An access control specialist helps ensure the safety and security of an organization. They do this by preventing unauthorized access into the facility and its different parts using access control systems, as well as by implementing various security protocols. They work in almost any type of facility but are more sought out by organizations that require high levels of security.

The typical duties of an access control specialist include maintaining access control systems, handing out credentials to authorized personnel, conducting inspections, and watching for any suspicious activity. They work closely with security teams to ensure that all security policies and regulations are enforced at all times. Furthermore, they may also respond to emergencies if necessary.

To become an access control specialist, you must have at least a high school diploma or GED and proper training from a security agency or company. Moreover, you must have a deep understanding of how access control systems work, which typically requires a good level of technical skills. Furthermore, you must be physically fit and able to apprehend intruders if need be.

When you become an access control specialist, you can expect to earn an average of $67,000 a year. You can also expect to work at odd hours or rotating schedules, depending on your employer.

What Does an Access Control Specialist Do

There are certain skills that many access control specialists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, detail oriented and problem-solving skills.

Learn more about what an Access Control Specialist does

How To Become an Access Control Specialist

If you're interested in becoming an access control specialist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 49.9% of access control specialists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.1% of access control specialists have master's degrees. Even though most access control specialists have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Access Control Specialist Career Paths

Average Salary for an Access Control Specialist

Access Control Specialists in America make an average salary of $54,215 per year or $26 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $86,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $34,000 per year.
Average Access Control Specialist Salary
$54,215 Yearly
$26.06 hourly

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Roles and Types of Access Control Specialist

There are several types of access control specialist, including:

Information Security Analyst

Role:

Information Security Analysts are responsible for creating security systems to ensure the information stored on a company's network is inaccessible to cyber attacks. They contribute to creating safety regulations and see to it that safety standards are maintained.

As an information security analyst, your job will be to monitor computer networks, install security software, and create documentation of any potential risks to security you detect. Your job will be to inform your colleagues on up to date security processes and perform tests to make sure networks and data are sufficiently protected.

Firewalls, antivirus scanning, proxies, and intrusion detection systems will be your best friends on the job. You will need a degree in computer science or a related field and previous experience on the job to land this position.
  • Average Salary: $98,144
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Securities Analyst

Role:

Typically, a Securities Analyst, also known as a financial analyst, researches and, of course, analyses various companies for their clients, attempting to understand how secure the companies are on the market and in trade, if and how much they grow, and how much they might earn going forward. An Analyst might perform this research only on the company they were hired by, thus evaluating what kind of a danger their client might be in, and giving them a rough idea of the road ahead.

More often than not, a Securities Analyst entering the field is expected to have at least a Bachelor's in Computer Science, Programming, or so on, as well as one to five years of experience in a role closely related to this one.
  • Average Salary: $84,334
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Securities Consultant

Role:

Most people get their earnings from working a 9-5 shift. Some are entrepreneurs who have their own businesses. However, there are a few who choose to augment their income by "making their money work for them," as the saying goes. These people invest in the stock market and other equities. Equities are a form of securities. Securities are financial assets that one can trade. Someone who specializes in securities is called a Securities Consultant.

Securities Consultants are considered experts in securities. They understand market movement, and they can forecast what may happen in the next few months. They base their forecasts on historical market data and on current events as well. As such, securities consultants are incredible assets to the company. Companies tap the services of securities consultants when they want to delve into investment opportunities and similar services.

To be a securities consultant, one must have a great track record in the industry. They should also have great analytical skills and statistical skills. Aside from that, securities consultants must be trustworthy.
  • Average Salary: $92,092
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Access Control Specialist Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active access control specialist jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where access control specialists earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Access Control Specialist Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California2,708$65,100
2Florida1,859$44,447
3Texas1,804$51,932
4Illinois1,281$64,409
5Georgia1,193$55,710
6New York1,162$80,705
7Massachusetts1,148$86,332
8Pennsylvania1,065$68,345
9Virginia1,006$66,141
10North Carolina992$55,313
11Ohio859$68,396
12Michigan835$68,442
13New Jersey723$78,488
14Maryland701$67,603
15Washington698$58,101
16Indiana672$53,914
17Wisconsin629$59,463
18Colorado617$66,255
19Arizona605$63,857
20Minnesota587$59,873
21Tennessee483$49,759
22Alabama479$48,513
23Missouri462$59,750
24South Carolina412$49,343
25Iowa411$55,464
26Louisiana386$50,684
27Oregon351$64,115
28Kentucky349$52,102
29Utah296$64,026
30Kansas286$60,357
31Connecticut277$80,524
32Arkansas273$52,996
33Oklahoma249$55,394
34New Hampshire199$72,989
35Nebraska197$52,064
36Mississippi183$54,125
37Idaho182$55,136
38Nevada171$67,825
39New Mexico139$60,549
40Delaware128$70,527
41Hawaii127$50,245
42Maine126$74,695
43West Virginia117$68,330
44North Dakota105$62,126
45Alaska100$59,145
46Montana98$61,254
47Rhode Island90$76,473
48South Dakota82$52,403
49Wyoming73$58,663
50Vermont68$73,240

