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Gonna have to disagree with some of the above comments tbh guys. Harsh reality is a bit different.
dr78 - i say this with the upmost respect, but be careful, a lot of doorman chatting to woman on the door will say anything as a chat up line, and yes one of the more common lines i've heard is that they should come and work on the door. That said, it may have been a true comment, only you can decide for sure.
As to the size thing.. well yes things have changed on the doors, size is less important, but it's not irrelevant. Don't let people tell you that this job is all about having a good attitude and communication skills and that size and fighting ability don't matter becuase they do. Communication is a great skill, but it takes time and experience to build it and use it under pressure, attitude is also important, but again it's your attitude under pressure that counts, adn until you've done it, you don't what it is.
Unfortunately the doors are still a rough place. In some ways the SIA has made it worse because there are less doormen out there, certainly less decent ones (also less thugs true) and it is now almost accepted to bottle it in certain situations. The amount of new doormen who have started working in the last 2ish years is very high and a shocking proportion of these don't know how to handle themselves.
Police support is all well and good, but are they always on the door with you? Do they come and check the toilets with you, or help kick people out? Their response times are not, and can never be, quick enough to stop you getting shot, stabbed or beaten. If you go into the job with the attitude that someone else will take over when it gets out of hand, then you're in the wrong job. If you're expecting to resolve all situations with verbal skills, or you expect never to get hurt, then your in for a surprise.
Just remember, you're getting probably about £10 an hour for door work, bar staff get £5.50 and have to work a damn site harder, so why the pay difference. It's not all for the badge, else everyone'd get badged, pays itself off in a month or so... so why the difference? It isn't "the right attitude" or "communication skills" 75% of people have these.. it's because you are expected to deal with violence, dish out violence on occasion, and spend most of your time giving off the aura that when you want to be you can be a very nasty person. Sorry if this doesn't fit with the SIA's description of the job, but the real world is a little bit different, you're dealing with alcohol, drugs, dealers, scum, football hooligans, gangs, weapons and more. Be prepared for it!
Still wanna do the job? Best of luck to you, it can be a very pleasurable experience and is a great challenge at times.
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