In September 2021, ASIS and the SIA produced the Security Industry Career Pathway Guide for practitioners and suppliers.

The Summary

The summary looked at job descriptions and curated the educational and credentials needed for that position. They also looked at the specialized knowledge and competencies required for those positions. The survey was sent to over 33,000 security practitioners and suppliers, and 2435 responded. Those numbers indicate that 7.4% of their members responded to the study.

We (ISDA) have repeatedly mentioned that the market determines the experience, skill, and knowledge (ESK) required for employment. These 2435 respondents represent the general security market, but are they representative of the Executive Protection and Secure Transportation market?

So, with great anticipation, we went through the document to discover what the survey participants had to say about Security Driving and Secure Transportation. We found that Security Driving and Secure Transportation were not included in the survey. They did include Executive Protection; here is what they had to say about its ESK.

Practitioners may require tactical experience, experience in close personal protection, and hold an understanding of relevant concepts (awareness of movement, cover, concealment, and experience with firearms).
 
Real-world experience may be crucial. May require relevant prior experience in law enforcement or military, as well as training in martial arts, firearms defense, and other protection methods.

Our Takeaway

Here’s what struck us: ASIS and the SIA are two of the world’s most significant security associations, and their members think that EP “may” require experience.

• They don’t think that Security Driving and Secure Transportation are important enough to put in a survey.
• The survey participants don’t see medical and driver training as necessary skills.
• We (ISDA) could be reading too much into the survey and are unsure what this means – our guess is nothing.

Here is the link to the report.

Here is the link to the ISDA ESK Career Success Triangle, Planning for a Career in Protective Services.
No matter what is said by whom, to succeed in the Protective Services profession, it would be best to gain career capital by collecting marketable experience, skills, and knowledge (ESK).

As a side note, the ISDA ESK Document has more downloads than almost three times as many practitioners as those who took the survey. Again we are not sure of what that means.