For Claire Regan, working in the security industry was a career path she found herself on unexpectedly — but it wasn’t long before she was “hooked”.
“He was looking for an administrator. The PSA was coming on board, and there was a lot more paperwork and stuff like that. “I went into payroll from administration. I worked in payroll for a couple of years, then I worked in HR. I got my diploma — they put me through college and everything, to progress.
“But there are the events like concerts, horse racing and things like title. They’re so social and you’re there to ensure the safety of obviously the people that are coming in, as well as the premises themselves"The core role of somebody who’s in security — in any end of security — is to ensure the safety of the people who are on your site, but also the safety of the premises as well.
And Claire said that while the number is “really, really low”, she reckons it is because “the perception is that it is a man’s industry” — and she’s hoping to be a part of helping change that view.“I can understand that. It is seen as that, and it would have been seen as that in the past. She said, “I think it’s about what I’m doing now: talking about it. Just constantly talking about it and letting other women know that it’s out there.
And she opened up about the support she received from her company and her family when it came to the exam — and how “surreal” it was to find out about the milestone afterwards. Claire added that the security industry itself is a “constant learning curve” — and one that has plenty of opportunities to train and upskill.