It’s no secret that the economy’s still struggling and with the slowdown of bodyguard assignments more and more bodyguards are feeling the pinch. Now is the time to start promoting your bodyguard services, seek external contact with potential clients and employers, get involved and engaged in your service promotion or job efforts. Focus your EP assignment or job search, be interested in people and various companies that have an executive protection unit (EPU) and have a strategy firmly in place to get the interview, the assignment or the job.
Look at various industries that have an EPU (most large corporations have established EPUs). During your service promotion or job search efforts seek out unfamiliar organizations. You need to maintain a sustained effort to find a company that will hire your EP services or hire you as an in-house EP employee. Great strategies in trying times include:
• Spend lots of time actively networking with other EP professionals in the industry.
• Follow up on all potential EP assignment or employment leads despite how unlikely they may seem.
• Post your corporate resume or personal resume on Internet job boards and answer ads and Internet postings on a regular basis.
• Put a structure in place and have a daily plan with goals and objectives (send out resumes, network, follow up on leads, etc).
• Attend bodyguard networking opportunities to increase your knowledge and surround yourself with knowledgeable people in the business.
• Your objective (EP assignment or EP job) should be achieved by any means necessary. Do the things that failures don’t do.
• Up your credentials, additional EP training and accreditation in recessionary times can sometimes mean the difference between tough times survival and road-kill in the EP industry.
The bodyguard industry is a “shadow trade” meaning that the EP agents who are hired to guard CEOs and senior executives of global corporations work in the midst of the shadows. This is why networking with pros in the industry is so important. These individuals know about leads and assignment or job openings before the general public does. Keep your eyes open, ask around, and let people know you’re looking for an EP assignment or job. By sticking out your job search or assignment efforts you will do quite well by following these recommendations in the Tough Times Bodyguard Guide. Good lick and God speed.
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.
http://www.trafford.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?Book=182707
http://www.amazon.com/Corporate-Executive-Protection-Inspiring-Bodyguards/dp/1425135927
http://international-corporate-executive-protection.com/order.asp
Very great input and educational as well. Keep them coming. Keep safe.
Breaking into, and being successful in, bodyguarding is similar to pursuing a career in showbiz. There are training and background requirements (variable and sometimes overlooked because of need), but it’s mainly about drive, attitude, and networking abilities. The rest derives from it.
Yes, we have to hustle for jobs, and yes, we sometimes have to move to where the business is, but there are no handouts. Everybody wants to be a bodyguard and few really know what it’s about or how to get in. Many come and go. Just like in showbiz.
Don’s assessment is right on the money, of course. The flip side of this is that we can’t afford to just do our job and expect security. There is none in private security; what there is is competition. We have to develop the people skills essential to landing jobs, making industry allies, and securing loyal relationships with clients.
Easier said than done when a lowballer with an army of warm bodies is waiting around every corner, but this is where it pays off to educate the clients and promote the right way of doing protective work. “You get what you pay for”. Or at least, we should strive to prove it on a daily basis.
A really good protector is not just some (never tested) tough guy standing in the shadows and collecting an easy paycheck based on some past glory. He/she makes problems evaporate and facilitates his client every move, all day long and discreetly. If done right, that’s an indispensable asset who quickly becomes very hard to replace.
The rich ARE picky and always looking for a deal, but they are also in desperate need of competent help and can recognize it in no time.
Doc’s recent entry “Bodyguarding: Understand what you are selling” is a good place to start understanding how to become valuable even in tough times.
“What “slowdown””
“now that is what i call true effectiveness”
“Scott in our job many times we need to relocate. If you cant move and you are not lucky living in a big city then forget it. “
“In LA its not there isnt work but we face several problems not the least of which is over-saturation of the field by every Tom, Dick and Harry that promotes himself as a ‘professional’ and new start up companies that under bid the hell out of the established agencies. The clients dont know any better most of the time and think they are getting a deal until the first lawsuit hits them or the first situation goes south. LA is saturated with these morons and it drives the pay down along with the quality of service. the only way youre going to make money in LA doing this is to have your own PPO but then you assume the insurance costs etc. Then you also deal with the mercurial nature of celebrities and rich people who sometimes change out their security on a whim. You are more expendable then the cook and the housekeeper because, if youre doing your job correctly, you are an invisible service most of the time. The folks with the real money tend to find security as intrusive. We are a necessary evil. We dont cook their meals and make them smile. We dont redecorate their homes or make their estates look beautiful. We are merely a reminder that there are folks out there who want to do bad things and we only get to show our worth when the sh*t hits the fan. The problem is that if we are good at our PRIMARY job which is PREVENTION then the client develops the sense that nothing ever happens and that we arent needed. when you go to try and increase the pay rate you get responses like, “Why, its not like anything ever happens”. Catch 22. If youre really good at your job your client feels you arent needed. We are a unique industry and I try to make that clear to guys coming to me for work as more often then not their perception of the job and what it pays is based on what theyve seen in the movies and isnt at all indicative of the real deal here in LA.”
“I wanted to get into this field but here in Michigan their are no job in any field and I can’t afford to pay out for a career that has no work”