How to hire CCTV technicians who can be trusted on site

A technician does more than fit cameras. They walk into your customer's premises unsupervised, handle passwords that protect sensitive footage, and in many jobs they are the only person from your company the customer ever meets. A poor hire can cost you far more than wages. A good one can become the backbone of your company.

Yet many small installers hire in a rush, only when overloaded, and often pick the first person who claims experience. This guide offers a more reliable approach.

Decide what you actually need

"Technician" can mean very different roles. Be clear about which one you're hiring.

Write one page on the role: what they'll do, who they report to, the working hours, travel expectations, pay range and what you need them to know on day one. If you can't describe the job clearly, the new hire will be unclear about it too.

Skills versus attitude

Many installers find that it's easier to teach cable termination than honesty, punctuality or care. For helper and junior roles, hire for attitude and aptitude, and train the rest. For a commissioning or senior service role, you do need real technical depth from the start.

Where to find candidates

• Referrals from your team. Often the best source. People tend not to recommend someone who will embarrass them. Consider a referral bonus paid after the new hire passes probation.
• Distributors and suppliers. They know who is good and who is looking.
• Vocational institutes and polytechnics. A good source of juniors. Build a relationship with an instructor.
• Electricians and network technicians. Their skills transfer well.
• Job portals and local groups. These bring in many applications with varying quality, so screen them carefully.
• Your own helpers. Promoting from within rewards loyalty and gives you someone you already know.

Be careful about hiring directly from a competitor or a customer. Check whether any agreement limits it, and don't encourage anyone to bring a former employer's customer lists or other confidential data.

Screening before the interview

A brief phone call saves time on both sides. Ask about:

• their recent jobs, and what they personally did
• the types of systems they've installed
• whether they have transport and a licence, if needed
• where they live and how far they can travel
• comfort with working at height and irregular hours
• their expected pay and earliest start date

Listen for specifics. "I've installed many IP systems" is vague. "Last month, I set up a 16-camera system with VLANs on two switches" gives you something to follow up on.

The interview

Skip the generic questions and ask about real situations.

Technical questions

• A camera reboots at night but works during the day. What would you check?
• What's the distance limit of an Ethernet run, and what would you do beyond it?
• How do you work out how much storage is needed?
• Two cameras appear to swap places on the recorder. What might have happened?
• How would you set up remote viewing safely? Is port forwarding a good idea?
• What's the difference between a camera's main and sub stream?
• How do you test a cable before leaving a job?

Look for a logical approach, not just memorised answers. "I'd check the PoE budget first, then test the cable, then swap the camera" is a good sign, as is "I don't know, but here's how I'd find out".

Judgement questions

• A customer asks you to add a camera that wasn't on the quote. What do you do?
• You find that a mounting point isn't safe to reach with your ladder. What do you do?
• You accidentally damage a customer's ceiling tile. What do you do?
• A shop employee asks you to show them footage of a colleague. What do you do?
• It's 6 pm, one camera is still not working and you've been told to finish today. What do you do?

There's no script for the right answers, but look for honesty, a concern for safety, and an instinct to communicate rather than hide a problem.

Give a practical test

An hour of hands-on testing tells you more than any interview. Keep it fair, and pay for it if it takes more than a short time. For example:

1. Terminate and test a cable. Watch how they strip, arrange and crimp. Is it neat? Do they test it?
2. Mount a camera. Give them a test board or wall. Do they measure, and check the level?
3. Configure a camera. Set an IP address, name, time and password, then add it to a recorder.
4. Diagnose a fault. Prepare a camera with a planted problem, like a bad cable or wrong gateway.
5. Show playback. Ask them to export a clip and explain the steps as if you were the customer.

Watch how they work under mild pressure. Do they tidy up? Do they ask sensible questions? Would you be comfortable with this person in your best customer's office?

For helpers, a simpler test is enough, such as measuring, using basic tools and following instructions.

Check their background

Technicians go to homes, banks, schools and hospitals. Customers are trusting you with access to their buildings and footage.

• Call their references. Ask specifically about reliability, honesty and why they left.
• Verify identity and address. Follow the lawful process in your location.
• Conduct background checks where permitted. Rules about what you can check differ by country and state, and you may need consent. Get advice.
• Check licensing. Some places require individual registration or licences for security work.
• Check their driving record, if they'll drive a company vehicle.

Some customers will require specific checks before allowing someone on site, so build these requirements into your process early.

Make a fair offer

Good technicians have options. To attract them, be clear about:

• base pay, overtime and how out-of-town work is paid
• fuel, phone and food allowances
• how quickly expenses are repaid
• tools and uniforms provided
• working hours and on-call expectations
• leave and benefits
• how they can progress and earn more

Put it in writing, including a probation period and any duties around confidentiality and customer data. Comply with local employment law. Many strong technicians leave because of late pay or unclear expectations, not because of the work itself.

The first 90 days

A new hire's first few months decide much of what follows. Give them a plan.

Week 1: learn how you work

• Introduce them to the team and your safety rules
• Show them your installation standard
• Issue their tools, uniform and logins
• Explain how jobs, photos, attendance and expenses work. Our users and roles documentation shows what field staff can see
• Have them shadow an experienced technician

Weeks 2 to 4: supervised work

• Pair them with a senior technician on real jobs
• Have them do tasks with supervision, then check the results together
• Have them practise configuration and handover
• Give feedback each week, both on what's going well and what needs work

Months 2 to 3: growing independence

• Let them lead small jobs, with photos reviewed afterward
• Gradually introduce service calls
• Ask customers how they found them
• Review them formally at the end of probation

Set simple goals, such as completing a four-camera job to standard without help by day 60. If it's not working, say so early, and either fix it or end it fairly. Keeping someone on when they repeatedly fail on safety or honesty usually costs you more later.

Red flags

• Vague or inflated claims about experience
• Dismissing safety ("I never use a harness")
• Speaking badly of every former employer
• Reluctance to take a practical test
• Offering to bring customers from a former employer
• Casual attitude toward passwords or footage
• Doesn't show up on time, or fails to call, during the hiring process

Keep the people you hire

Hiring is expensive, so keeping good people matters.

• Pay on time, and reimburse quickly.
• Plan fair schedules and avoid constant last-minute changes.
• Provide proper tools, since broken ones wear down morale.
• Give training and a real path to progress.
• Share customer praise, and handle mistakes privately.
• Listen to technicians' ideas about what could be better.

Make sure that your systems respect their time, too. A clear job brief on a phone means fewer wasted trips, which technicians value as much as the office does.

When to hire

Consider hiring when you're regularly turning work down, when jobs are delayed by several weeks, or when the owner is too busy on site to quote and collect payment. Before you hire, work out the true cost of the person and how many billable hours you'd need to cover it. Our job costing guide shows how. A hire made because of one busy month may become a burden in a slow one, so look at the trend first.

Taking the time to hire well can feel slow when you're busy. It's a lot quicker than repairing the damage from hiring the wrong person.