How do you become a private investigator?

Talk to investigators. Talk to attorneys. Basically, do a background. Find out what it's like to be an investigator. Find out about the area you want to go into. Everything today is very specialized. For instance, an investigator I work with up in New York only works on patent fraud. If you want to do patent fraud, get your MBA. Study engineering. My cousin is an arson investigator. He has a chemical and technical background. Someone who wants to start out in this field, yes, go for it! It's not a shadowing profession. It's not Sam Spade, it's a good energetic, interesting, productive way of contributing and making a living. You're doing the first thing you should do which is research." - Linnea Sinclair "Contact some local investigative agencies. Make every attempt to sit down with a person who knows what he or she is doing. You might volunteer your time with an agency most likely to share information. Get some first-hand experience. Educate yourself and get actively involved with an agency." - Darrell Goodwin "I decided to go into this line of work (investigation) several years ago because I'd just gone through a divorce and I couldn't afford a PI. That's how I got started, doing it myself, working undercover." - Linda Bowman Q. What advice do you have for a young person just coming out of high school that wanted to become a private investigator? "Take a course in criminal justice to learn what the system is all about. Take journalism. If you take two years of criminal justice and two years of journalism, you'll be an ideal candidate. Learn about photography, because we're in the business where not only do we have to produce the information, we have to show proof of it, and the proof is in photography. Learn about the video equipment that's being employed now." - Bob Brown Q. Do female investigators perform as well as males? "Women can do a lot more. We're not intimidating to people. I would open my door to a women as opposed to a man. People will spill their guts to a women when they won't give a man the time of day. We're sweet and nice and we're not out to hurt anyone. - Pat Beltrante "Women are naturally inquisitive. By nature we're more detail oriented. Woman are generally more compassionate. Women look at a case - especially if it involves child custody or marital situations - from a different angle then a man. We are also natural for undercover work. People tell me all the time - and I take it as a compliment - 'You don't look like a Private Investigator.' I like that." - Linnea Sinclair "In the early 70's there were very few female private investigators. I know of only one. I did not hire women then because I just did not think they would make good investigators. It was 1976 before I hired the first woman investigator, a woman who really proved herself and proved to me that women make excellent investigators. She did a superb job for me and was with me several years. "Since that time, I've hired many women. In each instance, they have been superior to male investigators. They can acquire data that men cannot get. They are less threatening. more and more women have come into PI business, not only as investigators, but as owners of agencies. As we moved into the 80's, many women retired from law enforcement or spent four or five years in public law enforcement and decided that was not what they wanted to do, so they went into the private sector. Now, a large percentage of investigators nationwide are women. I would say at least 10% are women. "It certainly helps in many instances to be a woman. Doors open for women that might not open for me. People get the impression I'm a police officer. They are immediately guarded and somewhat uncooperative. When I identify myself as a PI, doors do open, but people are still reluctant to deal with me. They don't have that reluctance with women, in most instances. - Nick Beltrante How to Become a Private Investigator: Career Advice - Part 2 --------------------------------------… Secrets of Top Private Eyes ~ Twelve of the nation's top investigative experts expound about the investigative industry as a whole, explain networking and how to go about connecting with the best viable information sources. These interesting and successful Private Eyes enjoy telling about the plying of their craft and their day to day activities. Here is living proof this unique and lucrative industry is wide-open and offers many, many opportunities. If you are serious about becoming a Private Investigator, or want to know more about the investigative industry as a whole, take the first step toward actualizing your ambitions: purchase and study Secrets of Top Private Eyes, the complete course (see below). You owe it to yourself to investigate each and every aspect of any trade, craft, or business you have an interest in - before making a career commitment. Secrets of Top Private Eyes - Private Investigator Training Course, the how-to teaching manual and videotape set, have been in extensive use nationwide since 1993 as a training course for new investigators. The course has been continually revised and updated until the present. None have been returned.

well a private investigator is just that private. but he usually was a policeman 1st, so he knows them and someone usually his old running buddies help him get info. but depends on what you want one for if its a relationship and you want to hire a P.I. then i would forget it because it want work, the trust is gone anyway.

privateinvestigatorslistings.com Good luck!

If you are serious about becoming a Private Investigator im me directly, I have been in this profession for about 3 1/2 yrs now and would be glad to try to answer any questions you might have.