Security’s Young and Restless: Strategies the New Generation of Pros Are Bringing to the Table
SSI spoke with a panel from ESA’s Young Security Professionals to discuss the generation gap and how they’re fulfilling the security needs of today’s customer.
ESA's Young Security Professionals (YSP) is a national networking program for industry professionals ages 25-45 who are managers or above in a company that designs, sells, installs and/or monitors life-safety, security and/or integrated systems
What is most fulfilling about your work, and would you recommend others consider a career in security?
JENNINGS: I love employing people and giving people the opportunity to succeed. It’s very satisfying to know the buck stops with you and the decisions you make on a daily basis affect everybody else. It’s also humbling. I would recommend security
to others as a career. I know people are like, “Oh, it’s security.” But at the end of the day, we do some really cool things.
WAGNER: I love my job. It’s challenging, changing, there’s always something new to learn. We can forget we’re actually saving peoples’ lives because when we’re in the grind of things and reading reports we forget that’s what our goal is. It’s really rewarding and so I love doing that. I absolutely would recommend it to anybody.
SWARTWOUT: I was actually on the medical track as a pre-med student, working in an ER and on my way to medical school. I had this opportunity to become a partner with CallTeks. My grand-mother sticks in my mind, “You’re going to choose security over being a doctor? What are you thinking?” But it was absolutely the best decision I have ever made. We’re able to integrate things that are really enhancing peoples’ lives. It is a way of the future and being a part of that is a phenomenal feeling. I’ve grown to love the security industry. I highly recommend people get involved with it.
FEW: At the absolute foundation, we have the ability to improve peoples’ quality of life through protecting them and protecting their property. As long as everybody keeps that as their internal credo, how could you not be fulfilled? At this point in my career where I can give back to the associations and help other companies grow into it, that’s extremely fulfilling as well. I would absolutely recommend a career in security to anybody coming out of trade schools, high schools, colleges.
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About the Author
Scott Goldfine
Scott Goldfine is the marketing director for Elite Interactive Solutions. He is the former editor-in-chief and associate publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He can be reached at [email protected].
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