To become a private investigator there are some procedures. You have to do some course in this field to acquire knowledge and skill about this profession. The clientele of private investigators want well trained and adroit investigator for their investigation. In UK, there are many organizations that provide training courses for the private investigators from where you can take training courses.

Private Investigators Certificate

After completing private investigator course, you need to collect the certificate of the course as this certificate is the proof of your ability. You will need this certificate for job applications. You can get certificate from IPI (The Institution of Professional Investigators), ABI (The Association of British Investigator) etc.

Involvement in similar domain increases efficiency. That’s why it is very important for you to acquire experiences in similar domain. You can get a degree on law or Criminal Justice from your college to make yourself prepared for this job. If you were a previous law enforcement officer, military police officer and so on, the task will be easier for you. However it is not mandatory to have these involvements.

Private Investigators Experience

Experience is one more thing that a private investigator needs to obtain. Without experiences you will fail to do well in this occupation. In this regard you can volunteer with any private investigation agency, take online courses, get vocational training, work in similar domain etc.

Private Investigators Tools

To become a private investigator you will need some tools to associate your work such as a mini laptop computer, a video camera which should contain a removable memory card, a sound recorder, cell phone, a vehicle for surveillance etc. These tools are helpful for your investigation.

Private Investigators License

There is an agency called SIA (The Security Industry Authority) which is working together with ABI and IPI in the aid of private investigators. All private investigators need license from SIA and in UK; the ABI website provides the list of private investigators. To acquire SIA private investigator license you have to pass “Fit and Proper person” test and have to complete “Test of Competency”. It costs £220.00 to get this license from SIA which lasts for 3 years.

Private Investigators Knowledge

Becoming a successful private investigator needs good knowledge of the industry. An experienced private detective gets more salary than an inexperienced one. So to acquire knowledge of the industry you should study about this profession, take the help of established and successful investigators, search the internet, involve in different investigations etc.

Although a private investigator does have office but most of the time he needs to do field work because total surveillance is not possible without being present physically in the spots of incidents.

A private investigator needs to maintain a clean record of his investigations. Otherwise all information that he has collected will be messed and he will be unable to reach to the truth. Again he also needs to maintain records of his previous solved cases.

Science degrees are helpful for a private investigator. They help to establish a good foundation of the investigator for this job. Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice or in law or in police makes the detective more skilled.