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Frequently Asked Questions About Becoming a Private Investigator
How do I become a private investigator? That's a
complicated question with several parts that largely depend upon
in which state you plan on working. You have two options; you
either work for a licensed private investigations agency or you
go to work for yourself and obtain your own PI company license.
Either way, you there are two considerations you must address at
some point:
The first consideration is licensing; all but only a handful of
states require a state-issued license to be a private
investigator. Each state has different background, education and
experience requirements that may vary from simply attending a
state-approved training course to pre-licensing education,
exams, years of work experience and obtaining a sizable
professional liability insurance policy with "errors and
omissions" coverage. To make matters just a little more
confusing, there are some cities that require private
investigators to either register or obtain a municipal license
in states that do not otherwise require them.
The second consideration is training. Private investigation
specific training is the most important investment you can make
in yourself! Since most new PIs don't have the ability or are
not ready to start up their own investigations company you will
most likely be looking for employment with an established
agency. As an owner of an established and well respected
detective agency I get resumes all of the time; the first thing
I look for before considering a candidate is to ask the
question, "How has this person invested in themselves before
asking me to invest in them?"
What if I do not have the minimum experience required by the
state to obtain my own company license? How will I ever break
into the industry?
If your goal is to eventually own your private investigations
agency, no problem... every state that requires experience also
has a program in place to see that new investigators have access
to eventually obtaining their own license. For example, in Texas
where we hold an agency license those who are too new simply go
to work for an established company until they have the required
number of hours to be able apply for their own license. In
Florida (where we also have an agency license) they specifically
provide internship licenses. Again, every state is a little bit
different but thousands of successful private investigators are
working today and tens of thousands have come before us; we all
had to get started someplace... you can too.
Also, consider your own background and employment related
experience carefully some of it may apply. I have known loss
prevention agents, security guards (in specific roles),
accountants, firemen, bail bondsmen, alarm installers, teachers,
and even a librarian use their previous employment experiences
to apply for their own agency license.
What type of training should I be looking into?
Any amount of training is great though most PI companies don't
place a whole lot of credibility with the courses from PCDI,
Harcourt, and Thompson Direct. You could honestly do much better
and at less cost.
Instead, look for academies or training programs that have been
created by private investigators. Who knows better about what a
new or an aspiring private detective needs to know than an
investigator who has been in the field for a considerable amount
of time?
Also... look to see that the sponsoring company is active in the
industry as well. Are they still providing regular private
investigative services to a robust clientele? It's sad, but many
PIs who wash out over a very short period of time in the
business look to teaching. In reality, you will learn very
little from those who could not make it themselves; success
breeds success!
Lastly, I have a little secret I would like to share with you...
Look over the education provider's entire website and see if you
find boastful claims or where the company is bashing other
educators. This is a very tight-knit industry and you will find
that students who complete training programs from educators that
spend time "bad mouthing the competition" have a terrible time
getting a break simply because of the animosity created through
their educator's use of negative advertising. I know that seems
unfair but it is a reality in this business. This does not mean,
however, that you should dismiss the negative press but the
first thing an excellent private investigator learns is how to
evaluate a claim, identify the source and make a judgment based
on additional facts and research. Some statements will have
merit while others will not; it's up to you to make that
decision.
What is the difference between a private investigator and a
private detective?
Nothing. The terms are used interchangeably but some states
choose to use the term "detective" while most use the term
"investigator."
I really just want to help my friends and family to find old
friends or people who owe them money. Do I need a PI license?
That's a great question. Generally speaking, in those states
where it is a requirement you will need to obtain a license if
you hold yourself out for hire or accept payment from another
person or business and participate in or provide the following
services:
* Surveillance * Obtaining or furnish information related to a
crime or the identity, habits, business, occupation, knowledge,
movement, location, affiliations, associations,transactions,
acts, reputation, or character of a person, group or company.
* Securing evidence for use before a court, board, officer, or
committee * Locating or recovering lost or stolen property and
unclaimed funds.
* Determining the cause or responsibility for a fire, libel,
loss, accident, damage, or injury to a person or to property.
Some states may specifically include such things as service of
process, bail enforcement, personal protection and genealogical
research under those activities that require a private
investigator's license as well.
Do I have to have a degree in Criminal Justice from a
college or university?
No, though some states may accept a degree in Criminal Justice,
Administration of Justice or Police Sciences in lieu of the
minimum experience requirements. One recent study conducted on
behalf of the Virginia Department of Justice concluded that
almost 57% of all private investigators do not have a college
education.
If I do not have a college education do I have to have a
background as a police officer or other law enforcement related
profession?
No. Most private investigators do not have a law enforcement
background before entering into this industry. It is true that
many private investigators may have once had a career in
criminal justice but the bottom-line is that private
investigation and law enforcement is very different and my
experience has been that very few who make the transition from
law enforcement are prepared for this type of work, either
technically or creatively, on their own. Most of them recognize
this and seek industry specific training as well.
What type of person makes a successful private
investigator?
This business
requires a rare blend of logic and creativity;
it's rare because logical people tend to not be very creative
and vice-versa.
