How to become a bodyguard
By Doc Rogers
How to become a bodyguard, considering a career change from your present line of work. Maybe the bodyguard industry is the right fit for you? This article gives 10 powerful thoughts to help you become a bodyguard.
Do you have the ability to help others:
As a bodyguard, you keep your clients out of harm’s way and give them the confidence they need to achieve their business and personal goals securely.
Continuously learning:
As a professional bodyguard you will be constantly obtaining special knowledge (expertise) from your formal training, on-the-job training and independent study (often at your own cost). You should never stop learning the trade.
Appreciation for different cultures:
As a bodyguard you will gain an understanding of the world we live and work in, this will help you to better protect your clients. As a bodyguard you will learn about the cultures and the traditions of the countries you will be operating in as well as the respect for it’s people.
Great salary:
Bodyguarding is a labor intensive profession, charge your clients accordingly. You will want to avoid having your fees to low or to high. Provide the best quality service at the best price, at a happy medium. As a bodyguard you won’t starve, but you won’t become a millionaire either.
Bodyguarding is a rewarding profession:
Bodyguards have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of their clients. Bodyguards are not only rewarded with money, but also the feeling of fulfillment in keeping their clients safe.
Career security:
Even with a weak economy bodyguards are still needed worldwide. Bodyguards rarely take pay-cuts; our salaries stay stable even in these tough economic times.
Job mobility:
Bodyguards can move to any part of the world and conduct business. Bodyguarding is an excellent mobile occupation that allows you to live anywhere in the world and there’s a big world out there with lots of opportunities.
Prestige and respectability:
The respect accorded to trained bodyguards rivals that of law enforcement and the military. Bodyguarding is considered a noblest profession, according to folklore it’s the fifth oldest profession in the world.
Client versatility:
You have a choice of working with high powered business executives, politicians, superstar athletes, famous entertainers and celebrities, as well as everyday individuals who are under threat.
Life long friendships:
Bodyguards develop life long friendships with other professionals throughout the world. Some of these friends will become your second family while on the road. This is one of the greatest aspects of the job. So now you know what to do to become a bodyguard.
Doc Rogers is the author of Corporate Executive Protection – A Manual for Inspiring Corporate Bodyguards and president and CEO of International Corporate Executive Protection Ltd. Doc has earned a Ph.D. in Security Administration from Southwest University and he is SE Asia’s leading expert on executive protection and corporate security. To learn how to make a full time living as a corporate bodyguard visit the websites below for more information.
Right back at you, Doc! Without the many relevant and informative articles on this site (and I’m partial to yours), the opportunity to comment and discuss wouldn’t exist in the first place.
Hi Guys: Thanks for the nice comments and professional participation. God speed.
Yeah, it’s definitely a target-rich environment around here (not that celebs pay the best, but there’s employment opportunities from the entertainment industry in general). And competition from lowballers and fly-by-nighters is there too, my friend…
Otherwise some jurisdictions consider security work a good cause for CCW issuance, while others deny permits on the basis of that occupation. It’s a crapshoot. Lots of work is done either unarmed (suit)or uniformed (exposed firearm), though.
Alonzo, that’s the same thing I said, Holy smokes! LOL Yeah it’s tough going for those of us here in this state who want to not only be true professionals craft wise, but also legally. Your reputation could be ruined forever with any news of an incident like that getting around. Like I said, I love the regulating to keep the industry honest, but it definitely has its draw-backs. I guess you gotta take the good with the bad! It just makes it a lot harder to get work competing with guys who are not striving to be 100% on the “SQUARE” with the law and don’t even care to get formal training. I guess you guys have enough celebrities to go around out there in sunny Cally huh? lol! Just the opposite here with the permit. Very easy to get a concealed carry permit as a regular citizen, however when it comes to getting the concealed carry permit to do armed security, “HERE WE GO AGAIN”!
Holy smokes, Vince, and I thought that California was regulating too much! Here you just need a (very easy to get) guard card and to go work for a Private Patrol Operator (security company). Or to get a PPO yourself (not that hard) if you prefer freelance work. The tough part is the permit to carry concealed in our lovely state, which gives LEOs a leg up.
Another great article Doc! Again this is another great piece of advice. I can’t speak for the requirements of the other 49, but here in the State of Georgia the laws for protective service work are great for preserving the intergrity of the industry, but make it hard to work legally. For instance, you have to be a State Certified Private Detective, which I am, working for a registered Private Detective firm and you have to be registered with the state for that particular firm. In short, you can’t use the registration you have with that particular firm to work with another, because you have to be registered with the State of Georgia for each firm you perform armed protective services for. The penalty for breaking that rule by the Georgia Board of Private Detectives and Security Agencies is the stripping of your license and a $500.00 fine for each day you performed armed protective services without a license! So even though I am well qualified, State Certified Private Detective including EP School, IAEPA-Dr.Holifield, the challenge now is to get hired by a Private Detective firm, which is tough in this economy which does make it hard sometimes to stay motivated. With all the great articles and advice that Yourself and Hucky have shared that have helped me many times over, this issue is something I have never seen addressed. If there is any advice any of you could give it would be greatly appreciated. vincejackson01@hotmail.com. Thanks again for the work you and Hucky are putting in to make the EP Community a respectable industry!
Huckie, I thought you would be more of a Corvette guy. Never in 1 million years would I have pictured you diving a Volvo lol…