Greetings all!
Is being a PI all glamorous? Full of mystery? Exciting things around every corner? Read on.
Throughout the last 5 years, I’ve had more people I can imagine talk to me what my job must be like. “You must follow around cheating wives/husbands all day huh?!” Which is obviously the most common misconception. Do we follow around cheating spouses? Of course. We also do a ton of other things. A lot of which aren’t the most thrilling or exciting.
I can say that this line of work includes a ton of exciting and thrilling situations and just as many ones where things either don’t go your way or tend to be researching/waiting.
Those things include…
Driving. A lot. Even in the days of the internet in full swing investigators still do a alot of the case work in the field. This means going to different locations, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
Sitting in one spot for eight hours, or in my case one time 36 hours. Surveillance is fun, I have to admit. When you provide the smoking gun to your client it’s a great feeling. It can also take days or weeks of careful planning and waiting. You can’t exactly bring a book or distract yourself. You need to be aware every second you are there.
The local court houses become a home away from home. Pulling records, pulling more records… testifying. A lot of your professional life should be here and you need to be accustomed to it.
Dangerous locations. Sometimes, you take or get assigned a case not in a very good area. You must keep your whits about you.
When not in the field you are attached to a computer. Typing reports. Sending client updates, uploading photos and videos. Doing research.
This is not to say the job isn’t fun or that you aren’t making a difference. It’s important to set expectations and know that situations can change very quickly. You could be sitting in a stationary surveillance spot for 7 hours and eating your dinner (which is probably a store bought Sandwich and bag of chips) and it’s go time.
Even with all the things mentioned above the best part is proving peace of mind for our clients. It’s easily one of the most thrilling things hearing the voice in person or on the phone being happy and knowing they can continue down their path with greater ease.
-Ryan
