Careers after Security Guard: 10 jobs where your skills transfer.
Every related role O*NET lists for security guards, scored by how closely the skill profile matches, what it pays and how much extra preparation it needs. Original analysis, sources below.
- Active Listening
- Monitoring
- Speaking
- Coordination
- Crossing Guards and Flaggers
- Parking Enforcement Worker
- Lifeguard
The jobs closest to a Security Guard's skills are Crossing Guards and Flaggers, Parking Enforcement Worker and Lifeguard (91%, 91% and 88% skill match). 7 related roles pay more without needing more preparation, led by Transportation Vehicle, Equipment and Systems Inspectors, Except Aviation (+$54,080 median).
Where your skills transfer
Data Skill match and pay change are our calculations from O*NET and BLS data (method below).
The three closest moves
Data Skills where the destination's O*NET level is at least half a point higher are listed as gaps.
Already strong: core skills overlap broadly.
To build: no skill rated half a point higher in the destination.
Already strong: Speaking, Monitoring, Critical Thinking.
To build: Equipment Maintenance, Repairing, Quality Control Analysis.
Already strong: Monitoring, Social Perceptiveness, Active Listening, Speaking.
To build: Learning Strategies, Service Orientation, Judgment and Decision Making.
How to make the move
Advice
- Weeks 1 to 2Pick one destination
Crossing Guards and Flaggers is the closest match at 91%. Crossing Guards and Flaggers pays more without more preparation.
- Weeks 2 to 6Close the top gap
The closest move has no large skill gap; spend the time on proof of the shared strengths.
- Weeks 4 to 8Reframe your resume
Lead with the shared strengths, written in the destination's language.
- From week 6Talk to people in the role
Ask three crossing guards and flaggerss what they wish they had known before switching.
How the working conditions change
Data Share of workers in each detailed occupation, 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey. Neither direction is better.
| Occupation | Telework available | No prior experience required | Workday sitting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security Guard (now) | less than 0.5% | 89.2% | 38.1% |
| Lifeguard | less than 0.5% | 96.1% | 46.8% |
| Correctional Officer | less than 0.5% | 51.3% | 26.8% |
| Dispatcher | less than 0.5% | 49.2% | 96.9% |
| Police Officer | less than 0.5% | 79.5% | 56.8% |
| Firefighter | less than 0.5% | 73.8% | 43.3% |
| Security Manager | 7.5% | less than 0.5% | 54.0% |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.
How this page is built
Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared. Pay change compares the BLS national median annual wages (May 2025) of the two occupations. Preparation change compares O*NET Job Zones (Job Zones 1-2, 3, 4 and 5, from very little to extensive preparation; O*NET 31.0 combines zones 1 and 2). Destinations without BLS wage data or O*NET skill ratings are left out.
- Licensing or degree rules for a specific destination.
- Whether employers in your area hire career changers.
- Your own skills: the scores compare occupations, not people.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
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