In response to reader demand, we have created this complete bodyguard guide to advise aspiring personal guards, and more importantly, assist their prospective clients. Bodyguards offer personal protection services to individual clients, business customers and even municipal agencies or governmental bodies, as well. Bodyguards are the top of the private security sector and only the best trained and most qualified guards can call themselves VIP protection agents.
Retaining personal guard services can be a confusing process for companies and individuals alike. Since bodyguards play such vital roles within an organization, it is crucial to make the right choice when seeking to hire a protection specialist.
The focus of this article is to provide details on selecting a bodyguard, as well as offering information which is useful for those considering a career in bodyguarding or opening their own bodyguard business. We will explore the variety of services that are available from qualified bodyguards and assist clients in making the difficult decision as to which guard to hire for their specific needs.
Bodyguard Guide to Services
Bodyguards all have one thing in common; they protect people. They do it very well. This is their primary objective. Outside of this basic similarity, bodyguards can come in many forms and may take on a wide range of assignments during their careers. Many personal guards offer related services to make them more appealing to prospective employers. Here are some of the common case assignments which are covered by personal protection specialists:
Some bodyguards act as personal assistants, drivers and companions to clients on a long-term basis. These lengthy gigs are incredibly beneficial to both client and guard, since both will gain from an extended time-frame relationship. Obviously, if you require a bodyguard to serve multiple roles, be sure that they have the skills needed to successfully perform all the tasks that will be required of them.
Many bodyguards work in the entertainment sector, concentrating on providing protection and paparazzi control for celebrities, actors, musicians and other famous people. Since it takes special skills to deal with the extenuating circumstances faced by the rich and famous, actual experience in these matters is a must-have. Typically, VIP celebrity protection agents must be able to offer many references from equally important clients.
Some bodyguards work in the political arena, offering protective services to politicians and their families at home and on the road. While many of these roles are filled by law enforcement and special government agents, some politicians decide to retain their own private sector bodyguards to be sure that they receive the security they really need, regardless of the circumstances faced.
Many bodyguards work in the corporate sector, providing business executives with protection in their home offices or during international travel. Many of these guards also work to provide property protection at hazardous corporate installations. Personal protection agents are most often assigned to corporate executives who must work abroad in high risk areas of the world.
All types of bodyguards may work short-term assignments and may have to protect a population of VIPS at the particular event or installation. Short contract services usually cost far more money than longer term assignments and involve more risk to the protection agents and the protected clients, since the bodyguards do not have the benefit of intimate experience with each client or knowledge of their specific needs.
Paramilitary contractors often function as bodyguards to VIPS overseas. More and more companies and governments are hiring private sector paramilitary security specialists to handle all manner of unsavory work profiles in the most perilous regions of the globe.
Bodyguard Career Important Details
Becoming a bodyguard takes a lifetime of training and expertise acquired through formal study and on-the-job experience. Remember that a bodyguard must literally put their life on the line every day in order to protect their clients. People without the ability to face this type of impending doom with a smile need not apply.
Bodyguard businesses can be incredibly profitable, but a large number of guards choose to work for themselves as independent contractors instead. This is because in a profession where each expert must be so utterly accountable, tradesman rarely place full faith in others who may be associated with their organizations. In fact, most large bodyguard firms are exclusively staffed and trained by military operatives with Special Forces backgrounds, or former SWAT team members, with the ideal temperaments to handle these very demanding assignments.
Clients are advised to screen prospective guards carefully in order to ensure that each applicant embodies all the knowledge and aptitude needed to protect their charges perfectly. Meanwhile, guards are encouraged to only accept assignments that are suited to their level of experience and practical effectiveness.
Bodyguard Guide Summation
If you, or your organization, have a need for bodyguards on a short or long-term basis, we highly recommend you plan carefully and only hire the best. Insufficient quantity or poor quality guards will provide nothing more than a false sense of security and can be huge liabilities when potential threats become real.
Always meet with an expert security consultant to plan the exact needs of your organization and then be sure that these requirements are filled 100% by the security staff you decide to hire. Remember, retaining the right bodyguard(s) is truly a matter of life or death.
Likewise, professionals in the bodyguarding industry should always be honest and forthcoming with potential employers. They should not accept assignments where there is any doubt of their effectiveness in the face of the worst case scenario of risk.
When the perfect guard is matched to the ideal client, the relationship can be mutually rewarding and will help to achieve the objectives of both parties. The client will receive the safety and security they so desperately need, while the guard will be compensated well for a job performed to perfection.
For more information about becoming a personal guard, or hiring a bodyguard, please contact an area bodyguard association or professional investigation organization.