For many close protection personnel (commonly known as bodyguards), finding a job in 2023 will be more difficult than ever before, but it is not because there are fewer job opportunities in the bodyguard industry. In fact, the situation may be the opposite. With the increasing global threats and economic levels, there are more job demands in the bodyguard industry than ever before. Because of the booming security industry and the improvement of social awareness, more and more outstanding talents are leaning towards security career development. At the same time, the competition for positions has become more and more fierce.

In fact, there are still most people in the security industry who have close protection licenses who have never really done a day of close protection related work. According to statistics, there are currently more than 14,000 valid British CP licenses in the UK, and the number of licensed bodyguards in the United States has reached 170,000 according to the data released by the ISA agency last year. Especially in recent years, the domestic security needs and market have become larger and larger, and the number of registered security consulting companies (bodyguard companies) has increased year by year. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently thousands of registered security consulting companies in China, and the total number of personnel trained by each actual operating bodyguard company is more than a thousand each year.

In China, the demand for a bodyguard position may reach hundreds of high-quality, experienced and excellent bodyguards competing at the same time. The competition in the domestic bodyguard market is becoming more and more fierce, and hundreds of people are competing for job opportunities almost every day. Therefore, if a bodyguard does not have an excellent company, a strong background, standard training and rich experience, it is difficult to find his own career path in this blue ocean.

Before entering the bodyguard industry, it is very important to consider the choice of which bodyguard company to enter. Close protection is a high-density, extremely cautious and high-intensity industry. It can be understood as a "quite elite" profession because this job always involves the safety of people and property. But now, almost anyone can obtain a certificate issued by certain institutions through simple bodyguard training, even abroad. The number of SIA licenses issued each year has reached thousands. For students, they only need to pay and take courses to get a license. Yes, the standard threshold of this profession has become so simple!

Of course, there are also some institutions that still adhere to the standards, reject the irresponsible model of commercialization, and always adhere to the concept of boutique market operation. For example, the current domestic Ace Shield Bodyguard Company, Seal Shield Bodyguard Company, Hunter International Bodyguard Company, etc., are extremely strict in their recruitment system, and are very strict in checking the background, character, conditions, and comprehensive quality of personnel. Only excellent people can pass their basic recruitment system, and a strict elimination mechanism is implemented in training and assessment. In the end, only a small number of people can complete all assessments, get their company's license and enter the bodyguard industry.

Now, for many companies, training is mainly classroom-based, because they hope to run courses in the shortest possible time to reduce their own costs and improve profitability or speed up the efficiency of delivery channels to achieve maximum profitability.

According to the occupational standards issued by the British SIA, it takes 140 hours to complete the CP course, which means that if you train 12 hours a day, you can complete the course in less than 11 consecutive days. Imagine, can you learn everything you need for close protection in just 11 days? How to protect the lives of others after only 11 days of training?

The following are the SIA certification courses:

1. Roles and responsibilities of close protection operators

2. Threat and risk assessment

3. Surveillance awareness

4. Operational planning

5. Law and legislation

6. Interpersonal communication

7. Close protection teamwork and briefing

8. Reconnaissance and debriefing

9. Close protection positioning

10. Route selection and planning

11. Journey management

12. Search procedures

13. Incident management and site security

In addition, the conflict management module should include:

1. Avoiding conflicts and reducing personal risk

2. Defusing conflicts

3. Resolving conflicts and learning from conflicts

4. Application of communication skills

5. Conflict management for security and close protection

All of this critical training takes only 140 hours! So, isn’t it funny that everyone who wants to enter the protection industry, regardless of ability and attitude, only needs two weeks of free time to obtain an international license? There are many such cases in China. Short-term short-term training can provide you with a job. Even many companies that do not even have professional system courses will directly recruit people who have not received systematic training. As long as they have certain fighting skills, they can start to do protection work through the positions provided by the company.

In essence, this industry should be professional, cautious, and elite. I believe that most professionals in the security industry will agree with me. In the professional circle, if you only attend a 140-hour training course and say that you are a professional protection personnel, you will be ridiculed. In reality, most bodyguards have not received any other auxiliary training except the most basic module training, which leads to uneven comprehensive quality of people in the bodyguard industry. What's more, some so-called bodyguard practitioners can't even drive a vehicle.

Due to the excessive commercialization of the current training courses in the close protection industry, the industry has a mixed bag of people and their quality is also high and low. As a person who wants to enter the bodyguard industry, it is particularly important to rigorously choose a professional, responsible, and principled bodyguard company. If you choose a subject that lays the foundation for your future career at random, it is very likely that you will be ruined. This is not an exaggeration. The knowledge, concepts, experience and skills laid by a responsible and principled company or training institution for your future career will directly determine your competitiveness in your future career!

Whether it is domestic or overseas, in fact, most people currently engaged in protection work still come from the military or martial arts schools, etc. In the market, the proportion of retired soldiers among the bodyguards in service is as high as 70%. Despite this, it is not absolute to have a military career background to enter the world of strict protection and succeed. Some outstanding CPOs (close protection officers) do not all come from military backgrounds. Over the years, I have known many people from non-military backgrounds, and they still have outstanding careers. Of course, this is only a small number of people. I think the direct decisive factors of the so-called "professional success" are, on the one hand, whether the company you choose is professional, responsible, powerful, and principled, and on the other hand, it is also on your own motivation, goal orientation, and tenacity to think hard and study hard.