Security guard phone screen questions
Guard hiring turns on licensing, post availability, and judgment. A phone screen confirms the license and the shifts, and the situational question tells you who stays calm.
Eight questions, and what to listen for
Ask them in this order. The first two sort the pool; the middle ones show judgment; the last ones settle logistics before anyone books an interview.
- 1
Do you hold a current state guard license or card, and any armed certification?
Listen for: License type, state, expiration. Armed roles need the armed endorsement.
- 2
Which types of posts have you worked: lobby, patrol, retail, event, industrial?
Listen for: Setting and tenure.
- 3
Tell me about a time you had to de-escalate a situation. What did you do?
Listen for: Calm voice, distance, calling for support. Escalation-first answers are a warning.
- 4
How do you handle writing an incident report?
Listen for: Facts, times, names, no opinions.
- 5
Are overnight, weekend, and holiday shifts workable?
Listen for: Match to the post.
- 6
Do you have reliable transportation and a valid driver's license?
Listen for: Patrol roles require driving.
- 7
Can you stand or walk for most of a shift, with or without reasonable accommodation?
Listen for: A plain yes or a stated limit. Do not probe for medical details.
- 8
Can you pass a background check and drug screen, and when could you start?
Listen for: A yes and a date.
Red flags on the call
- No current license for a licensed role
- De-escalation story that escalates
- Cannot work overnights for an overnight post
- Vague on incident reporting
Keep it short
Five questions, four to six minutes. Security guard candidates are usually applying to several jobs at once; a screen they can finish between shifts gets finished. Save the deeper questions for the interview, where the candidate has already answered these once.
Ask whether the candidate can perform an essential task with or without reasonable accommodation; do not ask about disability or medical history. Avoid age, family, religion, national origin and other protected characteristics. See the EEOC's hiring-question guidance.
Be the security guard candidate for three minutes
We call your phone and run a real three-question screen for Sentinel Guard Services, a security company covering office buildings. Your scorecard is emailed to you exactly as a recruiter would see it.
- 1Do you hold a current state guard license, and any armed certification?
- 2Which types of posts have you worked?
- 3Tell me about a time you had to de-escalate a situation.
Your phone is about to ring at
Joe from Sentinel Guard Services will introduce himself and ask three questions. While you talk, try a few things:
- Cut in mid-sentence and notice the pause
- Give a vague answer and hear the follow-up
- Say you are not interested and hear it wrap up
Your scorecard lands in your inbox about a minute after you hang up.
Run this exact screen for every security guard who applies
Create a role in PhoneScreen with these five questions, share the link, and every candidate gets the same screen the moment they call. You read the scorecards. First 10 screens are free.
- 1Do you hold a current state guard license, and any armed certification?
- 2Which types of posts have you worked?
- 3Tell me about a time you had to de-escalate a situation.
- 4Are overnight, weekend, and holiday shifts workable?
- 5Can you pass a background check, and when could you start?
Common questions
We staff dozens of posts across a region. Can we run one screen per post? +
Yes. Each role has its own questions and link, and results can be routed by the custom variables you attach.
Screening for security companies · More roles: forklift operator, caregiver, CDL truck driver, line cook, restaurant server, cashier and retail associate · Why the same questions for everyone