CV Advice: How to Write a Strong Fire & Security CV
Your CV doesn’t need to be complicated. It needs to make it easy for an employer to understand what you do, what systems you know and what experience you can bring to the role.
Whether you work in fire alarms, CCTV, access control, intruder alarms or across multiple disciplines, the strongest CVs make relevant technical experience obvious quickly.
Fire & Security CV Quick Check
Before sending your CV, make sure it clearly shows:
- Your current role and level of experience
- The systems and disciplines you work with
- Whether your experience is installation, service, commissioning, projects, sales or management
- Manufacturers and platforms you know well
- Relevant qualifications and manufacturer training
- The types of sites and projects you have worked on
- Your responsibilities, rather than just your job title
- Your employment dates and career history
- Your location and willingness to travel where relevant
- Up-to-date contact details
Already have a CV?
Our team can review it and help identify anything that might be holding it back.
What Should a Fire & Security CV Include?
A good CV should allow someone who has never met you to understand your experience within a few minutes.
For fire and security professionals in particular, simply listing job titles often isn’t enough. Two people called Security Engineer can have completely different backgrounds.
One might predominantly service enterprise access control systems, while another installs domestic intruder alarms.
The detail matters.
1. Start With a Clear Profile
Your opening profile should be short.
You don’t need several paragraphs explaining that you’re hardworking, motivated and work well individually or as part of a team.
Instead, tell the reader what you actually do.
For example:
Experienced Fire & Security Service Engineer with a background in CCTV, access control and intruder systems across commercial and enterprise sites. Strong fault-finding experience with Genetec and Gallagher systems, covering London and the South East.
Within a few lines, the employer already knows considerably more about that person.
2. Make Your Technical Experience Obvious
One of the biggest mistakes we see is candidates underselling their technical experience.
Don’t just say:
CCTV, access control and intruder alarms
Where possible, explain what you actually do with them.
For example:
CCTV: installation, servicing and fault-finding on IP systems
Access control: installation, commissioning and maintenance
Fire alarms: conventional and addressable system servicing and small works
You should also mention manufacturers or platforms where you have meaningful experience.
That could include systems such as:
- Gallagher
- Genetec
- Paxton
- Avigilon
- Honeywell
- Texecom
- Advanced
- Gent
- Notifier
This isn’t about filling your CV with every product you’ve ever touched. Concentrate on systems you genuinely know.
3. Explain What You Actually Did
Job descriptions such as:
Responsible for servicing fire and security systems.
don’t tell an employer very much.
Instead, add some context:
Servicing, fault-finding and small works across CCTV, access control and intruder systems on commercial sites throughout the South East.
Or:
Installation and commissioning of addressable fire alarm systems across commercial and education projects.
The aim isn’t to write an essay about every job. A few strong bullet points are normally enough.
4. Include Relevant Qualifications and Training
Create a clear section for qualifications, certifications and manufacturer training.
Depending on your role, this could include things such as:
- Electrical qualifications
- Fire alarm qualifications
- Manufacturer accreditation
- ECS / CSCS
- IPAF
- PASMA
- SSSTS / SMSTS
- Project management qualifications
Only include qualifications you actually hold and keep the most relevant ones prominent.
5. Keep Your Employment History Easy to Follow
For each role, include:
Company name
Job title
Dates employed
Then add a short explanation of the role and your main responsibilities.
Generally, your most recent experience deserves the most detail. A job from fifteen years ago doesn’t normally need the same space as the role you’re doing today.
Try to avoid unexplained employment gaps where possible. If there’s a straightforward explanation, it can often be better to include it than leave the reader guessing.
How Long Should Your CV Be?
There isn’t a perfect number of pages.
For most experienced fire and security professionals, two or three pages is normally enough.
Someone with twenty years of experience may reasonably need more space than somebody who has been an engineer for two years.
The important thing is relevance.
Don’t remove useful technical information simply to force your CV onto two pages, but equally don’t use five pages when the same information could be communicated in three.
Common Fire & Security CV Mistakes
A few issues can make a good candidate look weaker on paper than they really are.
Being too vague
“Worked on security systems” doesn’t show the extent of your experience.
Listing manufacturers without context
Knowing a manufacturer’s name isn’t the same as having meaningful experience with the system. Where useful, explain whether you install, service, programme or commission it.
Copying the same responsibilities under every job
Your career should show how your experience has developed.
Too much irrelevant information
Your CV doesn’t need to contain your entire life history. Prioritise information relevant to the type of job you’re applying for.
Not checking the basics
Spelling mistakes, incorrect dates, old phone numbers and inconsistent formatting are easy to fix and can make a CV look rushed.
Should You Change Your CV for Every Job?
You shouldn’t need to completely rewrite your CV for every application.
However, it can be worth adjusting it when you’re applying for a role that focuses on a particular part of your experience.
If you’re applying for an enterprise CCTV and access control position, for example, make sure that experience isn’t buried halfway down the second page.
Likewise, if you’re moving from engineering into project management, your CV should give more prominence to project responsibility, customer management, organisation and leadership.
Your CV's Job Is to Start a Conversation
A CV doesn’t need to tell an employer absolutely everything about you.
Its purpose is to demonstrate that you have enough relevant experience for somebody to want to speak with you.
Keep it accurate, make your experience easy to understand and give the reader enough technical detail to see where you fit.
And if you’re unsure whether your CV is doing that, we can take a look.
Get Your CV Reviewed by a Fire & Security Recruiter
If you already have experience within the fire and security industry, send us your CV and one of our specialist recruiters can review it.
We can identify missing information, suggest areas that could be clearer and help you present your experience more effectively.
We Can Help You.
Contact Us Today
Whatever your recruitment needs are in the Fire & Security industry, we would love to have a chat about it with you. Pick up the phone & give us a call or contact us on one of the other channels listed here. We look forward to speaking with you!
