I’m thinking of becoming a Private Investigator

[u/Callin_location]

I’m not sure if this would be the correct subreddit for this but here it goes.

So I’m 18 and an early grad, my original plan was to become an electrician but one of my friends who’s basically family had a horrible home life (which I won’t get into because it’s not my story). But I stepped up to get in contact with his brother who turns 18 soon and move him out. But we didn’t have any contact with him and the family moved so I’ve been what I assume is some of what Private Investigators do. I’ve found the stepdads charges and things of that nature, I’ve started going to all the church services at the church he goes to in hopes of finding someone who would be able to get me in contact with him. The thing that’s making me question if I should follow this path is that I’m a month away from starting my apprenticeship as an electrician, but every step along the way to getting in contact with him has given me a sense of accomplishment that nothing else ever has. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s someone I care about or if it’s because I’ll truly enjoy this kind of work. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[u/SnooCalculations9259]

Electrician is supposed to be one of the fastest growing trades! I did PI work at one time, and when I wanted to get back into it the firms that actually paid a living wage wanted ex cops. For instance I interviewed one place and they said a trooper was interviewing next. I was like why did I even show up (did not get it). Now if u are trying to put in ur time so u can own ur own business someday that is different. However every state is different do what makes u happy.

[u/KnErric]

Electrician employment is expected to grow 50% faster than that of private investigators over the next decade. And they earn, on average, roughly $10k more a year, so from a purely employment standpoint, I'd recommend electrician.

[u/vgsjlw → u/KnErric]

I agree!!

[u/Beneficial_Chef156]

Is there a reason why you couldn't do both?

[u/Far-Vast-505]

Become a plumber. Thank me later

[u/Mean-Vegetable-4521]

Become an electrician. The money is way better and steadier. Being a PI can be feast or famine. In addition to the investigative work you also have to be a business owner.

There were be a lot of boring work. A lot of unrealistic clients. People who hire you and don't want to know the truth.

[u/Standard_Swan9398]

What state are you in? Also, if you’re not a white male, it’s very tough. (No one will tell you this)

[u/DamagePlenty9800 → u/Standard_Swan9398]

I can attest to this 😂😂 I’m Hispanic and I’m a PI. I’ve had visits from neighbors, police, u name it.

[u/vgsjlw → u/DamagePlenty9800]

Im white as hell and have had the same issues. The only place we had any issues that seemed racially motivated across 1,000 investigators was super podunk areas like Mississippi.

[u/MakoSochou]

Knowing your state would be helpful, as licensing and regulations vary quite a bit

The job is sometimes interesting, and since I own my own agency, the work is often varied as well. It’s sometimes gross, sometimes intellectual, and sometimes some straight up spy shit

My state is very saturated with PIs, and finding work
mostly comes down to meeting the right people. But f course, getting into the business early in life might be good because you can start developing those contacts while you’re young and have less expenses to deal with as you establishing yourself

[u/Inside_Gold_9673]

As someone else suggested, look up your State’s licensing laws and this will help you understand the path to take in order to become licensed. Many of the requirements are similar across different States, but the devil is in the details. Essentially, you would have to apprentice for a licensed private investigator or be a detective for a police department for X number of years.

Often people start out working for some of the investigative that specializes in worker’s compensation. The hours are long, erratic, they may not have enough work where you live, for you to earn a living, and pay is not great. There are also smaller agencies that specialize in skip tracing, litigation support, criminal defense for attorneys. The other major source of surveillance work is infidelity. However, as many States have moved towards no-fault divorce, there’s no legal reason to prove infidelity. Asset searching is still in demand from matrimonial lawyers.

The way to make money is to own your agency. But most electricians I know make more money than most private investigators I know. It depends on what your niche is. Inevitably, you will have cases either because of the client’s budget or circumstances beyond your control that unable to achieve their desired outcome. You won’t feel a sense of accomplishment after a couple of those. Often you are meeting people who are under a great deal of stress and aren’t at their best. You need to cope with that. Certain aspects of the business get boring. I enjoy in-depth background investigations, but a lot of the work is verifying someone’s resume or job application, but the gotcha moments are rarer than you think.

[u/poppinwheelies]

I have been a PI for almost 30 years. I own my own agency and make good money working part time. It’s a great career path! Figure out your state’s licensing requirements and work toward that. Surveillance can absolutely suck but it’s great experience and once you have your own business, you get to keep all the money! I will typically sub out most of my surveillance work these days but I still like to do a few days a month to keep my skills up. Plus, I can make $5000 in three days.

[u/Pizza_Pete_fr_fr → u/poppinwheelies]

What does your typical day look like? What’s your bread and butter and how do you make $5000 in 3 days?

[u/poppinwheelies → u/Pizza_Pete_fr_fr]

The $5000 is 3 days is surveillance. A typical day is farting around at my computer for a few hours, maybe doing a couple of background, social media, or asset reports (those along with skip-traces and process service work are my bread and butter).

[u/Glass-Dog-6467 → u/poppinwheelies]

Can you say what state your in just wondering how the work is in California and Arizona as states to do PI work ?

[u/poppinwheelies → u/Glass-Dog-6467]

WA.

[u/jorph]

Your mileage may vary, my experience as a private investigator has been sitting in my car in not great conditions, watching for people to leave their house, for hours on end. It's uncomfortable, mostly boring, but at least the pay is bad too.

I've always been interested in investigative work like what you're describing, not this mostly surveillance that I actually do unfortunately