. Ask the employer or airport operator which background check, training and certification the specific role requires, and who organises them.
3. Prepare for the interview: the regulation requires a written application and an interview. See security guard interview questions.

OVIT hires through its Careers page. Include your licence, your experience and the kind of post you are looking for. For where the job can lead, see security career path.