Conduct a quick Google search on “How to become a private investigator’ and you will receive a high number of results back. All of these results will tell you every possible route that you can take in order to become a licensed private investigator. But although there are many different ways of going about becoming a private investigator there is one thing that is common amongst all the paths. The common thing between them is that most private investigation companies will only hire someone if they hold a degree in an area that its related in some way to private investigation.
But is it right that you need a degree that is only related to private investigation? For example a criminal justice degree or criminology degree. Would it not be better if there was a private investigation degree?
Here are the reasons for private investigation being its own degree:
Others Degrees Don’t Cover Everything You Need To Know
Private investigation requires a lot of skills and the fact is there isn’t a specific degree that covers everything that you need to know. There are degrees that cover certain aspects such as laws and regulations or how to interrogate someone but there isn’t a complete package that provides students with everything they need.
Making a private investigation degree would take care of that. Everything you needed to know from database searches and asset searches to background checks could be taught in one degree. This would increase the chance of graduates of this degree becoming employed as they would carry all of the necessary skills that would be required by private investigation agencies.
It Would Make Getting PI Experience So Much Easier
Getting the correct work experience for private investigation is difficult because it is such a specialist field. Many people that work in private investigation are former FBI agents or police who got their experience from their career. If a student is aiming to become a private investigator it makes much more sense to get experience in the job first hand rather than going through a different career path then doubling back.
If private investigation had its own degree then students could do a sandwich year in which they got experience at a private investigation firm. This would mean that they would get the necessary skills from the degree and then could apply them in the field during work experience. This would leave them in the best possible position for becoming a private investigator.
Transferable Skills
Transferable skills are definitely buzzwords in the employment industry at the moment, everyone seems to be looking for them. If private investigation did become a degree then the skills that would be taught to students would definitely be transferable. If students had a change of mind on what career they wished to pursue then a private investigation degree would still set them on the right path. They will have developed research skills, personal skills , team work skills and a great deal about new technology that would be desirable to many industries.
So what do you think should private investigation have its own degree? We think it should.
This is a guest post by Sam Taylor. Occasional guest blogger on asset investigation and full time blogger on private investigation. Sam currently represents Beacon Investigation Solutions a private investigation company licensed in 45 states across the US.