As someone who is seeking a long term job opportunity, I have been browsing numerous security job boards recently. These are online groups dedicated to SECURITY careers. I have found opportunities for blog posters, proof readers, telephone sales, “genuine writing jobs that pay instantly,” paid surveys…need I go on? The owners / managers of these groups on various sites allow these posts and in fact seem to support them by not deleting them and blocking the posters.

It’s hard to believe, but the deadline is once again drawing near for our two major awards events of the year — Security Director and Security Integrator of the Year.

Since 2006 we have been asking the industry to nominate the person they feel best epitomizes leadership and professionalism in the security industry. And for four years our sister publication SP&T News has recognized innovation in security system integration with the Integrator of the Year award, both generously supported each year by Anixter Canada.

The deadline for Security Director of the Year is May 31, for Integrator of the Year it’s June 30, so go online and send us your nomination electronically. We are using a survey format to make input of longer answers more user friendly.

Each year I look forward to receiving the nominations and learning more about the leaders in this industry — in many cases we discover exceptional mentors who have encouraged their staff to become certified security professionals, rolled out large operations projects or who have been successful in demonstrating their business acumen to the C-suite. While we have the privilege of having the first look at the information put forward by those writing the nominations, we turn them over to our editorial advisory board members for them to judge.

We’ve received feedback over the years, asking if we would consider heads of vendor organizations or middle managers. To this question the advisory board has given considerable thought, but typically arrives at the same decision — it is those who have become the most senior leader in an end user organization that we are looking to honour.

We also encourage end users to consider nominating an integrator they have worked with on an important project for our Integrator of the Year award. Past winners of Security Integrator of the Year have included Unisys, Chubb, Bull Dog Fire & Security and an in-house team at Canadian Natural Resources who worked closely with a group of vendors to achieve a unique access control system integration.

If you’re interested in some insider tips on putting together a winning nomination visit our websites (canadiansecuritymag.com and sptnews.ca) where we have links to dedicated pages with links to videos and articles outlining who has won in the past.

The real key is to send us as much detail as you can provide. Take the time to put together a well-written statement of the project and detail the technologies and challenges involved. Don’t skimp on the details or be afraid it will be too technical. Send photos and any supporting material you think might help the judges better understand what was required to accomplish the client’s project.

People will often ask us whether it matters who puts forward the nomination. Ideally, a customer would put forward a nomination for an integrator, but in the past winners have included vendor-submitted nominations with customer support. In many instances it came down to the fact the better nominations simply had more extensive data and explanation of the customer’s needs and project outcome.

If you have any questions about the process or how to go about nominating someone, please don’t hesitate to give my self or my colleague Neil Sutton a call or send us an This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

We want this to be the best year yet for this important program.

I don’t think anyone will argue that education and certification are prerequisites for professional occupations and the skilled trades. Quite often, years of education and on-the-job training, along with examinations and continued education are required. That is why I am always surprised and disappointed by many people working in the security industry who don't feel it is necessary to get an education either to do their current jobs well or to get ahead in their careers.

Statistics show that almost half of the jobs in the Canadian economy are relatively low-paying service sector jobs.  Because of this, there is a consensus growing among many civic leaders and academics which says that for our economy to adapt and grow and thrive, it is necessary for us to turn these service sector jobs, which tend to be "OK" jobs, into good jobs or even great jobs.
 

In Mark Button’s latest book "Doing Security: Critical Reflections and an Agenda for Change," he writes about the six stages of relations between law enforcement and security that was first identified by Professor Philip Stenning in 1989.