August 30, 2011

Hot Job: Private detective and investigators

• 1 Comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Mugshot of Linda Montgomery.

The job: Private detectives and investigators help people, businesses and attorneys by finding and analyzing information. They connect clues to uncover facts about legal, financial or personal matters. Private detectives and investigators offer many services, including executive, corporate, and celebrity protection; pre-employment verification; and individual background profiles. Some investigate computer crimes, such as identity theft, harassing e-mails and illegal downloading of copyrighted material. They also provide assistance in criminal and civil liability cases, insurance claims and fraud cases, child custody and protection cases, missing-persons cases, and premarital screening. They are sometimes hired to investigate individuals to prove or disprove infidelity.

A Seattleite at work: Linda Montgomery started her own private-investigations agency in Ballard nearly 30 years ago. Back then, Montgomery says most of her clients were attorneys and insurance companies, but that’s changed to include every type of business: for-profit, nonprofit, large or small. “I like to say, sooner or later, everyone needs an investigator,” Montgomery says. “People have a problem and they need good information, they come to us — that’s what we do.”

Background checks became a more prominent part of her business after 9/11, Montgomery says, and during the recession, workplace claims and wrongful termination cases increased.

“It’s definitely an exiting and interesting job, but it’s also tedious,” Montgomery says. “It’s like looking for your car keys: It’s tedious, but when you find the keys, you get that big rush of excitement.”

Outlook: Employment of private detectives and investigators is expected to grow 22 percent over the 2008-18 decade, much faster than the average for all occupations.

Pay: The 190 private detectives in the Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma area earned a median wage of $53,250 in 2009.

Training: Most private detectives and investigators have some college education and previous experience in investigative work. In Washington, they are required to be licensed. In order to find full-time work, Montgomery recommends attending a training class like the one she offers to get an agency license, then seek contract work.

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, NWjobs staff

Is your pay competitive? Find out by using our Salary Wizard.

• 1 Comment |
• E-mail |
• Print
• • Share:
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  •  

Read more
Resumes and Job Hunt, career profile, quirky jobs

1 Comments

heather on March 30, 2012 2:09 PM | Reply

"Employment of private detectives and investigators is expected to grow 22 percent over the 2008-18 decade". Nowadays as a small business owner, I can do all the work online myself. One example is using www.everifyfaq.com to do background checks on potential future employees. It's legal, affordable, and protects both me and my current employees.

Leave a comment

* required field

Your name: *

E-mail address: (Will not be displayed)

Your comment: *

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.