I would say that any successful detective must first have the
ability to communicate. This means that he or she must have the
ability to connect with people of all walks of life, regardless
of economic status, ethnicity or education. It also means that
the investigator must have the ability to clearly present a
simple fact or a complex investigation in writing. The end
result of an investigation is the investigative report, which is
given to the client upon conclusion of the assignment; this is
essentially our work product. If you cannot write reasonably
well, your reputation will surely suffer as a result.
Secondly, great investigators have a burning desire to answer
any question that is put to them only after a careful and
determined effort to identify the facts and circumstances that
contribute to a complete and unbiased explanation. We are in the
business to provide facts, not opinions; we let our clients draw
their own conclusions from our report. Oftentimes in order to
get to those facts, we must be relentless in our pursuit of
information. This is where logic meets creativity. Dead-ends
often only require a different approach!
Lastly, I believe that every investigator should possess a
varied set of experiences and knowledge. One characterization of
the private detective industry I can make is that by and large
we represent a vastness of experience, skills, and trades. One
of the most accomplished investigators I have ever met listed
"Mom" on her resume. When she decided to become a private
investigator she had no appreciable skills that she could put in
her resume but through her own experiences she had developed an
intuition that was almost never wrong and she could simplify
complex problems into there most basic parts. I have personally
hired a plumber, building contractor, car salesman, and a host
of other seemingly unrelated career types into my own company,
CompassPoint Investigations, because they had certain
intangibles that made them great in this business!
The bottom line is that anyone can train to become a wildly
successful private investigator, just like one can train to
become a barber or an attorney, but an aspiring detective has to
bring some things to the table that cannot be easily taught:
creativity, logic, the ability to communicate and an insatiable
curiosity!
I have a criminal conviction in my background from many
years ago. Will this affect my ability to become a private eye?
Every state that requires a license to be a PI also requires a
background investigation as a part of the licensing process. I
believe that a felony conviction will be an automatic
disqualification in almost every instance (though I know a felon
who has a PI license issued by the city of Columbus, MO.), while
misdemeanors may be considered depending upon the crime, its
seriousness and the amount of time that has passed since the
conviction; again this will vary by state.
Will my military discharge affect my ability to become a
private investigator?
In some cases a discharge that is anything but honorable may
prevent you from becoming a PI. Just as in the answer to the
criminal conviction history above, some states require PI
applicants be free from negative military discharge
classifications- Bad Conduct Discharge, Less than Honorable or
Other Than Honorable service characterizations are grounds for
denial of a PI license in several states and jurisdictions.
Perhaps the Florida Division of Licensing put it best: "Private
investigators and private investigative agencies serve in
positions of trust. Untrained and unlicensed persons or
businesses, or persons not of good moral character, are a threat
to the public safety and welfare. The private investigative
industry is regulated to ensure the interests of the public are
adequately served and protected."
Can I just specialize in a particular type of investigation
or will I have to do the surveillances and cheating spouse
investigations too?
I absolutely recommend that investigators find their niche and
specialize in only a few types of investigations! There are
several important reasons for this, which I discuss in my
training programs, but it can be summed up this way: when you
are the most notable investigator in your region of the country
for a specific type of investigation, you will find MANY
additional opportunities to make a lot more money than if you
advertise yourself as a "jack of all trades." This has been
proven across the country time and time again and is a major
topic of discussion in our upcoming private investigation
marketing manual.
What types of assignments do private investigators typically
take?
Wow, the options are endless and the subject really deserves
its own entire section! I have listed the most obvious types of
private investigator assignments in an article you can find by
going to my Articles Page. I will eventually briefly describe
each type of investigation in the next couple of weeks. Continue
to check in as we are constantly making additions.
What type of investigation or specialty assignment pays the
most?
I don't know that anyone can answer that question definitively,
but I will say that surveillance is typically the most lucrative
type of assignment a private investigator can get because it is
solid, billable, blocks of time. I am aware that there are
particular types of investigations where investigators are
making anywhere between $300 and $500 an hour for activities
like forensic computer evaluation, security consulting,
automobile repossession, and a few others specialties. I
personally have made $10,000 in an hour on several occasions in
14 years doing bail fugitive recovery work, those types of
paydays are few and far between. Overall I average almost $150
an hour while engaged in bail enforcement, not too bad by most
people's standards, though many investigators just don't have
the stomach for that type of work. It can be extremely
dangerous, it is a very competitive field and you get paid only
if you can complete the case.
Is private investigation dangerous work?
Obviously, there are some PI jobs that are more dangerous than
others like collateral repossession or bounty hunting but,
generally speaking, private investigation is not a dangerous
job. We all have heard the stories of PIs getting caught while
on surveillance by an irate cheating husband or being chased out
of a yard at the business end of a shotgun while serving a
subpoena. Most episodes of Magnum PI had Tom Selleck dodging
bullets, too. Certainly, scary things can and do happen on rare
occasions but like all war stories, the ones that seem to get a
lot of attention play out more like fiction than reality. Safety
is always at the forefront of every trained investigator's mind.
About the author:
L. Scott Harrell is the author of several private investigator
training courses stemming from 14 years of experience as a
private detective and principal of CompassPoint Investigations.
More information regarding CompassPoint Investigations and the
private investigation industry can be found via the internet:
http://www.BeAPrivateEye.com
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