A security guard test is used to determine a candidate’s aptitude in the skills required for a security guard position.
A security guard test is a means of assessing whether or not a candidate has the required skills and characteristics to perform effectively in a security-based role. It’s a useful tool to use in the screening stages of recruitment, allowing you to identify early on those that meet your specified criteria.
Through a series of scientifically designed questions, the test measures competency in areas such as professional judgement, teamwork, communication and decision making.
Applicants that achieve a high score on a security guard test may have the inherent qualities needed to fulfil their duties to a high standard with vigilance, quick thinking and attention to detail.
Security Guard Test
Whether protecting people, premises or property, security guards need a skill set that extends beyond courage and physical fitness. They must work well as part of a team, be responsive and calm under pressure, and be able to follow strict rules and regulations.
Picked’s security guard test helps you to identify these skills in your applicant pool, so you can advance the most suitable candidates through to the next stage of selection.
When employing security guards, you trust them to guard and protect whatever is left in their charge. To ensure the best possible hiring decision, you want a level of assurance that they have the character profile and skills to do so.
Experience can count for a lot, but it’s difficult to guarantee a candidate’s true suitability based on their work history alone. With Picked’s security guard test, you can improve the recruitment process by measuring key skills at scale. The test is administered efficiently, and gives you objective, quantifiable, and comparable data for every applicant.
Those that demonstrate strengths in core areas like teamwork, situational judgement, problem solving and decision making can be put forward for interview, while those that fall short of the mark can be removed from the process. It’s an effective way of identifying the most promising talent.
The security guard test is versatile, and may be used when recruiting for roles in:
You may also find our security guard test beneficial when looking to fill senior or operational positions, such as security officers, supervisors or shift managers.
Results for the Security Guard Test along with other assessments the candidate takes will be compiled to produce a candidate report. The report is automatically generated and available both online and as a downloadable pdf so they can be shared with other team members and employees alike.
Candidates will need to answer a range of questions that measure industry-specific technical skills where applicable, soft skills (e.g. teamwork), aptitude (e.g. verbal reasoning) and relevant personality dimensions (e.g. stress tolerance). The results present a holistic view of how well suited each candidate is for the job at hand, using a data-driven approach.
The format varies by type of question, including multiple-choice for aptitude and technical skills, situational judgement for soft skills and agreement on a Likert scale for the personality dimensions. This approach ensures candidates are being assessed in an accurate and fair manner, and that results reflect the true underlying qualities of each candidate.
The characteristics, abilities and knowledge necessary to be a security guard were identified using the US Department of Labor's comprehensive O*NET database. O*NET is the leading source of occupational information that is constantly updated by collecting data from employees in specific job roles.
During the development process, test questions were rigorously analysed to maximise reliability and validity in line with industry best practices. They were created by our team of I/O psychologists and psychometricians – who collaborated with subject-matter-experts – and field-tested with a representative sample of job applicants who have varying experience, just like you might find in a talent pool.
Each test is reviewed by a panel of individuals representing diverse backgrounds to check for any sensitivity, fairness, face validity and accessibility issues. This ensures each candidate has a fair chance of demonstrating their true level of expertise.
Our security guard test is monitored to ensure it is up-to-date and optimised for performance.
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All our Security Guard tests are written by accredited psychologists and fully validated.
We offer Security Guard tests for all levels so you can assess all roles within your organisation.
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Simple, easy-to-use candidate comparison reports mean you don’t need to be a psychologist to interpret them.
“We used Picked as part of our Finance Graduate Scheme recruitment and it was just what we needed – really simple to send candidates the link to complete and clear to see how they all compared. And great value for money!”
Our team of assessment experts is made up of I/O psychologists and psychometricians who are dedicated to making all of our tests as reliable, valid and fair as possible. They strictly adhere to best practices in the industry and stay on top of the latest innovations to ensure job candidates’ unique profiles of characteristics, abilities and knowledge are being measured accurately while minimising bias. They leverage decades of research and advanced predictive analytics to build assessments that link to outcomes that matter, such as job performance, turnover, engagement, culture fit and more.
“Personality profiling allowed us to perform lookalike modelling of our most successful employees and use this as a blueprint for new hires.”
The questions in the security guard test are set at an intermediate level of difficulty, and are in line with what you would expect from a security guard, so a suitable candidate should not find them difficult. However, the test is conducted under timed conditions, which can make it more challenging due to the time pressure.
Security guards need strong interpersonal and communication skills, keen observation, effective decision-making abilities, and sound professional judgement. Depending on their level of seniority, they may also need good leadership, organisational, and delegation skills.
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