A CV for a security job: what to include

A security company’s recruiter needs to fill posts with people who can lawfully work and will turn up for their shifts. So they look, in this order, for:

1. Work licence: category and expiry date, or where you are in the process.
2. Availability: shifts, areas, and when you can start.
3. Experience: in security or in customer-facing work, hours and responsibility.
4. Languages and tools: whatever makes you right for particular posts.

Security staff in Greece must hold a category A or B work licence (Law 2518/1997, article 3 §1). The licence is personal, valid for five years and renewable (article 3 §6) — so the expiry date matters to an employer as much as the category.

• Licensed: “Security staff work licence, category A, valid until 03/2029.”
• In progress: “Training completed, awaiting certification exams” or “Licence application filed 09/2026.”
• Training title: write the exact title as it appears on your certificate, and the body that awarded it.

Which titles are accepted for a category A licence is covered in our guide on how to become a security guard in Greece.

• “Front-desk security at an office building: visitor and supplier access control, rotating shifts.”
• “Warehouse patrols with NFC checkpoints and app-based reporting.”
• “Shift and incident reports, handover to the next shift.”

If you haven’t worked in security, list the experience that transfers: customer service, reception, cash handling, night shifts, working to procedures. It shows you can deal with people, stay consistent and follow instructions.

Security often covers the full 24 hours, so the employer needs to know where you fit in the rota. Write, for example: “Available for morning and night shifts, and weekends. Areas: central Athens, Piraeus. Start: immediately.” If you have a driving licence or your own transport, add it.

For how shifts are organised and the rules on working hours, see our guide to security guard shifts.

List each language at the level you could show in a short conversation: “English: comfortable dealing with visitors” says more than a bare “good”. If you hold a certificate, mention it. Don’t overstate: at the interview you may be addressed in that language.

• Vague licence: “papers in order” says nothing; give the category and expiry.
• Confidential details: never list codes, patrol routes or security arrangements of past clients. Doing so shows you can’t keep a confidence.
• Overstatement: titles or experience you can’t back up.
• Unexplained gaps: one line is enough (“family care”, “studies”).
• Wrong phone or email: check them twice.

1. Contact: full name, mobile, email, area you live in.
2. Profile (2 lines): “Security guard with a category A licence and experience in office access control. Reliable on rotating shifts.”
3. Licence and training: category, expiry, training title and awarding body.
4. Availability: shifts, areas, start date, driving licence.
5. Experience: for each job, company, dates, type of site and 2–3 duties.
6. Languages: language and practical level.
7. Skills: e.g. app-based reporting, first aid if certified, customer service.

One or two pages is enough. Anything that doesn’t help the employer put you on a shift can go.