Not for every security job. There are many static, crowd control, monitoring, gatehouse and access-control positions where driving is not part of your security duties. However, having a driver's licence can certainly increase your employment opportunities. Obviously, if your job involves driving a security patrol vehicle, you must hold the appropriate driver's licence. Any restrictions or conditions affecting your ability to drive should also be disclosed to your employer before undertaking patrol duties. There is another practical issue that new security officers sometimes overlook – how are you actually going to get to and from work? Security is a 24-hour industry.

You may be offered a shift that starts at 10pm or finishes at 2am when public transport is limited or simply unavailable. Be prepared for a prospective employer to ask how you intend to reliably get to and from those shifts. We have seen security officers use everything from their own vehicle to e-scooters, lifts with colleagues and the good old mother-or-father taxi service. How you get there is generally your business – what matters to the employer is knowing that you will get there.

Security companies have contractual obligations to their clients and cannot afford to have an officer regularly calling to say they have no way of getting to work. So, no, a driver's licence isn't essential for every security job, but reliable transport certainly is. If you can also legally drive a patrol vehicle, you have opened the door to another significant area of security employment.