Access Control Specialist Education

Access Control Specialist Majors

27.0 %

Access Control Specialist Degrees

Bachelors

49.9 %

Associate

25.7 %

High School Diploma

15.3 %

Top Colleges for Access Control Specialists

1. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Biology
Psychology
Criminal Justice

2. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Accounting
Psychology
Computer Science
Business

3. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Biology
Psychology
Criminal Justice

4. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,306

Enrollment

9,394

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Criminal Justice
Biology
Psychology
Electrical Engineering

5. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Communication
Computer Science
Psychology
Criminal Justice

6. Howard University

Washington, DC • Private

In-State Tuition

$26,756

Enrollment

6,166

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Biology
Political Science
Psychology
Business
Education

7. SUNY at Albany

Albany, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,011

Enrollment

13,434

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Business
Biology
Psychology
Communication

8. Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$3,926

Enrollment

9,835

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Business
Criminal Justice
Psychology
Accounting

9. SUNY College at Plattsburgh

Plattsburgh, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,369

Enrollment

5,229

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Biology
Business
Criminal Justice
Psychology

10. SUNY College at Oswego

Oswego, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,440

Enrollment

7,039

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Psychology
Accounting
Criminal Justice

Top Skills For an Access Control Specialist

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 10.5% of access control specialists listed control devices on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and detail oriented are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Access Control Specialist Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Access Control Specialist templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Access Control Specialist resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Access Control Specialist Demographics

Access Control Specialist Gender Distribution

Male
Male
61%
Female
Female
39%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among access control specialists, 39.2% of them are women, while 60.8% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among access control specialists is White, which makes up 65.7% of all access control specialists.

  • The most common foreign language among access control specialists is Spanish at 47.6%.

Online Courses For Access Control Specialist That You May Like

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1. Access Controls

coursera

Welcome to Access Controls! The Access Controls Course provides information pertaining to specify what users are permitted to do, the resources they are allowed to access, and what operations they are able to perform on a system. Access Controls help managers limit and monitor systems use at a user level or group membership. You will understand the different access control systems and how they should be implemented to protect the system and data using the different levels of confidentiality,...

See More on Coursera

2. Access Control Concepts

coursera

Welcome to course 3 of 5 of this Specialization, Access Control Concepts. In Course 1, we introduced access control concepts. Now, we will take a more detailed look at the types of access control that every information security professional should be familiar with. We will discuss both physical and logical controls and how they are combined to strengthen the overall security of an organization. This is where we describe who gets access to what, why access is necessary, and how that access is...

See More on Coursera

3. Risk Management: Use of Access Controls to Protect Assets

coursera

Course 2: Understanding Risk Management Options and the Use of Access Controls to Protect Assets In this course, we will focus on understanding risk management options and the use of access controls to protect assets. We will start by examining the basic steps that must be in place to develop a security culture within the organization and impacting policies. We will also look into how to write and use them to enforce security requirements. Then we will move on to the actual business of...

See More on Coursera
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Best States For an Access Control Specialist

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an access control specialist. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Access control specialists make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $86,332. Whereas in New York and Connecticut, they would average $80,705 and $80,524, respectively. While access control specialists would only make an average of $78,488 in New Jersey, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Massachusetts

Total Access Control Specialist Jobs: 1,148
Highest 10% Earn:
$131,000
Location Quotient:
1.27

2. New Hampshire

Total Access Control Specialist Jobs: 199
Highest 10% Earn:
$111,000
Location Quotient:
1.15

3. Maine

Total Access Control Specialist Jobs: 126
Highest 10% Earn:
$114,000
Location Quotient:
0.96
Full List Of Best States For Access Control Specialists

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Top Access Control Specialist Employers

Most Common Employers For Access Control Specialist

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Google$114,683$55.145
2Department of Homeland Security$82,782$39.805
3Northrop Grumman$80,742$38.82114
4LG-TEK$75,007$36.0616
5Chenega$73,923$35.547
6Applied Integrated Technologies$73,177$35.186
7Delaware Resource Group$70,563$33.924
8Link Solutions$69,621$33.475
9Trustmark$68,592$32.986
10ManTech$62,577$30.0951

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