People tend to think of all sorts of shadowy tough figures when trying to imagine how a private investigator would look like. Sometimes people think that private investigators have a posh office complete with futuristic gadgets or the complete opposite, having a dark office opening into an alley or a dangerous street.

Private Investigators in the Past

What comes to mind when you try to imagine what being a private investigator is like?

Is it like in the movies, where the sleuth is a dashing gentleman with super-hero like attributes for whom the ladies swoon over? Or is it the tough guy image, barely making ends meet and trying to go by dangerous requests from private clients?

The truth is actually far from both. Here’s the biggest shocker, about 15% of private eyes at present time are females. True, that’s not a huge percentage but that just means times are changing. However way private investigators are portrayed in movies, books, and shows in the past, it is far from reality.

Private Investigators in 2019

These days, the field of private investigations is a well-respected trade. Men and women from a variety of backgrounds are drawn to the field, seeing that it leads to a fulfilling albeit challenging career.

Gone are the days of private eyes who are involved in illegal or questionable activities in the past such as wire-tapping, getting phone records illegally, and pretending to be law enforcement officers. Today’s private investigators are professionals who undergo intensive and extensive training, plus are required to undergo licensing. They are well-versed with federal, provincial, and local laws and know that they are not above those laws, just like any other law-abiding citizen.

All of the above does not mean that a career in private investigation is boring. In fact, private investigators are usually trained to gain specialized skills so that they can do their job right. See what modern private investigators do below!

Private Investigator Jobs

Typical private investigator jobs include:

Evidence collection

Surveillance

Record searches

Background checks

Risk investigation

Corporate investigation

Insurance investigation

Employment verification

Interviewing clients

Interviewing ‘persons of interest’

Although about 25% of men and women working as private investigators are self-employed, a trained private eye is much sought after by the following:

Hotels

Law firms

Financial institutions

Retail stores

Credit collection companies

Large investigative agencies

Corporations

Surprised by the variety of private investigator jobs above or interested in a fulfilling career in the field of private investigation? Contact us at Haywood Hunt today!