So You want to be a Bodyguard?

Then let me start by helping out. The politically correct phrase these days is not "bodyguard" but personal protection specialist, executive protection specialist or close protection operative, depending on your place of training and other preferences.

There can be no better time than this, if you want to excel in this charismatic business. Almost all the elite soldiers that crowded the trade just a few years back, has gone to Afghanistan or Iraq, providing personal protection for major corporations or the governments in the same countries.

The ones that are not working there, used to, and are trying to recuperate. Actually, YOU might have a chance down there as well. The security companies prefer former Elite soldiers, but some of them are so short on staff, that they'll take whoever can handle a gun safely and stay alive in these hostile areas.

If you fancy getting some training first, take care. The many so-called schools will promise you the world just to get your money. Don't rely on one training form alone. Take two or more courses from two to three different schools.

Read a lot and don't just stick to the hand-outs and bodyguard manuals the schools provide. Read up on terrorism, criminology, psychology, Risk/threat analysis, ballistics, social etiquette, advanced driving, first aid/medicine and improvised explosive devices.

You have to be physically fit. Both fast and strong. When not reading, get some serious training from a martial arts school. Preferably a school with a hands-on approach. Krav Maga, Thai boxing and Wing Tsun are popular with many personal protection specialists.

Weapons handling- and recognition is also important. Get some practice on a shooting range. Combat shooting should be the preferred training method.

After you've graduated from a Personal protection school, take some classes in business administration and sales. What good is all the above knowledge, if you cannot get a contract or maintain a good sound business? Remember that a positive attitude is the key to all success! No one ever succeeded by saying: I can't! - The same goes for this profession - a "can do" approach will get the job done, and the clients know this.

This is also true when it comes to staying alive in general. If you should fail the first objective of a personal protection specialist: to avoid a confrontation with an adversary, fight to win! - don't stop to think about it, just fight fiercely.

Before you go ahead and start your glorious career you'd better clear things with your family. They'll see you a lot lesser than they ever did. Even the training is probably far away and so hard that you'll have no energy left to call home.

But it's an exiting job. One day you may be driving around with a CEO, making sure that none of he's former employees attack him. The day after you'll have to go to Aruba while protecting some actor and after a week of sun you are back in your home city protecting a battered woman testifying against her psychotic ex-spouse. Or you could join the crew in the Middle East protecting corporate executives against mujahedeen or Taliban.

There are so many possibilities. That is IF you can stay focused and keep training/learning while looking for contracts. You can spend an easy $ 2500 on bodyguard training, $ 500 on first aid and IED courses and another $ 500 on firearms training. It's an expensive career to start in, so you have to be TOP MOTIVATED.

Oh, by the way; when you have done all of the above, mail me your resume!

Henrik Bramsborg is the managing director of Bramsborg Security & safety, a security company based in Denmark. Henrik is a stalking - and surveillance detection specialist and the author of several Danish books on security. Henrik is also an experienced instructor in personal protection, having trained NATO S-FOR forces, police officers, correctional facility officers and private bodyguards. He holds a management degree and is furthermore a certified motivation instructor.

Bramsborg Security & Safety, http://www.bramsborg.com, have been quoted or profiled in several Danish media as the "Danish stalking experts".


More Resources

Aptitude Tests Reveal the Difference Between Your Aptitude & Ability
Aptitude tests measure your skills, abilities, values, interests and personality in order to help you determine which careers you might be best suited for and eliminate those that you are not.Aptitude tests are some of the most important tools to anyone considering a career change.
In Control - Inside Tips on Interview Success
No, you can't control how the interview will be conducted, nor can you control the outcome. But you can influence it greatly by the way you present your personality and your skills.
How to Receive Multiple Job Offers After You're Fired
Ask survivors of the most popular reality television shows and they'll tell you "If you have to eat a cockroach, don't spend too much time thinking about it." Keep focused on the end-game and move on.
Why You Should Never Complain About Former Bosses
You're at a job interview. You're doing great, answering questions left and right.
Building Your Army of Supporters: How to Build Strategic Relationships in the Work Place!
Once you have accomplished your task of getting in the door and getting the job the real job of career advancement begins!You will soon learn (if you haven't already elsewhere) that corporate politics are ALWAYS surrounding you. If it is not your boss who is fearful of you taking his job it is your co-worker who wants to ensure that they are seen "better" than you when promotion time comes calling.
Cracking the Connection Code: Networking for the Introverted
We've all heard it before: "Just get out there and network!" If it was that easy, we would already be doing it. So why is it so hard? Well, you're an introvert, aren't you? Enough said.
Searching for Jobs Online
Searching for jobs online is easier than ever, but also more confusing than ever. Any Internet user doing a job search online will find that they can choose from hundreds of national employment listing web sites and the numbers can often be staggering.
Whiners Need Not Apply
Sometime last summer I decided to host a pity party and invite all my friends. Well, not all my friends, exactly.
What To Do
Ever had that perfect life when everything seems perfect yet you wanna die. I am in the situation where I have the perfect imperfect world.
Searching for an IT Job
Looking for an IT job is one of the easiest to perform due to the incredibly high demand in the IT field. As the Internet grows, corporations network through Intranets - even the advancement of science has the demand for anyone with IT skills at an all time high.
How to Recoup From Missing the Most Important Meeting of the Year
Sometimes missing a critical meeting just can't be helped. Despite the advance planning, you just cannot make it to the meeting.
Booster & Drainers
Like huge anchors on cruise ships, other people can hold you down. Not intentionally, but their negativity impacts you.
Interview Quicksand
How will you respond when you're asked the following two questions?1.What type of boss do you like to work for?2.
3 Questions No Job Seeker Ever Wants To Be Asked?
Employer and interviewers expect you to answer tough question during interviews. Take a few minutes to brainstorm on how you might elaborate on the following answers.
Tips for Building a Successful Career
1. Develop excellent work habits - for example, meet deadlines and don't procrastinate.
The Top Ten Strategies of A Great Interview
You've just received a call to interview with your dream company. Do you know how to prepare for the interview so that you'll feel confident, have a good experience and set yourself apart from others? Try following the steps below and you'll not only be well prepared, you'll present yourself as a true professional.
Job Hunting Tips: Assessing Personal Value
A week out of work is a vacation. You can sleep late in the morning, revel in your newly found free time, shop when the stores are empty, and get around to those chores you have been putting off for too long.
Free Resume Examples: Untold Wealth In 10 Minutes!
Doesn't every job search start with Google?Way back in another lifetime, I was looking for a job after one of my startups failed. Conveniently, everything went to pot in early 2000.
How to Write a Better CV (UK), or Resume (USA and elsewhere)
The first point to make is that the terms "CV" and "Resume" (with or more often without the French acute accents over the e's) are virtually interchangeable in the UK; they mean the same thing, but if anything the norm is CV. In the USA and elsewhere, the CV (Curriculum Vitae to give it its full title - literally "Life Study") is a different animal - a dry listing of qualifications and experience more suited for a university faculty listing for example.
Career Killers to Avoid
Many professionals and managers are so involved in day-to-day crises and fighting fires that they forget about a key leadership characteristic: self-management. Effective leaders are first of all effective in managing themselves - their time, their focus, their emotions and their careers.

