Browsing through some insurance broker websites looking for the evidently female friendly ones to promote to Club members I came across chauffeur plan insurance which started me thinking.
Coincidentally we were recently asked if we could help a Turkish fashion business based in London to recruit a female chauffeur to ferry their buyers to meetings. There were religious reasons why business women, travelling on their own in this instance, would prefer a female chauffeur and, as a caring female employer, this business wanted to do the right thing for their senior staff.
We were able to mention this request via our social media channels but I never heard if the vacancy was filled by a female in the end. Needless to say you can’t advertise ‘Woman preferred’ today even when that’s the case…
Is chauffeuring a suitable career for a woman?
Undoubtedly some will see chauffeuring as a male job but not us. Women drive as well as men; in fact accident statistics suggest we do this better. So why shouldn’t we see more female chauffeurs ‘employed to drive a private or hired car’ typically for a rich employer and VIPs?
All that is needed to morph a professional and aspiring taxi driver into a chauffeur is a prestigious car, a smart uniform, a marketing strategy to sell to the right customers and a rate schedule to reflect that higher level of personal service…
But surely women chauffeurs are MORE likely to stand out, representing a genuinely female friendly employer in the best possible light. Even better if the female chauffeur were collecting a female VIP of course.
About the job
This can be a well paid job offering the flexibility of advance bookings and will usually entail:
+ Making sure the VIP gets to their destination on time and safely
+ Finding a suitable parking place on arrival, whatever the destination or agreed collection point
+ Making sure that any parking fees are paid for and accounted correctly
+ Assisting occupants with their luggage and any heavy belongings
+ Maintaining the vehicle’s tax, business use insurance, car maintenance and car servicing in accordance with the vehicle handbook
+ Dressing appropriately – traditional attire for men includes a smart black suit, white shirt and black tie. Women don’t have to wear trousers but their uniform needs to confirm their role as a chauffeur, be smart and professional at all times
+ Conversing with vehicle occupants (where invited to do so).
+ Handling all associated administrative paperwork, professional personal insurance and the promotion of their chauffeur business (where self-employed).
When it comes to the ideal personality traits for a chauffeur, women can be equally as discreet and professional as men. Satellite navigation systems relieve route stresses and whilst chauffeurs are responsible for the safe running of their car that usually means little more than checking tyre pressures, oil levels and lights on a regular basis. Other than that, all that is needed to be sure of a safe and reliable car is a regular visit to the local franchised dealership for the annual MOT and car servicing regime.
All in all, as I see it, there is no reason why a woman shouldn’t consider being a chauffeur as her career, whether this is as an employee or on a self employed basis.
FOXY Steph
PS: The word chauffeur is masculine and French. In the old days it meant the operator of a steam engine hence the heat association (chauff…) but nowadays it’s more likely to mean ‘a person employed to drive a private or hired car’ and there is a usual expectation that the car will be a prestigious one like a Rolls Royce, a Bentley or a Jaguar although Mercedes seem popular models too.