Bodyguards or personal security are a well-known and often used trope in television and cinema. In movies or series, the villain can usually be spotted because he is flanked by two menacing looking armed guards dressed in black, usually crossing their arms to appear especially threatening.
Naturally, real-life bodyguards and executive protection agents aren’t like that at all. Physical strength is an upside in this line of work, as is a military or police background. That at least holds true like in pop culture. However, beyond that, the reality of being a bodyguard or executive protection agent (EP Agent) is much different. It isn’t necessarily advantageous for a bodyguard to be recognised as such, and in many places all over the world, private security isn’t even allowed to carry weapons. That means that a bodyguard needs to be skilled in unarmed combat, as well as an expert in interpersonal skills. Oftentimes conflicts can be resolved more easily by talking than violence. Needless to say, this is not shown in movies and television shows. Of course, it depends on who the guard is protecting, however the general reality of it is much less drive-by shootings and more maintaining personal space and keeping away drunks.
Commonly, politicians, musicians and actors will hire personal protection for when they appear in public. The same thing goes for the heads of larger corporations. They may not be in the public eye, however that doesn’t mean that they don’t need protection. And whether personal protection is hired to protect a specific individual or a function or assembly, the duties are fairly similar. While more planning and co-ordination is involved when protecting, for example, a venue, the two are essentially the same work and require very close attention to detail.
As far as protecting a celebrity goes, its noisy work for the guard, however real threats are few and far between. It’s more a question of keeping away overeager fans rather than protecting lives. However, when a threat to, for example, the CEO of a massive corporation is made and security is hired, they have to be able to handle a real emergency situation.
Not to make light of bodyguard work for celebrities of course. It is a very difficult and important profession either way. Getting into the field is notoriously difficult and generally done either by referral or recruitment. In other words, having experience with combat or close contact work is a must. Former military or combat experts are favoured for this type of job. The wages are usually very high, however the risk involved is significant too.
