How To Become A Surveillance Agent: What It Is and Career Path

What is a surveillance agent and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

A surveillance agent is more than your typical bouncer at a nightclub. Most often used in the gaming industry to monitor casinos or resorts, surveillance agents monitor suspicious activities for potential threats of theft or cheating.

In addition to physical strength, you'll need quality communication, perception, and observation skills. You'll not only be required to assess whether someone is a threat, but you'll also need to be able to prevent theft, detain someone until law enforcement arrives, and quickly develop a familiarity with the building and surrounding areas.

Most companies only require a high school diploma/GED to become a surveillance agent. Professional training, certifications, and previous experience are all items on your resume that will improve your prospects. These can be in areas like law enforcement, security, and even any fighting class. Your shifts can be up to eight hours - while the night shift is more popular, there are day shifts available. A surveillance agent typically makes between $13 - $20 an hour on average, about $48,000 a year.

ScoreSurveillance AgentUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,488

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.9

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.58%

Asian 5.16%

Black or African American 11.61%

Hispanic or Latino 21.32%

Unknown 5.29%

White 55.04%

Gender

female 30.80%

male 69.20%

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

8.9

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.8

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a surveillance agent

Explore surveillance agent education requirements

Most common surveillance agent degrees

Bachelor's

37.9 %

Associate

26.9 %

High School Diploma

22.0 %

Start to develop specific surveillance agent skills

Skills	Percentages
Incident Reports	12.63%
CCTV	11.85%
Internal Controls	8.54%
Zoom	8.34%
Patrol	7.80%

Complete relevant surveillance agent training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New surveillance agents 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 surveillance agent based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real surveillance agent resumes.

Research surveillance agent duties and responsibilities

Develop and manage SAS and SQL programs to monitor hepatitis surveillance data quality.
Monitor CCTV for suspicious activity and report it to security department for apprehension.
Trend product performance and track clinical /technical data per FDA and international regulatory requirements, and escalate as needed.
Hand-delivered federal and civil subpoenas.

Prepare your surveillance agent resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your surveillance agent 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 surveillance agent resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable surveillance agent resume templates

Build a professional surveillance agent 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 surveillance agent resume.