By Kema Rajandran.
At the start of her career, Nicole East remembers having a flimsy paper license. To say she has seen many changes over her 20 odd years in the security industry is an understatement.
As the Human Resources Manager at Australian Investigation and Security Management (AISM), Nicole’s specialties include Operations, Security, Customer Service, Rosters, Compliance and Auditing Quality and HR and Supervision.
Her experience in security and supervision is vast and varied from being a Venue Supervisor at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, to Security Operations Manager at the Sydney Olympics, to Supervisor at large outdoor events such as the Big Day Out.
“I started as a guard on the floor and worked my way up the ladder in roles such as Payroll, Rostering and even though I am now the Human Resources Manager at AISM, I am still ‘hands on’ and work in the venues with the staff.”
A single mother of four children; Matthew 18, Joshua 12, and twins Liam and Sarah 10, East says her children always keep her on the ‘right’ path and her feet on the ground.
East not only has many years of life experience but she also possesses a number of qualifications including Certificates in Guarding, Operations, Frontline Management and Human Resources.
“Life has changed dramatically over the years, there are higher levels of training required to obtain and retain your licence, general behaviour has changed, and legislation has been introduced in regards to RSA, RCG and many other areas of the industry.”
As the industry evolved over the years and people’s general behaviour in the most part improved, the need for the stereotypical bouncer has waned.
“People want to be treated with respect and need to understand through communication why security personnel are approaching them.”
East says females can offer a calming influence to a heated situation.
“They can perform all aspects of the role and should have no fear of entering this industry. The industry has changed to such a degree that there is ample room for career advancement.”
The technological advancement in security is happening so rapidly these days, facial recognition CCTV, retina, licence, and finger print scanners to name a few.
East says this has proved to be extremely favourable to the clients and also to governing bodies such as the police.
“Some things are obviously been for the better others have not turned out quite that way. There are and always will be people that should not be in the industry, some people that are just not suitable for the duties of the job.”
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