Becoming A Private Investigator
How can I become a 'Private Investigator'?
In order to be a private investigator in most states, you have to work in the field or been educated in the field and then you have to take a test. And you have to be fingerprinted and have a background check on yourself. And then, after you're cleared, you take your test and you receive your license. There are some things in the background check that might keep you from being a PI. A criminal record is not necessarily something that can keep you from being a private investigator, unless you had a perjury conviction or a fraud conviction. Those kind of things they can frown on as far as getting into this field, and those are the same restrictions they have if you're going to become an attorney.
What type of training do I need to become a private investigator?
When you are seeking to be trained as a private investigator, you're not going to do it by going to school. Your best training is working for another investigator or with another investigator and learn by doing and following. You either have a knack for it or you don't. California, New York, Florida, and a lot of the larger states have pretty much the same requirements, but it takes two or three years of working with another private investigator before you're prepared to take the test yourself.
Will a degree in criminal justice help me become a private investigator?
A degree in criminal justice is not a requirement in private investigation. It doesn't hurt to have it, but it's not going to really be helpful if you're going to go exclusively into private investigations. It's more something that you would need if you're going to go into law enforcement or want to be working in administration.
Should I focus on being a certain type of private investigator?
When you fist get in the business, it's probably not a good idea to focus on wanting to do a specific type of investigation, but to go ahead and take the three years learning the business. And then, during that three years, you're going to find out what it is you like to do. That's the most important thing in this, or any other field. If you find out what it is you like to do, and you do it well, money will follow, and you'll never have to worry about work.
How much does a private investigator earn?
I don't know about anybody else, but I pull in about $120,000 a year by myself. Big Agencies? Now, you'll get agencies that are huge that are what I call "Report Mills". They crank out accident reports, or insurance fraud reports, or worker's com and stuff like that. They can become multi-million dollar businesses, and they've got a lot of people working under them. The thing that I talked about before, regarding if you're a licensed private investigator, you can have as many people as you want. That $150 an hour charge that also applies to the people out in the field that I might only be paying $22 an hour for. So, everyone of those people out there working, is pulling $150 per hour for me. After I pay them, I'm getting over $100 per hour per person out there. So, it's very lucrative. If you're a real greedy guy, you could make millions.
