Welcome to PrivateMilitary.org's recruitment / job section. The information contained here gives you a good idea of the basic employment requirements of Private Military Companies (PMCs) and Private Security Companies (PSCs), as well as related employers in the defense, homeland security, and reconstruction sectors.

• BACKGROUND: Broadly, a verifiable military, law enforcement, or intelligence background and no criminal records are essential.

• SECURITY CLEARANCE: A good security clearance is highly desirable and a requirement by many firms to offer you employment. Otherwise, PMCs, PSCs, and related contractors might need to incur costs to obtain security clearance for you, which is time consuming and expensive. In addition, some government contracts estipulate the need for contractor personnel to possess certain level of clearance and be nationals of particular countries (e.g. citizens of the country where the services will be rendered or NATO nationals).

• NATIONALITY: Do discuss with your potential employer security clearance and nationality / passport / visa issues, as they might play a role in the selection of the particular tasks you are hired to provide and/or the locations where you can be deployed (e.g. if you are not an American citizen, you might not be able to perform certain homeland security function but, while working for the same company, support the U.S. forces in Afghanistan).

• AFFILIATIONS: Membership or accreditation from a well-established professional security association, such as those listed in the SECURITY INDUSTRY pages, is desirable. For instance, some job opportunities are widely circulated within the members of particular security or defense industry associations but little is hear of about them outside those circles. In addition, some security associations provide legal, employment, and insurance advice for free or at preferential rates to their membership.

• EQUIPMENT: Make sure that your potential employer is able to equip you adequately. The agreed military gear and security equipment should be readily available shortly before or immediately upon deployment. We suggest you do an inventory of the equipment provided and have your supervisor to sign it agreement. You do not want to be responsible for equipment that was never provided. Also remember that most security contractors buy additional gear (such as high-quality footwear and eyewear, protective vests, and GPS gadgets) at their own expense. We have a GI GEAR page, though we have not fully developed that directory.

• WELFARE: Make sure that your potential employer is able to offer you decent insurance and medical cover Instructions need to be provided, preferably in writing, about how, when, and where you can have access to medical assistance in addition to the particulars of your insurance plan. A good plan would ideally also cover psychological health issues during and immediately after you complete your contracted assignment. Why? Because stress breakdowns can be expensive and leave you unable to work for some time. Nonetheless, many contractors pay for additional insurance just in case and for their own peace of mind (and that of their loved ones). We have an INSURANCE page and we expect that in the future it will contain more and better alternatives.

• THE CONTRACT: Issues such as insurance, medical cover, and the security equipment provided by your employer should be clearly stated in your contract. DO DEMAND A CONTRACT AND READ IT BEFORE DEPLOYMENT. Remember that contracts are not written in stone and things can be changed or amended if necessary.

• SKILLS: To increase your employment potential we encourage you to browse the corporate profiles offered in the PMCs and PSCs pages in order to match the skills you possess to the particular services firms currently offer. We are expanding our lists and now we cover UXO DISPOSAL, K-9 SUPPORT, MARITIME SECURITY, perhaps your expertise is in any of these areas. Once you find a PMC or PSC that interests you, it is practically a given that it has a careers / job opportunities page, or at least an e-mail link to contact them. In fact, many firms prefer the informality of you directly calling them to discuss the particulars of your own case. Tell them where you heard about them (e.g. a friend or PrivateMilitary.org).

• ONLINE COMMUNITIES: If you have not done it already, you might also benefit from joining one of the online communities we list in the FORUMS page in order to get some feedback from fellow private security and private military personnel. There are many more online communities than the ones we list and we will be happy to hear about them if they are not on the list.

• LOVED ONES: Last, instruct your loved ones what to do in case the worse happens. We are not spoil sports, but some people contact us from time to time because their loved ones never instructed them what to do in case of serious injury or death.

.• If we were of any help, please tell your employer that you saw about the job or learned a tiny little bit about private military/security life in PrivateMilitary.org. We are a not-for-profit enterprise and rely on the feedback and word of mouth to maintain our top position on the Internet.

• To get you started, chose one of the following options to lear more about private military and /security recruitment and jobs.

- The INTERNATIONAL section lists PMCs and PSCs regularly recruiting personnel.

- The REGIONAL section incorporates job opportunities for particular countries or regions.

- The CIVPOL section provides contact information for those interested in joining an International Police Mission (CivPol).

- The AGENCIES section lists recruitment agencies focusing on former soldiers and law enforcement personnel.

- The PUBLIC section is for those who want to join a national force. Remember, about 92% of private military personnel once were members of military or constabulary forces. If you are of young age and want to become a security contractor one day, consider joining the forces as a necessary first step!

For any specific employment question please contact the respective companies, agencies, or employers listed in PrivateMilitary.org's recruitment / job section. For any comment or suggestion on how to further develop this segment of PrivateMilitary.org, please contact us: i...@privatemilitary.org