What private investigator skill should you learn first?
Larry’s short answer: Prepare for the simple and probable first.
When you’re starting out in a detective agency, it’s unlikely the first call you get is going to be for and electronics countermeasures sweep. (Technical Surveillance Countermeasures or TSCM)
It’s also probably not going to be for an auto accident investigation. Could be – but probably not.
It’s much, much more likely you’re going to get a call to do surveillance on a cheater (husband, boyfriend, wife, etc.). AKA: Domestic or Infidelity Case.
Skip tracing is a fundamental of investigations that will always be needed either as the main objective of the case or a an intermediate step towards serving process, a witness interview, auto repossession or just about any other case you can name!
Or, if you’re opening your own detective agency, it’s likely a law firm is going to want you to serve process rather than starting you out with , say witness interviews. That’s just the mathematical odds.
Notice it’s the “simple” case of following someone or the the “simple” act of serving process on a court case (child custody, divorce, civil litigation, etc.). Those things are common so they are also more likely.
The Answer
So, learn the skill that’s most likely to get you a client! Most likely to get you paid!
By the way… Don’t let anyone “sell” you on one skill or another. Use your brain and think logically about what skill you’ll most likely need, then (if you want to take that kind of case!) lean the skill.
If you’re looking to get hired for a private investigator job or private investigator internship, consider studying/learning the skill that’s most likely to make you stand-out compared to all the other applicants!
Warning: It’s easier to recover from a “money mistake” than it is to recover from a “time mistake”.
You can earn more money, but once you’ve wasted the time, you can never get that time back.
That means, paid training may be the answer for you.
Yes, I sell paid training, but… this is one of those very rare times when you don’t have to risk money to save time! Why? Because I have a 100% satisfaction guarantee money back guarantee! If you don’t like the training (for ANY reason), simply return it for a full refund. Notice: There’s no risk!
Summary:
Use some logic to choose the P.I. skill you think is best for you, then go learn it in the way that works for you!
Committed to your success,
Larry Kaye,
Private Investigator
P.S. – If you’d like a book full of a broad range of private investigator sources and methods that serve you well across a variety of cases, take a look at my book 51 Weird Private Investigator Tricks That Actually Work: How to Trick, Track, Find and Follow Someone Like a Pro