Engineers of Tomorrow Q&A: Is the Security Industry Doing Enough to Attract the Best Talent?

Next week the Engineers of Tomorrow competition will pit the security industry’s brightest young engineering and installation talent against each other at IFSEC International 2014 (17-19 June).

We asked Mark Cunningham, an assessor at Skills for Security, which works with employers to improve the industry’s skills and  professional standards, to preview next week’s competition and whether the industry had made progress in attracting the best talent.

Engineers of tomorrow is sponsored by CSL Dualcom and supported by Skills for Security, the NSI and the SSAIB, with equipment supplied by Risco and Texecom.

IFSEC Global: To what extent is the industry effective at attracting young engineering talent? How could it do better at this?

Mark Cunningham: It has undoubtedly improved over recent years but is still perhaps not yet as effective as it could be.  We still have some apprentices who come into our industry through the traditional route – ie, via family and friends who are already in the industry having a word with the boss to see if they can get them a job as opposed to firms proactively advertising and having a robust selection process to cherry pick candidates.

What often happens next is that the employer will contact the training provider and say “We have got an apprentice and we want you to put them on your scheme”.

We then have to assess them and where necessary put support packages in place in addition to the curriculum for those that may not have achieved an appropriate level in their GCSEs in English, Maths or ICT, this can project a misleading image that anyone can be a security engineer when nothing could be further from the truth.

The role of the security engineer is a highly technical and increasingly specialised one, working on ever more complex systems in the very hi-tech, IT-driven world we live in today.

The need to define a minimum academic entry level when recruiting is something that I believe should now be addressed within our industry.

The industry could do better at this by engaging more widely with schools, colleges and career service providers to explain the highly skilled role of the security engineer, what study and qualifications are involved, along with the rewards, benefits and career progression opportunities that exist.

IG: To what extent is the industry been effective in recent years in boosting its image as an attractive career?

MC: The industry attracts a cross section of talent but it’s not as effective as some sectors in attracting the high fliers straight from school. In part this could be because the role of a security engineer doesn’t appear to be a default option that gets promoted as a career option by careers advisers and teachers in schools

I think it perhaps gets confused wrongly sometimes as being “Something to do with electricians or electrical engineering” as opposed to a career in its own right.

IG: How has the standard of candidates emerging from universities and colleges changed – if at all – in the years you’ve been in this business?

MC: There’s definitely been an improvement. You obviously get a lot more IT literacy that you wouldn’t have got 10 years ago because today they’re all on computers, iPhones and iPads etc.

I think it’s true to say that security professionals traditionally emerged from colleges rather than university.  Since the increase in university fees I think there’s been a lot of young people who have decided against university because they’re attracted by the chance to “earn while they learn” and apprenticeships give them a chance to do this.

They say every cloud has a silver lining and it’s early days as yet, but the net effect of this could be a growing number of people with higher grade GCSE’s entering the security industry straight from school.

IG: Why should attendees visit the Engineers of Tomorrow event at IFSEC?

MC: One of the main issues I’d like to promote is the need for good employers to engage in learning. At Skills for Security we’re always looking for new employers who want to work in partnership with us to bring new talent into the industry.

The engineers of tomorrow presents a valuable showcase for our future workforce to display their skills and I’d encourage any employers thinking of taking on apprentices – either now or in the future – to come and see for themselves what goes on, what apprentices can do and take the opportunity to talk to us about how we can assist them in developing their workforce.

For employers who already have apprentices taking part in this year’s challenge, we hope they will benefit from having a more committed and knowledgeable employee at the end of the challengeand let’s not forget all the publicity they can gain from taking part in what is after all a national competition.

IG: And what will the participants get out of it?

MC: For the participants it gives them the chance to meet and compete against their peers from different parts of the country and the big attraction is the chance to win prizes.

There are prizes each day for each heat and if at the end of the week they are in the top three pairs of the competition overall, then they get to attend a prestigious black-tie dinner in London at the Security Excellence Awards to receive their prizes. Again that gives great publicity opportunities for their companies, so there’s something in it for both the apprentice and the employers.

Prizes aside, ultimately every apprentice benefits from a visit to IFSEC, it provides inspiration for their future careers as they get to see all the innovative technology this dynamic sector that is the security industry has to offer.”

IG: Anything else on the horizon for Skills for Security?

MC: Just a quick snippet: we currently have the builders in. We are developing a new training centre in the Midlands with fantastic facilities and there will be more about that in the near future, but I’m keen for employers to know that there is something in the pipeline from Skills for Security that could meet their needs in an even greater way than perhaps before and we are looking forward to launching soon.