What It's Really Like Being A Private Investigator

Publish date: 2024-05-03

Now, you might be wondering, "Just how dangerous is the life of a private investigator?" 

In a 2015 interview with The Guardian, private investigator Richard Martinez shared some of his experiences throughout his professional career. Calling the job "exciting and unpredictable," Martinez admitted that he gets immense satisfaction not just from solving a case, but also from the process of finding evidence. However, this has at times led him to danger. Once, he found himself being interrogated by a gang, relying only on his communication skills to make it out of that situation in one piece. By Martinez's count, one in 10 assignments "gets a bit hairy," though he said that it's typically because of where and when the legwork takes place (e.g., during nighttime in a notoriously crime-filled area) as opposed to the actual nature of the work. There were also a couple of instances in which his attempts at staying incognito during an assignment failed because a customer "[left his] business card out on the table." According to Martinez, a private investigator shouldn't be easily scared or disgusted. "Some of the locations you will be in can be a bit hair-raising for the average person."

Admittedly, an assignment like pre-employment verification is considerably less risky than, say, trying to find a potential kidnap victim (via Indeed). Still, if you don't want a career that may be full of stress, the life of a private investigator, regardless of specialty, might not be for you.

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