Mobile Surveillance Officers

Experience and training

You do not need any experience to do this role as we will teach you everything you need to know. Your suitability and aptitude will be assessed throughout the initial recruitment processes. You will have an initial training period which you will need to pass to become a mobile surveillance officer. During this time you will learn the basic skills required and you will be matched up with an assessor who will support you through the process. When you have passed there are more training opportunities to enhance your skills and you will receive ongoing training to learn new or refresh your existing skills. Once you start the role you will be assigned a one-to-one mentor who will be an experienced officer. They will help you complete your specialist training and will support you for at least six months as you settle into the role.

Working pattern

As a Mobile Surveillance Officer, you will need to be flexible as you will work shift patterns organised on a five-week shift roster, which includes working two weekends in five. You will know these well in advance which means that some people see this as a real benefit to work-life balance. You will be required to work a mixture of early, day, late and night shifts across the five weekly shift rosters.

Map reading and driving

You’ll need to be prepared to spend a lot of time in a car and be a confident driver, happy to enhance your driving and navigating skills as they are a very big part of the role, and you will use these skills every day. You will need to be able to navigate between two points and be comfortable driving on all road types, your map reading and driving skills will be developed to an advanced standard and refined as part of your training course.

Work/life balance

As Mobile Surveillance Officers work a shift pattern, you will know your work pattern well in advance. Some people find this better enables them to balance personal and family commitments with their professional life. Due to the nature of our work, it means that you can't take it home with you so when you leave the office you really do leave your work behind you.

Mobile Surveillance Officer - Day in the life

"The past 6 months since starting and passing the Mobile Surveillance Officer (MSO) training have been the most challenging yet most exhilarating of my life.

My journey to MI5 began 2 years before when I graduated from university. I had always wanted to apply and saw the advert a few days after graduating. I knew I was a competent driver and believed I had good observation and recall skills from my experiences working in Children’s Mental Health Services, alongside my Psychology degree. But I also had a misconception that they wouldn’t be looking for someone as ‘normal’ as me. I almost didn’t send the application because I believed I needed to speak 10 languages, have years of surveillance experienced, and be an all-round superhero. How wrong I was. The wait to hear back after each assessment centre felt like an eternity, but the joy of hearing I was through to the next stage was worth it. I still couldn’t believe what the recruitment team could see in me; evidently something I couldn’t see for myself.

"My first day was a whirlwind and I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. Meeting my course mates was a moment I will never forget. We were all as nervous as each other. Some of my course mates were ex-armed forces and police and others like me who were new to their careers. I was also glad to see the diversity in ethnicity, gender, age, and previous profession. The training team were the most incredible and down to earth people I’d met and would be there to support us every step of the way.

The course is there to teach you everything you need to know to be a safe and secure Surveillance Officer. Taking every state as it comes and not overthinking is the best way to get through. I’m not going to lie and say that the course wasn’t the most intense thing I’ve ever done. It’s not every day you walk 25,000 steps around London over 2 weeks and have someone on your shoulder assessing your every decision; it can be physically and mentally exhausting.

The best part of the course was meeting my incredible course mates and forming bonds that will last a lifetime. I will never forget the euphoria I felt when we were told we had passed, and how proud I was of the others who were strangers to me beforehand.

"I have just completed my first month as an MSO. While training does all it can to prepare you, nothing could prepare me for the nerves I experienced in my first shift. But the training kicked in and the adrenaline rush was indescribable. That’s when I realised how important what I am a part of is. Knowing a small piece of intelligence that I could see or hear might change an investigation to ultimately protect the security of the UK is why I joined, and why I turn up to every shift with enthusiasm and excitement.

To those thinking of applying to be a Mobile Surveillance Officer I would ask, what have you got to lose? Pushing ‘send’ on my initial application was the best decision I ever made, and while the course was the toughest thing I’ve ever done, it was undoubtedly the greatest."