How To Become A Special Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a special officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Special officers, sometimes known as security guards, make sure that their workplace is safe and secure. They can work for a government office, hospital, private business, or any business that feels that they need extra security to protect their work. They do this by monitoring visitors, conducting sweeps of the building, and following any suspicious activity. Often, special officers use technology to help them with their work, such as X-ray machines or CCTV cameras. Special officers are also on call to deal with any emergency. If another staff member calls them or signals an emergency alarm code, they spring into action to defuse the situation or remove an intruder.

While some special officers have bachelor's degrees, it usually isn't necessary to do this job. Most special officers only have a high school diploma and previous experience as security officers. For some government positions, special officers may need to take a certification exam.

Special officers need to have a keen eye for detail, a cool head in an emergency, and the stamina to work long shifts at all hours of the day and night if necessary. In exchange for their vigilance, special officers earn an average salary of $30,346 a year.

ScoreSpecial OfficerUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $37,839

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.6

Growth Rate 3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.60%

Asian 5.75%

Black or African American 14.65%

Hispanic or Latino 20.29%

Unknown 5.33%

White 52.39%

Gender

female 30.70%

male 69.30%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

4.9

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

9.4

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a special officer

Explore special officer education requirements

Most common special officer degrees

Bachelor's

54.3 %

Associate

18.3 %

High School Diploma

12.0 %

Start to develop specific special officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Real Estate	12.69%
Patrol	12.43%
Credit Analysis	7.94%
Criminal Justice	5.72%
Public Safety	5.17%

Complete relevant special officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New special officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a special officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real special officer resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed special officer usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you don't need to pass an exam to become a licensed special officer in most of states. 30 states require special officers to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License Url
Alabama	-	-	Licensed Personal Security Officer
Maryland	-	-	GUARDS
Alaska	Specific course required	-	Security Guard
Arkansas	Specific course required	State exam required	Private Security Officer (PSO)
California	Specific course required	State exam required	Security Guard Registration

Research special officer duties and responsibilities

Manage litigation and bankruptcy matters.
Write incident reports according to daily activities and monitor CCTV and switchboard for control access.
Conduct building tours, monitor CCTV and alarm systems and controlling building access.
Patrol outside of emergency center for protesters and other unauthorize personnel.

Prepare your special officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your special officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a special officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Special Officer Resume templates

Build a professional Special Officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Special Officer resume.

Apply for special officer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a special officer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do special officers rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

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Special Officer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2022

Cons

The pay is not worth what you have to do sometimes

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2020

Pros

Ability to move around to various locations. Meeting new & different people. Learning new things everyday.

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019