Careers in security at Dussmann Facility Management

Polednia, now 32, apprenticed as a  security specialist at Dussmann Facility Management right after she finished school. These days, she is a department head. Polednia is responsible for 150 security employees throughout the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. She’d like to lay the various clichés surrounding the industry to rest. True, her professional career did start out “the old-fashioned way,” at the entrance to a disco – but not in the way people might think, hearing that.

“I was originally planning to apprentice to work with horses. But then I wasn’t sure whether I’d still be able to work in the field when I got older,” Polednia explains. Nineteen at the time, she started to ask around. One evening, she ended up talking to the bouncer at a nightclub. He told her about what it was like to apprentice in security, and that it was much more than just standing in front of a door on the weekends.

She  went in search of information and soon realized just how complex this field is. Trained specialists are tasked with detecting danger early on and taking preventive action. They devise highly complex security concepts for events, go on regular patrols, or watch banks of monitors and handle alarm responses  . The ability to stay calm and take action is crucial on the job.

But Polednia was convinced. She started applying, and a short time later she was hired as an apprentice at the Dussmann branch in Cologne. Two and a half years later – before the ink on her program certificate was even dry – Dussmann offered her a position managing properties for several smaller clients. In this role, Polednia was responsible for scheduling and handled billing and customer service.  

“Transferring to the location in Cologne gave me the chance to learn and grow in a new setting.” After a few years in Essen, Polednia ultimately returned to the branch location in Cologne in early 2023 to serve as the head of a department for a major account in North Rhine-Westphalia. Since then, she has moved around 12 logistics sites of a global online retailer daily while also holding discussions with contacts and handling requests and concerns from her 150 employees on site. “No two days on the job are alike. The only thing that stays the same is that I make coffee first thing when I get up in the morning,” Polednia says with a smile.

Diversity is something Polednia really values, not just in her work, but at the company in general: “To me, Dussmann is synonymous with diversity at every level, advancement opportunities, and chances to try out many new things within one company,” says the security  expert, who has also completed a training program for working professionals to become certified as an occupational safety specialist.