How To Become A Watchman: What It Is and Career Path

What is a watchman 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 watchman. For example, did you know that they make an average of $16.97 an hour? That's $35,290 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 38,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreWatchmanUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $35,290

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.58%

Asian 5.56%

Black or African American 10.59%

Hispanic or Latino 17.34%

Unknown 5.28%

White 59.66%

Gender

female 16.89%

male 83.11%

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 watchman

Explore watchman education requirements

Most common watchman degrees

High School Diploma

35.6 %

Bachelor's

25.7 %

Associate

20.5 %

Start to develop specific watchman skills

Skills	Percentages
Patrol	39.44%
Security Rounds	9.81%
Emergency Situations	9.44%
Property Damage	8.42%
Fire Hazards	5.38%

Complete relevant watchman training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New watchmen 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 watchman based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real watchman resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed watchman usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you don't need to pass an exam to become a licensed watchman in most of states. 30 states require watchmen 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 watchman duties and responsibilities

Patrol hallways making sure all exits are secure throughout the night while the main security system are being repair.
Provide temporary elevator and patrol security to assist in client maintenance outage at local power plant facility.
Maintain a standard of punctuality and dependability of attendance and retain myself cleanliness, tidiness, neatness and appropriately attire.
Station as the VIP host, make sure all high end clients are exceptionally service.

Prepare your watchman resume

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

Choose from 10+ customizable watchman resume templates

Build a professional watchman 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 watchman resume.