Security Technician - Advanced - Nathan, Stefano and James' stories
Nathan McGrath
Nathan is the Business Development Manager at Inner Range, a company specialising in alarm transmission systems. His job is more than the traditional business development role, as it covers a wide range of areas such as sales, marketing, brochure development, managing a small team of people for the development of products, technical support and account management. The most challenging aspect of his work is helping clients work through their electronic security software problems.
Nathan has a Certificate III in Electrotechnology and prior to joining Inner Range, installed and serviced small domestic security systems as a subcontractor to Ram Locksmiths. He then ran his own small business for six years - McGrath Electrical, which specialised in basic electrical work. He moved into security systems installation and servicing as a result of ongoing requests from his clients to install alarm systems at their homes. He initially hired subcontractors to install the systems and later upgraded his own skills in this area. Examples of security installation work he carried out include domestic alarm system installations through to more advanced systems such as access controls, card readers, door locks, lift controls securing floors in buildings and lift cars. While running his own business, he attended several short courses delivered by Inner Range.
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According to Nathan, technicians can earn a starting salary of $30,000 and depending on their skills and experience, can earn up to $130,000 per year. There's a huge push in electronic security and a good future for people interested in joining the industry. For example, domestic security systems are becoming more complicated with CCTVs and perimeter fencing. Government departments are also upgrading their security to more complex systems.
Some of the personal attributes a technician needs include common sense, punctuality, being well presented, friendly, working well in a team, working methodically and being prepared to test everything that's installed. Problem solving skills are also very important - you need to be able to diagnose problems and keep a calm head while sorting out problems. Another important personal attribute is the ability to communicate with clients in order to clarify their security needs before recommending and installing a system.
James Arundale
James Arundale is a technician working for Secure Innovations Pty Ltd in Melbourne. Secure Innovations specialises in providing their large residential and corporate client base with an integrated approach to electronic security. They provide a full range of access control and electronic security systems, as well as complete follow-up services as required. Secure Innovations can also package their security solutions with other systems, such as fire access alarms, air conditioning, door releases and lighting control.
While training as a technician with Secure Innovations, James attended off-the-job training at Box Hill Institute of TAFE, where he completed a Certificate III in Electrotechnology (Building Services Security).
James’ weekly work schedule is full of variety. He installs and services the security systems, which include basic residential alarm systems as well as high-end security systems, access controls, CCTVs and internet technology for corporate clients. He services breakdowns, oversees apprentices and also demonstrates new products to potential clients.
James enjoys liaising with clients and finding solutions for them. He also likes keeping track of the speed with which technology is changing, especially the move from analog to internet cable security systems. For example, Secure Innovations are moving away from analog cameras to streaming directly from cameras to the computer. Generally speaking, the industry is changing to more IT-based systems, so understanding computers and programming is important. There are also changes in legislation that James needs to keep up with.
One aspect of his work that James finds challenging is fault finding as some faults can take days or weeks to resolve. He finds that faults relating to programming can be very frustrating to resolve, especially when the system was installed and programmed by someone else.
James used to work in landscaping, but his passion for circuitry electronics was what attracted him to the electronic security industry. Now, not only does he enjoy electronic security work, but he also finds it financially rewarding. As a technician overseeing security systems for clients, he knows that the two most important personal attributes for success are trustworthiness and speedy resolution of faults.
James believes there are plenty of employment opportunities in the electronic security industry, and a number of different speciality areas – from working on the tools to programming. One day James would like to run his own business a nd he is very interested in high-end programming of security products.
An exciting growth area in the industry is biometrics. In this field Secure Innovations offer fingerprint scanning, retina scanning and weight limits scanning.
Stefano Castelleti
Stefano is the Service and Installation Manager at ART Security. He is responsible for managing the efficiency of the service department so that they meet their targets. This includes, scheduling training for technicians, providing technical support for technicians and their clients, conducting remote programming of alarm systems, preparing departmental reports for directors and problem solving complex faults.
Stef is also responsible for managing the installation of all alarms and systems. This includes checking proposed installation for suitability, liaising with builders for new installations, managing the bookings for installers, providing technical support to installers, conducting remote programming of all new systems and ensuring that jobs are completed on time by providing hands on assistance when required.
The most challenging aspect of his job is having to juggle the provision of technical support for up to seven technicians at any given time. Having to reason with irate customers he also finds difficult - especially when the problem was not caused by his company!
On the flip side, what he most enjoys about his work is overcoming technical challenges. It's the most rewarding of all, knowing how to fault find problems, doing it in a methodical manner and then relaying all the necessary information to his technicians to avoid re-occurrences.
Stef's original training was in telecommunications, where he worked as an install assistant for approximately 12 months gaining valuable experience. He did a lot of different jobs in electronics before joining the electronic security industry.
He believes there are definitely good job prospects for people wanting to join the electronic security industry, especially with the growing IT based work within electronic security. These opportunities are going to increase over the next couple of years.
People who are capable, interested and willing to learning about all the systems will succeed as technicians. They need to apply a methodical approach to problem solving, which is extremely important and have the ability not only to read technical manuals, but also to understand and apply the information contained in them. A good technician is someone who has basic electronics knowledge, but more importantly, has the ability to improvise on repairs when required - a lateral thinker.
Related Links
Nathan McGrath
(1:39 mins - 17.8MB)
James Arundale
(1:42 mins - 7.6MB)