Finding a security job in Greece: ads and what to watch for

• The company’s careers page: you see who is hiring, what kinds of sites they guard and how to apply. At OVIT, for example, you apply through the Careers page.
• Job-ad websites: they carry the most vacancies — and the most anonymous ads. That is where the check described below matters most.
• Referrals: a guard already working for a company can tell you how rosters are drawn up and whether shifts are paid properly — things no ad will say.

Wherever you find the ad, check the company. A Greek security company must carry the phrase «ιδιωτική επιχείρηση παροχής υπηρεσιών ασφαλείας» (private security services company) in its name and show its operating-licence number on its documents (Law 2518/1997, art. 4 §1α, as amended by Law 5187/2025).

• Company name: who the employer is — not just a mobile number or an email address.
• Type of site and area: shop, offices, hotel, construction site, events. It changes both the job and your commute.
• Hours: how many a week and which shifts — mornings, afternoons, nights, weekends. Full-time means 40 hours a week (Labour Code art. 189).
• Requirements: a security work licence and which category, languages, a driving licence if needed.
• How to apply: where the CV goes and who calls you for an interview.

If the ad is anonymous, ask which company it is first and send your CV second. Your details and your licence number don’t go to an unknown recipient.

• No work licence required. A security company may not employ staff who lack the required work licence (Law 2518/1997, art. 4 §1ιδ). If it doesn’t ask for yours, it isn’t following the law — and it puts you at risk too.
• Cash in hand, or “no paperwork to start with”. The employer must declare your hiring in ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ, the labour ministry’s system, before you start work (Labour Code art. 578). Without that declaration there is no official record that you work there at all.
• No mention of a contract or written terms. If the terms are only spoken, you have nothing to point to when something changes.
• Vague hours. “Flexible”, “whatever is needed” or “24/7 availability” with no weekly hours usually means hours nobody counts.
• They ask you for money. For a “file”, to “hold the position” or for a compulsory course run by the same employer before hiring. Don’t pay to be hired.

Greek law punishes with up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine both whoever hires security staff without a work licence and whoever works as security staff without one (Law 2518/1997, art. 8 §1β–γ). A job without a licence is not an opportunity for you.

Every employer who hires files a digital announcement of start of work in ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ before the work begins, with the essential terms of your employment (Labour Code art. 578 §1). You accept it — by signature, through gov.gr or through MyErgani. If your first shift is coming and nobody has asked you to accept anything, ask.

• Pay: from 1 April 2026 the statutory minimum is 920.00 euros gross a month or 41.09 euros a day, full-time (Joint Ministerial Decision 8934/2026). For nights, Sundays and holidays, see Security guard salary 2026.
• Hours: how many a week and how the shift roster is drawn up.
• Post: which site or sites you will work at.
• Work licence: the company asks for its number, because it reports it to the police every month.

A careful client runs the same checks from their side — see how a client checks that guards are paid lawfully.

Law 2518/1997 requires security staff to hold a category A or B work licence (art. 3 §1). If you don’t have yours yet, say clearly in your application which stage you are at — training, exams or the application to the police.

• What the licence takes: How to become a security guard in Greece.
• The ΕΟΠΠΕΠ exams: Security certification exam.

1. CV: licence, availability and experience at the top — see Security guard CV.
2. Interview: scenario questions and what to ask in return — see Security guard interview questions.
3. Before the first shift: written terms, a ΕΡΓΑΝΗ ΙΙ declaration you have accepted, a shift roster.

If you’d like to work at OVIT, apply through the Careers page and say whether you already hold a work licence and which category.