WhatsApp, is it effective to find security industry employment?

WhatsApp has become one of the worlds primary means for communication. With the option of creating large groups to mass communicate for various means such holiday planning, connecting with old school friends, or finding employment for example.

Within the security industry, WhatsApp is widely used as one of the means to communicate during a task. But equally, WhatsApp has also become one of the go to methods to advertise and find jobs.

From a job advertising perspective, as a recruiter, you can download the WhatsApp desktop version, or use the WhatsApp web application, to easily reach a large amount of potential applicants within seconds. The downside is though, that you receive 100’s of applicants for each position so it can create an admin burden.

Mass application jobs

It is this mass application that raises the question on whether WhatsApp is an effective way to find long term security industry employment. To give yourself the best chance of finding employment, you need to be the most suitable for the job. But you also have to put yourself in a position where there is minimal competition for the job that you are applying for. Once a job is posted on WhatsApp, it is then reposted uncontrollably over and over again! By the time you come to apply for the full time security industry job that you’ve been waiting for, so could 250+ other people be! 

Realistically most security operators have the same qualifications, similar backgrounds, and relatively the same experiences. So how could you as one of 250 applicants stand out? The answer is you can’t. So is WhatsApp really an effective way to find full time security industry employment. The answer is no. It’s also not a way to engage with potential recruiters when they post a job, as they now have 100’s of CV’s to review for the job that they posted. So your message about not being available for the job posted, but wanting to send a speculative CV for future work will go unread also.

Short term immediate deployment roles

Positively, WhatsApp is good way to find short term, immediate requirement jobs. Those where a company has an immediate or short notice opening, and most probably minimal time to arrange it. As long as your CV is up to date, you meet most of the job description requirements, and you can deploy in the required timescale, then it can be an effective way to find short term security industry work.

So what is the most effective way to find employment

The most effective way to find employment is through your network. You don’t need the WhatsApp app, WhatsApp desktop version, or the WhatsApp web application to do this. Just get out there and network effectively. Competition for jobs found this way is generally low, based on you and maybe a few other CV’s for the client to choose from. So you’re not fighting the masses as you do with WhatsApp posted jobs.

To get these opportunities you need to perform consistently well on tasks, so that people approach you proactively to work with them. Or you network effectively so that you become the first phone call of a company who requires a security operator. Who then might use WhatsApp if there preferred security operators are not available.

So should you use WhatsApp to find security industry employment 

Finding full time, well paid work in the security industry is hard. But why wouldn’t it be, it’s the same in any industry if you want the best well paid jobs. The harder you work at it, the more likely you are to secure the full time role you want. But if the majority of your job hunt is sat at home sending the same untailored CV off every time you see a WhatsApp posted job, then it’s unlikely you will ever get success this way.

There are sites out there like The Security Advisor which has loads of free information on finding employment, that you can access here. Or read some of our articles about getting into the security industry here.