Lobby guard
"When necessary, a guard must be firm but appropriate. The tasks require precision, carefulness and, of course, good customer service skills."
- Name not published at the request of the interviewee.
- Works as a lobby guard at ISS Palvelut Oy.
- Specialist vocational qualification in security supervision at Amiedu.
- 19 years of experience in the field.
Briefly explain what you do for a living.
I work as a lobby guard at a high-level security site where threats to Finnish citizens are monitored. I receive guests, activate access control tags, perform access control and receive consignments delivered to the lobby. I also respond to alarms and maintain various registers.
How have you ended up in the profession of your choice?
I ended up in the security sector through a security steward job. First, I completed a specialist vocational qualification in security supervision, after which I acquired the guard licence and security officer licence. At the beginning of my career, I worked on event and local security at the Helsinki Messukeskus. Since then, I have worked in many different security duties, such as a lobby guard, responsible manager, team leader and site manager in a security control room. Less than a year ago, I became unemployed and worked as an on-call local guard until I got to the current place through a staff leasing company.
Describe your typical working day or week.
All guests arriving at the site are asked for an identity card and, for example, maintenance personnel are asked more about what they are about to do at the site. In addition, it must be determined whether the person has gone through security clearance and, if not, who supervises the person during the work.
Usually before larger conferences, we get a list of the guests in the lobby, making it easier and faster to sign in guests. Once the guests have been registered in the system, we will notify the event organiser who will fetch the guests to the conference centre. In addition, I receive deliveries, activate access control tags, respond to alarms and perform access control via the camera system and a separate access control system.
What kind of work environment or working hours do you have?
I work for office hours, i.e. from Monday to Friday from 8 am to 4.15 pm.
What kind of competence or qualities are required in the profession?
In addition to the guard licence, guards are required to have either a vocational qualification in security sector or a specialist qualification in security supervision. When necessary, a guard must be firm but appropriate. The tasks require precision, carefulness and, of course, good customer service skills. Excellent Finnish-language competence is also part of the requirements, and it would be good to speak English and Swedish.
What is the best thing about your profession?
The best thing about being a lobby guard is variability, because even though the days are apparently the same, there is variability in each working day. In addition, there are plenty of tasks that can be carried out at one’s own pace.
What are the downsides of the profession or what seems challenging?
Working in the field requires patience. Someone may also think that a disadvantage of the lobby guard's work is that there is no bonus for evening, night and weekend shifts. On the other hand, weekends and evenings are free, and if you have enough energy, you can do on-call work on weekends.
What would you tell a person considering the profession of a lobby guard?
There are plenty of different professions in the security sector, so there are suitable jobs for almost everyone.
How do you see the future of your profession?
Today, there are also virtual lobbies where a guest logs in and the robot sends information about logging in to the inviter. However, I do not believe that the need for lobby guards will end completely, as the job description of lobby guards also includes other tasks, such as the handling of mail and the organisation of meeting facilities.