More Careers & Employment Information:

Related Articles

Job Interviews & the Magic of Music
Can music help you with your next job interview? It just might! Here's how. First, it can help you during your research, preparation and practice.
What A Former Stay At Home Mom Knows About Creating A Stunning Resume That You Dont
Recently I was asked to touch up a friend's resume. Her challenge was simple.
The Recruiting Truth...Time Is Not On Your Side
In today's marketplace things are constantly changing and so are the needs of just about each and every organization. Whether your company is growing organically or inorganically, whether your company is growing domestically or internationally or for one reason or another you just have pain, your organization must be in a position to attract top talent and attract it quickly! But attracting it is only the first part of the equation.
Telecommuting Website (Part Two)
Last article I discussed why a telecommuter would benefit from starting a website, and what you should include on the website. This article, I'm going to cover how to market the website and the basics of getting one set up.
Choose Your References Wisely!
So, you need to submit employment references. A simple task, right? Sure, you could contact three of your closest friends and ask them to be your references.
Independent RN Contractors Are Taking The Nursing Profession
Nurses wake up and take advantage of this extraordinary opportunity. Are you tired of having no input in your career, little money in the bank, lack of respect for your profession and little compensation for the long hours and years of dedication? Independent RN Contractor is a great way to renew your interest and rejuvenate your nursing career.
Interview Preparation Made Easy: Create An Interview Preparation List
Here's a quick way to compare your own job experience and qualifications with those that your prospective employer is looking for in a specific job position. Make an "Interview Preparation List".
Is it a Scam?
I wanted to quit my job. So I decided to make my fortune online.
Job Search - Understand Employers
Think like an employerTo be successful in your job search campaign you must think like an employer or a recruiter. If you are going to do this right, you need to appreciate the ways that employers sift through the flood of resumes.
Career Discovery - Pinpoint Your Ideal Career
Determine your ideal career--one that's in alignment withyour values, passions, and talents--and discover the workyou were born to doCareer discovery is the process by which a person identifiestheir ideal career path, thus saving themselves a lot oftime (and money) by not pursuing career choices that theywill ultimately find unfulfilling. To find your truecalling, you need to dig around and find the things that areimportant to you--now, and in the future.
How to Give Job-Winning Answers at Interviews
Human Resources personnel, professional recruiters and various other career experts all agree: one of the best ways to prepare yourself for a job interview is to anticipate questions, develop your answers, and practice, practice, practice.There are plenty of websites that offer lists of popular job interview questions, and knowing the types of questions to expect can be very useful.
Seven Ways to Say You're Fired and What to Do When It Happens to You
Today's employers scramble for creative ways to advise employees of their unexpected departures. The days of employers being loyal to their employees are long gone.
Do You Have a Hotsy-Totsy Resume?
I begin this article with a bit of slang description. Whatdo I mean by a "hotsy totsy" resume? I mean one thatdoes the following for you, the job seeker and apossible employer.
How to Insure Job Security
The attorneys I coach have one common problem. They don't have enough hours in the day to do everything they need to do.
Workplace Melodrama--A Flair For The Dramatic
A flair for the dramatic is a theatrical term used to describe an actress or actor who has a talent for melodrama, characterized by intensely enacted interpersonal conflict and exaggerated emotions. The central figure in a melodrama is the hero, who spins his tale or portrays the justice of his cause in a positive light.
Make a Great First Impression
Searching for employment is one of the most nerve-racking activities to engage in. As if the direct need for income is not stressful enough, the process of writing a résumé, networking in your industry, and applying for jobs can leave anyone shaking in their tracks.
Taking Your Words Seriously
When we ordered the stained glass window as an accent piece for our home, the artist-proprietor told us he was a bit behind. "So," he said, "to be on safe side, plan on six months.
Serious Business Networking
As they always say "It's not what you know, it's who you know."Of course just knowing people doesn't necessarily get you the job, or the promotion, or the contract you wanted, but it certainly can help; so long as people don't think you are using them.
The Top Ten Ways to Jump Start Your Career
1. Do What You Love.
Petite Modeling: is There a Career for You?
Petite modeling is a tough industry to break into. Especially since most modeling agencies won't represent models unless they're 5 feet and 9 inches tall or taller.