Things have evolved since we first started delivering accredited Close Protection training courses in 2008. In those times, with the explosion of work overseas following on from Gulf War 2, our courses were predominantly full of ex-military types looking to gain employment overseas but it is fair to say that things have changed over the past few years with our courses being more diverse than ever before.
Security Industry Change
The security industry has definitely changed since the introduction of licensing; more and more relevant, accredited courses are now available and there is now a more balanced view of what is needed on CVs, where academia was not sought after in the same way that it is today. Has this changed the type of person entering our industry? We believe it has. There is still a need for relevant, on the ground experience, this should never be overlooked, but there is now a different type of person that sees the security industry as a career that they can excel in and often, this person will now not have a military background at all. In this way, ‘civilians’ can bring much to the course and the profession as academia and continual professional development have been part of their way of working for a considerable time. Many students are now coming from a university background with aspirations to manage at senior levels in the security industry. Organisations such as the United Nations or the UK Security Services will use academic attainment as a CV filter – you must have achieved a certain level of academic qualifications to apply for a certain level of job. In many cases the academic qualification does not have to be sector specific. This does not always go down well with ‘the old and bold’ but there is definitely a place for a broader set of skills within the industry.
July CP Course | Students
On this course we have a mixture of military (former and still serving) and also have some students with no military or Police background at all and we have an age range of 15 years amongst course students. Generally speaking, we find that this makes for a better course – a diverse set of skills and experience enables good teamwork as strengths and weaknesses become apparent quite quickly.
Our next Close Protection course runs from September 9th – 28th.
