Q. Will a certificate from a private investigator training program guarantee I can get a job as a private investigator?
A. Graduating from a PI School would not hurt but is no guarantee. Your resourcefulness, integrity, academic skills, life's experiences and several other things are more important than certificates and/or certification. There are many schools and academies and a few 2 and 4 year colleges offering private investigation training. There are also some distance learning schools with private investigator courses and, if they don't already exist, I expect there will soon be interactive PI courses available via the Internet. Learning is always worthwhile. Some people learn best in a school environment and others learn better through experience. If you didn't learn to swim until you took lessons then a PI school might be for you. If you learned to swim and ride a bicycle and other things without being bothered by the scrapes, bruises and near death experiences, taking a PI course might not be the highest and best use of your time.

Q. How difficult is it for a woman to enter the field of private investigation?
A. Never having been a woman, I can't say for sure but I don't believe it would be any more difficult for a woman to become a private investigator than for a man. One of the things that makes becoming a PI easier for some people is the marketing niche they have already in place when they go into the business. A police investigator who, from the prosecution side, has been dealing professionally with all the criminal defense attorneys in town for years, would have an advantage for getting criminal defense work. A Special Investigation Unit investigator from an insurance company who goes into business in the private arena could have a great advantage marketing former SIU associates. Because private investigators must get the cooperation of people without any authority to back them up, it is possible private investigation work is actually easier for women than men. Women tend to be better at subtle persuasion than most men.

Q. What kind of related work might I do to help me get into private investigation work?
A. Any related job will do. A job as a gofer in a law firm or an investigation agency is a good way to start learning. Insurance adjusting is another good way in. Most large adjusting companies want a college degree but if you don't have one, you might find a local independent insurance adjusting agency needing trainee help.

Q. How much do private investigators earn? What starting salary could I expect?
A. For a direct answer, go to the next paragraph. Some private investigators actually pay to be in the private investigation business. This sounds crazy but there are some PIs, frequently former law enforcement officers who are licensed and are "sort of" in the business. Their income from private investigation work is actually a negative. Someone whose spouse has a good paying job to supplement his or her retirement pay is able to work as a private investigator and earn less than their cost of doing business. They may not know they are losing money if they have not learned the fine points of business management. This situation is good for the users of private investigation services because it keeps the hourly rate professional private investigators can charge artificially low. Obviously, it is not good news for someone wanting to become a private investigator and earn a decent income. If you are looking for a way to make big money, there are probably many ways better than becoming a private investigator. A love of being independent and the unknown are better reasons to become a PI than money.

Private investigation agencies charge from $40 to $100 per hour for their time. The average across the country is about $50 to $55 per hour. Those who charge less than $40 per hour usually live in very non-affluent areas. Most of these at the low end of the hourly fees spectrum are going out of business but don't know it yet or are subsidized by retirement pay and working spouses. Those who charge more than $55 to $65 an hour usually either have a good specialty and/or are located in an affluent part of the country. It seems most of them who successfully charge $100 an hour or more have advanced degrees or a strong link to some specialty market from prior employment. Capital punishment defense and hazardous materials investigations are good examples of high fee private investigation work. A trainee starting out in an investigation agency might be paid little more than minimum wage but could learn enough in a short time to increase his or her value substantially. A professional agency with a good client base would probably pay salaried investigators at least $25,000 and as much as $75,000 or more a year. Many agencies pay field investigators based on the amount of billable hours they produce for the agency. An average percentage for such an arrangement is 40%. If the agency charges $60 per hour and pays the investigator 40%, that would be $24 per hour for billed time. If the investigator has no personal life and can log 10 hours a day, over $5000 a month could be earned. On the other hand, if the agency does not have many clients, there might be only enough work to bill 10 or 15 hours a week which would earn barely enough to get by on.

Q. Is a license required to be a private investigator?
A. Most of the fifty states have a licensing law for private investigation. In the states where there is no state licensing law, the local jurisdictions like counties or cities sometimes require a license. Licensing information can be found at: http://www.pihome.com/Licensing.

Q. Where can I find out about licensing requirements?
A. Click here to go to the PI Information part of this site

Q. What can a PI do and not do?
A. With only minor exceptions, private investigators have no authority beyond the authority of every other private citizen. They cannot do most of the things fictional private investigators do on TV and in the movies without subjecting themselves to arrest and prosecution.

Q. What are the most important skills needed to be a private investigator?
A. To work as a private investigator requires good communication, reasoning and people skills. A knowledge of relevant laws and the thousands of other things a private investigator might encounter require an ability to learn rapidly. If you aspire to having your own investigation agency, business skills like billing, marketing, reporting and collecting debts are as important as investigative skills.

Q. How close do PI's work with the government(police, FBI, etc.)?
A. Private investigators rarely work with government agencies in any way. The relationship between private investigators and the police is the same as it is between any other group of non-police individuals and the police.

Q. What access does a PI have to government records?
A. Private investigators have the same access any other private citizen has. The difference is the knowledge of where to look and how to ask for what the public is entitled to.

