How To Become A Plant Protection Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a plant protection officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a plant protection officer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $17.66 an hour? That's $36,734 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 38,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePlant Protection OfficerUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $36,734

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.75%

Asian 6.18%

Black or African American 10.95%

Hispanic or Latino 18.07%

Unknown 5.59%

White 57.46%

Gender

female 21.27%

male 78.73%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.9

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

9.4

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a plant protection officer

Explore plant protection officer education requirements

Most common plant protection officer degrees

Bachelor's

46.7 %

High School Diploma

21.9 %

Associate

16.8 %

Start to develop specific plant protection officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Patrol	28.48%
Emergency Situations	18.48%
Incident Reports	10.15%
CPR	8.92%
CCTV	5.31%

Complete relevant plant protection officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New plant protection officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a plant protection officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real plant protection officer resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed plant protection officer usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you don't need to pass an exam to become a licensed plant protection officer in most of states. 30 states require plant protection officers to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	-	-	Licensed Personal Security Officer
Maryland	-	-	GUARDS
Alaska	Specific course required	-	Security Guard
Arkansas	Specific course required	State exam required	Private Security Officer (PSO)
California	Specific course required	State exam required	Security Guard Registration

Research plant protection officer duties and responsibilities

Certify in basic first aid/a and CPR.
Monitor access control onto plant facility through gates, CCTV's, and classify areas.
Use various computer programs to make badges, monitor alarms, view cctv cameras, and play visitor safety videos.
Patrol industrial or commercial premises to prevent and detect signs of intrusion and ensure security of doors, windows and gates.

Prepare your plant protection officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your plant protection officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a plant protection officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable plant protection officer resume templates

Build a professional plant protection officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your plant protection officer resume.