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Private Detectives and Investigators

$52.12K Median Salary 3.5K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 13.1% Job Growth

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About This Career

Gather, analyze, compile, and report information regarding individuals or organizations to clients, or detect occurrences of unlawful acts or infractions of rules in private establishment.

Reported Job Titles

Asset Protection Detective, Field Investigator, Investigator, Loss Prevention Agent, Loss Prevention Associate, Loss Prevention Detective, Loss Prevention Investigator, Loss Prevention Officer, Private Investigator, Special Investigator

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Skills You'll Need

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Abilities

Inductive Reasoning

Near Vision

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Problem Sensitivity

Deductive Reasoning

Written Comprehension

Written Expression

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Information Ordering

Selective Attention

Flexibility of Closure

Category Flexibility

Far Vision

Fluency of Ideas

Originality

Perceptual Speed

Knowledge

English Language

Customer and Personal Service

Law and Government

Administrative

Computers and Electronics

Administration and Management

Public Safety and Security

Psychology

Skills

Active Listening

Speaking

Critical Thinking

Reading Comprehension

Complex Problem Solving

Writing

Social Perceptiveness

Active Learning

Judgment and Decision Making

Monitoring

Coordination

Service Orientation

Time Management

Technology Skills

Electronic mail software

Presentation software

Operating system software

Spreadsheet software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Office suite software

Word processing software

Internet browser software

Data base user interface and query software

Web page creation and editing software

Information retrieval or search software

Tools

Still cameras

Scanners

Notebook computers

Handguns

Digital cameras

Biological evidence collection kits

Light enhancing cameras or vision devices

Telescopes

Digital voice recorders

Fingerprint latent print kits

Digital camcorders or video cameras

Desktop computers

Binoculars

Personal computers

Global positioning system GPS receiver

Abilities

Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.

Knowledge

English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Psychology: Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Technology Skills

Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Web page creation and editing software: Facebook; Google Sites; LinkedIn; Social media sites
Information retrieval or search software: LexisNexis