If you enjoy meeting a wide range of people, have a strong sense of direction and don’t mind long hours if they aren’t spent sitting behind a desk, you might want to consider a career as a chauffeur. Although similar in daily tasks, a chauffeur is far different than a taxi driver. Professional chauffeurs are often employed by high end limousine companies, public and private corporations and high net worth individuals to remain on call for all sorts of driving needs. The education required isn’t intensive, and if you latch on with the right company or individual you can make quite a nice living. Here are some tips to help you determine the necessary training required to become a chauffeur.

Your best bet is to go right to the employers and find out what they are looking for. Hop online and seek out quality limousine services in your area. If you call them up, they should give you a detailed description of what’s required to pursue a career in their ranks. This is far better than ponying up for a formal chauffeur school. In fact, be wary of any programs that offer comprehensive chauffeur training. They often cost a lot of money, and the education you receive there won’t give you any sort of leg up in the job market. A lot of these chauffeur companies would rather hire a quality individual and train him themselves.

Next, make sure you’ve got the basics covered. If you hope to become a chauffeur, you have to have a sparkling clean driving record. You might get by with some parking tickets, but any sort of traffic violations, recent accidents and points on your license will be looked at as red flags by the hiring managers. Head off to traffic school if you need to clean up your record. In addition, consider picking up a couple of related skills. If you know a foreign language that could position you for some of the more high paying opportunities. Foreign diplomats living in the United States often require drivers, and if you speak the language you’ll find yourself near the top of the list for these positions. Basic first aid skills are also looked at positively. These skills will hopefully never be tested, but if you want to chauffeur for a family or for senior citizens, an understanding of first aid will help.

Now it’s time to look into the state licensing requirements. Not all states are the same, so head to the Department of Motor Vehicles website for your area. Certain states will need you to take a written test and pay a small fee in order to become licensed. Other states will ask for some more standardized training. You only want to do what’s necessary, so check with the DMV to explore the process in further detail. If you do need to take a training course or an exam you might want to brush up on your driving skills. Remember, the people who hire you will expect to feel safe in your care. But they may also need to quickly get from point A to point B, and won’t accept any excuses. Make sure you are up to speed on all of the current transportation regulations, and are a quality defensive driver. Brush up on directions within the local region, or if you don’t know if you’ll end up becoming a chauffeur in Brisbane or in Chicago get comfortable reading maps. You’ll be able to use a GPS device, but you should still be able to navigate if that system is unavailable.