Q. What courses should I take in high school that will be useful for a career as a Private Investigator?
A. Good private investigators use creativity and imagination. Any course that encourages these qualities is worthwhile. My own educational background, both high school and college was very general. In college at a Junior College and then the U of W in Seattle, I took at least an entry level course in every discipline possible. I was interested in everything and once I learned the basics, I wanted to learn about other things more than I wanted to pursue advanced knowledge. I ended up with a degree in Economics but it didn't make me an economist. A basic education and decent academic and communication skills are important to succeeding as a private investigator.

Q. What are the main duties of a private investigator?
A. To get whatever information the client needs a long as it can be done legally and without hurting other people. To think "outside the box." To solve problems others can't or aren't willing to solve. Research in records, interview people, observe and document things and activities, take video and photographs, write reports, sell one's self and services to others, etc. Investigative work is non-linear. A PI must be able to make decisions while taking action.

Q. How difficult is it to find a job in this field?
A. Like anything else, you have to decide what you want to do, determine what is required and do it. It takes more preparation and education than getting a hamburger flipping job at a fast food restaurant but less than is required to get a job as an accountant, attorney or brain surgeon. In states where the licensing requirements call for a certain number of hours of experience, the first step would be to get hired doing something that could count toward the needed experience. The first step might be to contact the licensing authority and find out things like what is required to work under someone else's license, what kind of experience counts, etc.

Q. What kind of working conditions does the job entail?
A. Most private investigation offices are not luxurious. The typical PI style is Spartan surroundings and functional furniture. In your early years in the business, you might almost live in your car. If it is 100 degrees or ten degrees out and you are on surveillance, you cannot run your heater or air conditioner much. Long hours are required to earn a decent living, especially at first. Don't expect to spend all your time in front of a computer. Most real investigation requires going out into the real world. Private investigation is not for someone wanting comfort and regular hours. You can't start surveillance at 9:00 a.m. when you don't know what time the subject might leave the house. You have to be there and set up while normal people are still asleep. After spending a day doing field work, the reports must be written before details are forgotten and notes are cold.
A private investigator doesn't get to charge anyone for time spent trying to get hired or for discussing with a client whether or not a bill is too high after the work is done. At best, you can usually bill for up to 75% of your actual hours on the job so to get 8 hours of billable time typically means spending 10 or 11 hours working.

Q. What do you think the future has in store for private investigators?
A. Like most everything else, it will keep changing. New laws will cut off a lot of the Internet investigative activities that have swept the field in the past five years and private investigation will again become more of a shoe leather activity. It will be competitive and tough for those in the business but for those who are willing to work hard and be honest and reasonable in dealing with others, it will provide a decent income. The private investigation business will never be a place to get rich quick.

If those now pushing for federal regulation of the private investigation industry are successful, the actual work of private investigation might have to, some day, be done by non private investigators in the United States. In countries where the federal government controls private investigators, most of the professional investigation is done by consultants. Private investigation, by definition is non governmental. Private investigators have a questionable reputation because many of them are rebellious by nature. As Thomas Jefferson said: "A little rebellion now and then is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." If government controls private investigators, who will be able to investigate the politicians?

Q. Can a PI licensed in one state work as a private investigator all states? A. This question is about the issue of reciprocity and it has no clear answer. There are many interpretations to the laws that address it and most state licensing laws don't address it. Typically, you cannot legally solicit private investigator business in a state where you don't hold a private investigator license. If you receive a case in the state where you are licensed and need to go interview someone in another state, that is where the disagreement is. Some say you can, some say you cannot. Some states specifically have a reciprocity agreement with other states but most do not.

Q. What academic advice would you give to someone thinking about a career as a PI?
A. Learn to enjoy learning. Learn the basics in every discipline possible. For happiness in life, learning is even better than earning. Money is fickle. Knowledge and good judgment, along with adequate resources are the ingredients of success and wealth. More education is better than less education in general, but years and years of education would not make a good investigator out of someone who doesn't like dealing with people or tends to be regimented and pedantic.
Learn the basics of the law to go along with good skills in reading, writing, math and especially communication. Acting skills can come in handy. I personally, am a philosopher by inclination, an economist by education and many other things by experience. I have been a carpenter, welder, gardener, logger, commercial pilot, translator, writer, insurance adjuster, salesman, sales trainer, private investigator and a few other things, all by choice combined with luck, accident and serendipity

I suggest anyone interested in possibly becoming a private investigator set a goal of visiting five or more PI Agency owners and asking them the questions you have about the business. Visit both women and men agency owners. Try to find at least part of them that are not former police officers. Pay attention to the type of work each agency does. You might want to pursue one particular specialty over others in order to enjoy the work as much as possible. Specialists earn better incomes than generalists.

I would appreciate your feedback on this material so I can fine tune and clarify it. Please tell me if you see any typos or anything you don't understand. If you didn't find the answers you seek here, write me. If you know anyone who uses or should hire a private investigator, tell them about ION. Our mission is to improve investigation.
You can email me personally by clicking here.

Leroy Cook

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