Privative Investigation Companies like www.wymoo.com specialize in international private investigation.

1. PRIVATE INVESTIGATION

2. WHAT DOES A PRIVATE DETECTIVE DO?
• Work for their own personal firm or a Private Investigation Company
• Analyze information in legal, financial, and personal matter.
• Find facts
• Verify people’s backgrounds
• Trace missing people
• Investigate computer crimes
• Protect celebrities

3. WHAT A TYPICAL DAY MIGHT LOOK LIKE
9:00 a.m. : Search a crime scene for evidence to use in court
11:00 a.m. : Interview a potential suspect in the crime
12:00 p.m. : Verify their employment, income, and facts in their background
1:30 p.m. : Check their computer for any computer crime involved
2:15 p.m. : Conduct surveillance (watching the suspect without them noticing)
4:00 p.m. : Analyze all the information gathered from today
6:00 p.m. : Put the facts together and solve the crime!
7:30 p.m. : Report the conclusion to the Private Investigation Company

4. TYPES OF PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS
• Computer Forensic Investigators – Their specialty is in recovering and analyzing data
from computers for use in investigations. They are usually able to recover deleted emails
and documents.
• Legal Investigators – Help prepare criminal defenses, verify most facts, and track down
witnesses. They usually work for a law firm.
• Corporate Investigators – Conduct internal and external investigations for corporations.
Internally they may work on tasks such as searching for drug use in the workplace or find
those who are stealing money.
• Financial Investigators – Could be hired to develop confidential financial profiles of
individuals and companies that are prospective parties to large transactions. This type of
investigator is usually a CPA (Certified Public Accountant).

5. EMPLOYMENT FACTS
• Average Salary: $42,870 / year
• Entry Level Education: Some college, no degree
• Moderate on the Job Training
• Number of Jobs as of 2010: 34,700
• Job Outlook (2010-2020): 21%
• Number of Hours Worked Per Week: Varies due to assignments, normally
irregular hours
• Where to Work: Private Investigation Company or Personal Start-Up

6. SKILLS TO HAVE / WORK ON
• Communication skills: Working with others and listening carefully to witnesses.
• Honesty: Telling the truth to gain trust of clients is huge.
• Inquisitive: Must have a yearning to search for the facts and truth
• Resourcefulness: Must work with whatever information they have, no matter
how little.
• Problem-solving: Think on their feet and make quick decisions

7. WORK ENVIRONMENT
• Always depends on the case you are working on
• The office would be used for computer searches and making phone calls
• Usually work alone
• Can be stressful and dangerous due to confrontation
• Some situations require the private investigator to be armed.
• Owners of private investigation companies have added stress dealing with clients
• Hours are sporadic

8. • Sherlock Holmes (Fictitious
Character)
• Alan Pinkerton (Abraham
Lincoln’s good friend)
• Francois Vidocq (Whom
Sherlock Holmes is said to be
based on)
• J.J. “Jay” Armes (First private
investigator to be immortalized
as an action figure)

9. INTERESTED ON HEARING SOMEONE SPEAK
ABOUT THEIR JOB?
• Alloy TV sits down
with a real private
investigator. To
hear his
story, click here.

10. SOURCES
• http://www.bls.gov/ooh/protective-service/private-detectives-and-investigators.htm#tab-1
• http://www.ksiu.org/history
• http://www.wymoo.com/